By: VOICE-TRIBUNE
Photos By: Matt Johnson
Good Belly owners Jessica Bookin and Jeff Williams met when she hired him as a chef instructor while living in Durham, North Carolina many years ago. “We worked together for several years and then once we parted ways at work we got together,’ said Bookin. “We just couldn't stay away from one another! We moved to Louisville at the end of 2019.” Below, Bookin discusses Good Belly’s business, its origins and the specialities it offers.
How long have you been in business? Tell us about your origin story, and the decision to take the next step.
“We were looking to make a move (in hopes of starting our own business) and Louisville was a natural choice since my mother lives here and I was very familiar with the city. Jeff and I both love deli food and are tied to it in different ways.”
“Jeff's first job in professional kitchens was in a Jewish deli in Cary, NC 30 years ago. I grew up in a Jewish household and this food represents more than just a meal to me. We both noticed there weren't many options for this style of food here and wondered why. Since the pandemic was in full swing a few months after we moved here, we decided a brick-and-mortar was not the right decision. Would people even like our food? So we decided a food truck was the logical choice. We launched the food truck (same name) in March of 2021 and ran that full time until the end of 2022 when we found the right space to open the restaurant. We opened the restaurant in early March of 2023 and are coming up on our one year anniversary on March 2, 2024! The food truck taught us that we were helping fill the void in Louisville for deli-influenced food. While we loved the food truck since it brought us all over the city, we require A LOT of storage space for our meats and we outgrew our commissary kitchen very quickly!”
Please tell us about your NY-inspired specialties, and the time involved in curing them.
“Our corned beef and pastrami are what we are best known for. We pay homage to the traditional ways of making these cured meats by bringing in top-quality whole beef briskets. We butcher them in house, and wet-brine them for 28 days. Each receives its own unique spice blend in the brine to bring out the traditional flavors, and also elevate them. Once the 28 day cure is complete, the corned beef is rinsed and then boiled with mirepoix and more spices. Once that cooking is done and they are cooled, we trim off the excess fat, since corned beef is traditionally leaner than pastrami. Our pastrami (just like the corned beef) is rinsed, then rubbed with freshly ground coriander and black pepper and then smoked with hickory. Since the smoking process leads to tender, melt-in-your-mouth fat, we do not trim it. You would lose the crust and bark in doing so. Beyond the corned beef and pastrami, we also make our other meats in house; our dressings, sauerkraut, pickles — really everything except our sliced bread, sliced cheese and a few condiments like mayo. We special order our Jewish rye from up north, since it's very hard to find locally.”
What are your most popular items, and any unique items you offer.
“Our best seller, since day one of the food truck, is our Reuben. In the shop you can get our #14 with corned beef, pastrami or both and we also offer #28 which is a pastrami reuben with mustard instead of Russian dressing. Our matzo ball soup is another best seller and a labor of love since I make the matzo balls by hand in small batches, and Jeff makes the chicken consomme from our house bone broth. Many of our sandwiches offer a unique and elevated touch, like our honey rosemary chicken salad (no nuts, no fruit) which is made with slow poached chicken breast, honey and fresh rosemary; our oven roasted turkey melt is another unique and best seller, carved daily served with guajillo mayo, pepper jack cheese and pickled red cabbage. For our traditional potato latkes, we take a spin on apple sauce with our apple butter that takes 24 hours to make.”
What separates your business from others?
“I think what separates us is the scratch-made component and the chef-driven twist on familiar classics. You're getting a (mostly) hot sandwich, made with components that are all thought out specifically for that sandwich, and served with house chips and pickle spear. If we can't make it, we won't serve it. The painstaking work that goes into our food (especially our corned beef and pastrami — our walk-in cooler is in our basement so we're carrying HEAVY loads up and down stairs) is done because for us, that's the only way. There is so much tradition steeped in this food and that sentiment is not lost on us. Additionally, Jeff being the chef that he is, is only in this industry to make good food even better and continuously improve.”
Finally, tell us about the name, and add any other information you would like to include.
“Good Belly came about organically when trying to think of a name that was humorous and also represents how you'll feel after eating our food. We knew we wanted the logo to be funny, because we both don't take ourselves seriously and love to joke around.”
“We are opening up special orders for corned beef and pastrami by the pound on our website, www.goodbellylouisville.com.”
“We have daily specials that are listed on our social media sites. We recently got our beer license and will begin selling canned beer in the shop that pairs nicely with the food. We now have evening hours on Thursday and Friday nights; we’re open from 11AM-8PM on those days. We have a boxed lunch menu that is launching on our website for your small to large lunch catering needs.”
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