Justin Brunson, founder of Brunson Meat Company, joins Simon Zatyrka to reveal how he developed his revolutionary "noble mold" meat aging process after transitioning from acclaimed chef-owner to meat industry innovator. Discover how Brunson's Iowa farm roots and restaurant experience at Old Major led to creating a unique aging technique that's now capturing attention from Michelin-starred chefs and major restaurant groups nationwide.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS WITH TIMESTAMPS
[00:45] - Introduction to Justin Brunson and his meat industry innovation
[02:15] - Justin's early life in Iowa and connection to food through hunting and foraging
[05:20] - First restaurant jobs and culinary school journey
[07:45] - Creation and concept behind Old Major restaurant in Denver
[10:10] - Discovery and development of the noble mold meat aging process
[15:22] - Growth of Brunson Meat Company and expansion to national distribution
[18:30] - Bacon production philosophy and product lineup details
[21:45] - The challenges of transitioning from restaurants to meat production
[24:20] - Research and development of new products including bison aging
[26:50] - Premium product pricing and quality ingredient philosophy
[29:15] - Business growth strategy and controlled expansion approach
[32:40] - Closing thoughts and website information
KEY QUOTES
- "I've always been a fat kid. I've always liked to eat food. My grandma was a really amazing cook. Um, I grew up in Iowa. You know, we hunted and fished and forage and gardened. And there was always forging going on." - Justin Brunson
- "The best food comes from the best ingredients. You can't cook with basic ingredients, man... you want the goods, you gotta use the good butter, the good oil, the good flour, you know, the good local produce that's in season." - Justin Brunson
- "As you get a little bit older in life, that adrenaline changes... cooking in a kitchen is great and fun and I had a great career... But man, you start getting up in your forties and you're still hucking in a kitchen, it's hard on the body. That is a young man's game." - Justin Brunson
- "I say no a lot more than I say yes... Let's try to grow slow and responsibly for everybody." - Justin Brunson
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Career evolution beyond the kitchen is possible by identifying your true passion within the culinary world – Brunson transformed his chef experience into a revolutionary meat aging business
- Product innovation often requires patience and persistence – Brunson spent eight years experimenting with mold aging techniques before successfully commercializing the process
- Quality-focused businesses can command premium prices by delivering truly exceptional and differentiated products – Brunson's unique aging m
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
You're listening toHeritage Radio Network.
I.
From kitchen chaos to well-oiled machines.
Get ready for newfangledtechnology and old school Know-how
(00:21):
stories and a good bit of fun.
I'm Simon, and this iscalled Area Mechanic.
I don't know about you, but I did notget into the restaurant business to spend
all my time in a cramp little office.
I love being in thekitchen, out on the floor.
(00:42):
And if you're nodding your head rightnow, I want to introduce you to an
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(01:24):
com that's U S E starfish.
com and tell them Simon sent you.
Simon (01:30):
According to the, there we go.
Alright.
. Joining me today is JustinBrunson from Brunson Meat Company.
Justin, welcome to Kohler Mechanic.
Awesome.
Happy, uh, Friday afternoon, my man.
Yeah, man.
Happy Friday.
Uh, we're gonna drop this ona Tuesday, but that's okay.
(01:53):
Um, you know.
Full disclosure, I've been a fan ofyours for, I don't know, 12, 13 years.
I was in Denver on a business,business thing, and I got the
opportunity to eat an old major, andI was like, this guy really gets it.
Justin (02:10):
So, um, he took some, uh, really dope food out of that joint.
So thank Oh, yeah,
Simon (02:15):
I remember sitting, I remember being caught in a downpour like downpour
in mid, like early, late August and.
Walking in and your bartender,like he from, from 10 feet away,
throws me a towel, a bar towel.
And he goes, here you go, sir.You'll feel better in a minute.
And I was like, man, this is, I,I knew I was kind of in, in, uh, I
(02:38):
was in a home like I was in, I wasin a place that I could call home.
Um, but here we are in 2025 andyou got some cool stuff going
on with Brunson Meat Company.
