Andrew Ticer met Michael Hudman on the basketball court in the sixth grade. Back then, when they played for rival Catholic schools in Memphis, no one could have predicted they would become the city’s restaurant royalty, winning national recognition for their restaurant Hog & Hominy.

Mr. Hudman has always been bigger, louder and gregarious. Mr. Ticer is quieter, gentler and more of a tactician. But they share the Italian gene, the one that is fiercely loyal to friends, food and family. (Mr. Ticer’s roots go back to Sicily, Mr. Hudman’s to Tuscany.)