If you are a regular TPL reader, you know my obsession with Garnish & Gather. I'm a long time subscriber of the food and recipe delivery service, and I believe it's the best one available in Atlanta. I found out about Garnish & Gather at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market one Saturday morning right after Oliver was born. Emily was standing next to a chalk board with the weekly menus, and we struck up a conversation. Since then we've gotten to know each other a little better, and I've become a huge fan of her work and company! I asked if I could pick her brain about owning a business, her success, and the Atlanta food scene.
Name: Emily Golub
Job: Founder of Garnish & Gather
Describe your typical day: A typical day starts out with a little coffee & computer time of course. After a sufficient dose of caffeine I try to get in a little fitness time, or on our busier days, head straight to the office. Working with our amazing team at G&G HQ, we may be packing up fresh fruits & veggies, portioning out little spice packets, planning out menus, or if its a Saturday morning I’ll be at the Farmer’s Market! A highlight of my week is meeting with some of our wonderful community partners, chefs & farmers to brainstorm all sorts of ideas like produce growing needs, new recipes or fun and creative ways to get G&G involved with our community.
Why were you inspired to start G&G: Several years ago I became interested in the local food movement. I decided to take the plunge and join a CSA where I’d receive a mystery box of veggies fresh from the farm each week. I quickly fell in love with my CSA box and the adventure that came with it, but I also spent a lot of time looking up recipes for what to do with some of veggies I’d never scene before! I wanted to get friends involved in the CSA, but they were scared and I must admit, on the busiest weeks, I knew I could use a little help too. Overtime I began to come up with the idea - what if we put it all together...with delicious recipes…. and all the ingredients … and no waste!?! And from there Garnish & Gather was born.
Source
What has made you successful? Share your tip for starting a business. I think one of the biggest tips I could give to another small business owner is something I learned from my entrepreneurial parents, and that is to focus on your customer. Listening to your customers, improving your product to better meet their needs, and finding ways to enhance your customers’ experience will only benefit your business. Even when you think you’ve done all you can, continue to be open and focused on your customer’s experience and that focus will keep your business growing in the right direction.
Chef Asata, a Garnish & Gather Chef, cooking with kids at Georgia Organics. Source.
Who are your favorite local artisans to work with? We have some amazing local food artisans that specialize in some really unique and delicious products! However, we do get the pleasure of working with some of our local artisans more often, like Mike Patrick, the owner of Storico Fresco and most incredible pasta maker out there! Its so fun to see our weekly deliveries of freshly bake H&F Bread Co. and of course we love getting freshly cut bacon from the guys over at Pine Street Market. Pasta, bread & bacon and I’m a happy gal :)
Storico Fresco Pasta - Source
H & F Bread Co. - Source
Pine Street Market Bacon - Source
Who do you see as the top rising chefs in Atlanta? What is so neat about Atlanta is how close the food community is here. There are a lot of amazing chefs doing some really creative things that you don’t see in every city! I hate to brag, but I think we’ve got a pretty special team of contributing chefs like Chef Jarrett Stieber of the famed pop-up Eat Me Speak Me, Chef Julia LeRoy who you can catch around town doing cooking classes including at the botanical gardens, Chef Nick Melvin of Doux South Pickles who’s about to open up his very own restaurant Venkman’s, and a great friend of ours Chef Jaye Moore who’s classic & elegant cooking style is a real favorite in our house.
Chef Julia LeRoy - Source
Chef Nick Melvin of Doux South - Source
Chef Jaye Moore - Source
What is your all time favorite meal? This is such a tough call! One of my absolute favorites was one of the very first G&G recipes I tested - lemony shrimp sautéed with oyster mushrooms, sugar snap peas & spring radishes in a wine butter sauce with a potato hash. I think one of the reasons this one sticks out in my mind is that I couldn’t believe I had made it! It felt so elegant and fancy and yet it was easy - I knew we were on to something!
If you liked this post, you might also like:
Learn to make Amazing Pork Chops
Cooks & Soldiers was Mind Blowing, Also I love Top Chef
The Best New Atlanta Restaurants