But I think before we get tothat, I'd really like to say just.
How'd you get into this industry?
How did it start for you?
Justin (02:56):
I mean, I've always been a fat kid.
I've always liked to eat food.
My grandma was a really amazing, uh, cook.
Um, I grew up in Iowa.
You know, we hunted and fishedand forage and gardened.
And there was always forging going on.
I mean, food, like being from the Midwest,uh, food's a big part of who you are.
(03:19):
And you know, I, I spent a lot of timewith my grandpa and grandma growing up,
uh, and my, my grandpa grew up in theGreat Depression, so, you know, like if
he could hunt or fish or grow or somethinglike that, my, you know, there was
canning going on and it would, you know,just food's always been part of life.
I mean, I. It was we'd, he'd evengo as far as he knew where all the
(03:40):
walnut trees were and we'd go, youknow, pick the walnuts up off the
ground and soak 'em in the water and.
You know, to clean 'em offand dry 'em out and pick, you
know, pick the nuts out of 'em.
We'd go forging for, you know,uh, beach nuts and stuff out in
the woods, like in the woods.
And then all the morale mushroom huntingin the spring and tons of fishing
and, you know, deer hunting, just, Imean, just food's always been around.
(04:04):
If you're gonna harvest all thatstuff, you just don't do it for fun.
Uh, it is fun to do, but youknow, it really comes down to, uh.
Eating and, and, and I just,I love food, you know, and I
think the Food Network came out.
You know, I'm 45 now, so watching, likeback in the day, I think it was like,
you know, Emer Lagasse and Bobby Flay.
(04:25):
But even before that, like watchinglike, uh, Graham Cure, Justin Wilson
and all those old cooking shows, I'dsit there with my grandma and watch
Julia Childs, you know, and, um, youknow, I just, I, and I like to eat, man.
I've always liked to eat.
Uh.
Um, so that's what really got into me.
I'm a fat kid.
Nice.
Simon (04:46):
Me too.
Me too.
Yeah.
My inner fat.
I love
both (04:48):
it.
Simon (04:49):
Um, and so like rest o obviously restaurant, restaurant work is, uh, part
and parcel to, to getting to eat a lot, so
both (04:58):
yeah.
Simon (04:59):
How, how did that kind of, like, how did the industry thing sort of.
Fall in place for you?
Justin (05:04):
Yes.
I mean, I think my first restaurantgig, I might have been 14 years
old, washing dishes for a cateringcompany in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
And then I think, you know, I definitelydid some ca other stuff with that
catering stuff like as a server.
And then, you know, I thinkwhen I was more like I.
I don't know, 17.
(05:25):
I went off to college in Iowa andneeded to make some money and I
was like, well, I think I couldbe a cook and became a fry cook.
Nice.
I got kicked outta college.
Yeah.
I had to, you know, and then I had tofigure it out and I, you know, I took like
a year off, worked in a feed warehouseand I was like, well, I really love food.
(05:47):
Uh, I think I wanna go to culinary school.
So I took that journey through theCordon Blue down at Scottsdale.
Uh, this is probably in 20.
Sorry.
Oh.
Oh, it was oh one I think.
Alright.
Yeah.
Oh one, not 21.
Um, but yeah, but you know, I mean I thinkI got my first taste of it when I was 14.
(06:11):
Um, um, schlepping dishes, man.
Simon (06:16):
Yeah.
Um, I don't know.
We gotta go back andsay one thing for sure.
And that is Justin Wilson.
That old boy could cook man.
Oh man, Owen and Yum baby.
It
Justin (06:27):
was, yeah.
I love watching.
You
Simon (06:29):
didn't really know what he was saying.
Justin (06:31):
Yeah, but it was amazing.
Reached up the west, man.
All that old, I used to watchall that stuff with my grandma.
She was always trying to figureout some new way to do something.
I mean, I still got, I mean, I haveher, her whole cast iron collection and
her old Wagner pans and I mean, my, my,my kitchen's a bit of a family museum
too, which is pretty cool at the house.
Simon (06:52):
That's awesome.
Justin (06:53):
Yeah.
All
Simon (06:53):
right.
So in it, in it from birth Got it.
Food.
It's, it's there.
Yeah.
Uh, culinary school.
Yeah.
Dish washing at 14.
Like, I, I guess I wannaknow, like, personally, like
how did old Major come about?
Justin (07:10):
Like, um, yeah, so I, I mean, at the time I already had Masterpiece Deli.
I think we might have.
Two locations of that at thetime, which was my sandwich shop
concept, which was my first one.
And like, you know, weopened up Masterpiece Deli
2008 with 15 $16 sandwiches.
Everybody told me I was gonna go broke.
(07:30):
We opened up the door.
I wanted like, you know, best newchef in town and stuff like that.
And you know, I was 27 years old.
I was an owner, opened up asan owner and I was like, Denver
needs a good sandwich shop.
So I did that.
We crushed it.
I made all these Baller Spa likewe won best cast le at a deli.
Um, and I was like, damn, I really wannado something that's really focused about
(07:52):
farming local animals, the pig salami.
Um, I. So that's where the ideaof old Major actually came from.
And I had a buddy, Ben Parsons, he's awine local winemaker here in Colorado,
and he's like, you should do it, you know?
And I remember sitting, it was, therewas a bar, it's actually the oldest
(08:13):
bar in Denver called My Brother's Bar.
And him and I sat down onenight and had too many beers
and he still has the napkin.
But that's where itall started, which was.
Pretty great.
So we, you know, we raised the money andbuilt like this dreamy restaurant with
the sickest kitchen and a, you know, aslummy dry aging room and actually had
the the first HA plan in Colorado for.
(08:35):
Making whole, uh, whole mossel and groundferment salami inside of a restaurant.
And I used to do, do the wholeanimal butchery while we were
open on Wednesday nights.
And it was like, I mean, thatplace was a party in there too.
Like we were putting out sexyfood with tweezers, but it was
somewhere you could walk in withflip-flops and a t-shirt and get.
Ha ha have too much to drink andtoo much to eat and get loud.
(08:59):
Like, at one point I remember the talkingheads were playing and like the whole
dining room was like dancing and like Iwas running through dancing with them.
Like it was a really fun environment.
But yeah, that's kind ofhow old major came about.
I really wanted to focus on the pig.
I love the pig.
It's the coolest animal ever.
It's saved every culture.
I mean any, you can feed the thinggarbage and, and, and, and it.
(09:20):
Turns in this big, robust, beautifulanimal that you can feed your whole
family on and use every bit of it too.
You know, uh, you know, from therooter to the Tudor is definitely
a cool thing about the pig.
And, uh, you know, beingfrom Iowa, I love pigs.
Uh, uh, uh, so yeah, that's,that's how major came about.
Simon (09:40):
Nice.
Yeah.
All right.
Now let's just, let's just shootinto the fun stuff like, yeah.
Brunson Meat Company,noble Mold, like, yeah.
Tell me a story, dog.
Justin (09:51):
Yeah, so, you know, through all this Lummi making, over the years, I
have really learned a lot about mold andmeat and flavor and some fermentation
and aging and all these things, and.
We did it on salami.
And I was like, well, I found this chef,his name's John Ssar down in Dallas,
(10:14):
and I went to a steakhouse and Seanand I became, we were cooking a dinner
at the James Beard House in New York.
And uh, you know, I didn't know whohe was or whatever, and I cooked, we
cooked, we all cooked our dish, andhe was like, Hey man, your dish was.
That was the best dish here tonight.
I want you to come down to Texas andcook an event with me down there.
And John and I became friends andthe first time I walked into John's
(10:35):
Steakhouse, he had this aging caseand it was full of moldy meat.
And I'm like, what the hell?
I've never seen the moldson the, on the meat.
And he just called it the molds.
He didn't know what it was like.
He just knew that it madethe steak way better.
Right.
And so, so I mean, John shipped,let me take some of the malt.
(10:56):
I work, I've had this, I had arefrigerator in my garage that
all my friends call the JeffreyDahmer refrigerator, and that's
where I learned about the processover about the last eight years.
So I did this at home for eightyears and learned, and, you know,
learned about the molds and.
Temperatures and humidity and wind speedand breed and feed and what different
(11:21):
processes are like on different animalsand different cuts and different moisture.
Lo it's just totally took a deep,I'm a dork, like I'm a meat geek.
And I, and I really learned about it.
And then, uh, a couple years ago I reachedout to John and I was like, Hey, you know,
I've been playing with this stuff and.
There's nobody out there doing aprogram like this in the country.
(11:42):
And I was like, would I have yourblessing to take what you taught me
and turn it into a business and, and,and, uh, sell, sell the, no, the noble
mold aged beef, uh, pork and lamb.
To people in the country and he islike, I would love that Bronson.
That sounds great.
You go do that.
So it was really cool that hetaught me very rustically and then
(12:02):
I got super scientifical about it.
'cause this is how my brain works.
I wanted to know exactly what moldstrains and exactly what temperatures and
humidities those certain mold strains.
Grow at.
And like, it's funny 'cause theyfeed and they'll die on that piece
of meat too if they, you know,they, they, they live on protein.
They eat on protein.
Um, so it's just been so cool.
(12:23):
So it took me like eight years of, youknow, just being a weird freak with a
Jeffrey Dahmer refrigerator in his garage.
Um, and I took the molds and wehad 'em all tested and it was
okayed by the USDA to start a,a small facility here in Denver.
And I had a room that I couldput about, I don't know, 3000
pounds in, and I started there.
(12:44):
And, uh, while we outgrew thatin, like the first month I had,
I had two chef friends that hadtwo of the best chefs in Denver.
Alex, I, uh, Alex Delat Mercantile in Denver.
And then.
Matt Vadder at Rootstock, uh, andred up in Breckenridge, and they're
both like, we'll buy meat from you.
So I started off with those twoguys as my customers, and then
(13:05):
we picked up a bunch more people.
And then I outgrew my little room here.
And then I have two rooms in Iowanow, and I have one here in Denver.
And I mean, between the three roomsthat holds about 60,000 pounds of meat.
Um.
If they're all full, of course,but of course that's amazing.
One time and yeah, and then, you know,we just, I mean, it was posted on
(13:26):
Instagram, all this cool stuff I wasdoing, and this chef from this restaurant
chain called Masters was like, Hey man.
What is that?
I want to taste that.
I sent him a steak and he was like,holy cow, he sent, and then he is
like, can you send a couple boxesoff to our, the COO of Landry's?
And I'm like, sure.
And yeah, the COO of Landry'sis like, wow, this is one of
(13:48):
the best steaks I've ever had.
And you know, it's been a lot ofjust like organic growth and a
lot of the growth of my businesshas come from Instagram and just.
You know, it's blasting.
These p people are like,what in the hell is that?
You know, like, you know,you show, I'm not gonna lie,
Simon (14:03):
I was right there.
Justin (14:04):
Yeah, man.
You show him these fuzzy like pieces ofmeat that look like, you know, like, I
mean, I've had, I, there's a couple of'em that I've had so much long, like I
called 'em a g looked like a goat man.
Like I was, but the, what, whatthat, that whole thing does.
I mean, it's not just about a.You know, it's about the aging.
You're still going throughyour traditional dry aging.
You're getting dehydration, right?
(14:25):
Water loss, the natural enzymaticbreakdown is still happening, so
you're getting all that stuff.
But what the mo Noblemolds do, uh, it's insane.
It's like ev everybody right awayis like popcorn brown butter.
Hazelnut and Parmesan Ryan.
But popcorn is the one that just, itblows up like you're cooking the steak.
(14:47):
The whole house smells likepop brown, like butter popcorn.
It is insane.
And a lot, most dry aging rooms, theykind of have more of a sour smell to 'em.
Ours has a sweet smell.
Um, it's just, you know, what, what isoff coming off the meat as those molds
are eating the outside of that and it, andit's really imparting some insane flavors.
(15:07):
Uh, it's, and it's a. Traditional dryage beef is a lot different flavor.
Uh, your traditional dry agebeef, you got like a lot of blue
cheese, um, where this is like.
Popcorn.
Um, right.
So that's, that's the big thingand that's kinda what we do.
And you know, I'm a chef too, so I triedit on beef, started crushing beef, and
(15:28):
then I started bringing in some heritagebreed pork from this little farm in
Missouri and these red waddle pigs.
And we did pork chops and it was awesome.
And I brought in some Colorado lamb.
We did that.
It was awesome.
We just did an r and d test batchon some Colorado bison and it
might be my favorite product.
Um.
Wow.
And then we also have awhole ba uh, bacon line.
(15:50):
I mean, I'm, I've alwaysbeen a big bacon guy.
I have a great bacon recipe.
Uh, so we, we, we havethree lines of bacon.
We do a applewood smoke to sugarfree and a black pepper rub.
And we sell that nationally as wellthrough our distribution partners.
And, uh, it comes in layout.
Format for restaurants.
We have retail format, we do slab.
It's super high quality baconthat fits a perfect niche.
(16:13):
It's uncured, no trolley, po.
Tri polyphosphate.
All the pork comes from seaboard farms.
Uh, they have an outpost here in Colorado.
Uh, so it's a clean label.
Bacon made with commodity pork.
And it hits that perfect like price pointfor restaurants, but it's like, because
you're super high quality in flavor, thecommodity pork makes it a little cheaper.
(16:36):
So we sell a literally.
Tons and tons of that every week.
You
Simon (16:40):
had me at Bacon Dog.
Yeah.
I
Justin (16:42):
mean it's a bite tub ball of recipe.
It's all dry rub bunch of, youknow, bunch of Bay Leaf and
Juniper Mustard seed, brown sugar.
We use the celery powderso it's nitrate free.
So yeah, that's whatwe've been focusing on.
Brunson Meat Company is reallyjust bacon and the dry age meats.
Um, and just trying to keep our.
I mean, it's grown so fast.
(17:04):
This is our second full year in business.
Uh, like our first, first, first, youknow, little, we had six months and it
was the new year, and then we had that,we just finished our first full year.
So this will be our secondfull year in business.
And I mean, we're gettingnational recognition, uh,
chefs all over the country.
I mean.
To have Mastro Steakhouse pick us up.
(17:24):
It was like, what the dude, that's
Simon (17:26):
massive.
I got
Justin (17:26):
a bunch of Michelin star guys.
I got a bunch of James Beard guys.
I mean, it's, it's fun tosee people eat the meat.
Like I just did a food show in Orlandoand like these chefs from Disney were
like, holy cow, we don't tasted anything.
I'm like, you know, like, these guys getto try some of the best beef in the world.
I mean, you're Disney, um, right.
So it's just really cool towatch everybody's, uh, face
(17:49):
when they eat it and smell it.
Like my favorite thing to do whenI do a sales meeting is like,
I'm like, smell this steak raw.
And everybody's like, I've neversmelled anything like that.
It smells sweet andpopcorny when it's raw.
Uh.
And it's just, we, you know, we useall USDA Prime Angus beef right now.
I mean, my big thing is to work withAmerican owned companies, you know,
(18:10):
support American farmers, but also allthe way back to the ownership to make sure
that it's a, you know, just trying to, Igrew up on a farm and I would try to, you
know, support the, the American farmer.
So.
Nice.
Simon (18:23):
Yeah.
Um, I mean, I guess I, you know,I. They're tough, but here we go.
Um, I think the big thing for me,like looking at your, looking at your
career and like hearing the passionfor the, the product, like how.
(18:44):
How would you say, like beinga chef set you up to, to be
doing what you're doing now?
Because that's, that's a big thing, man.
Justin (18:53):
Yeah, I mean, I felt, I mean, I wanted a meat restaurant
and I got a meat restaurant.
It was a sick meat restaurant and it justgot me more into meat, you know, like,
I mean, doing, playing with some dryaging there, we were making salami there.
And I mean, it was, you know, andit was just like the more and more
I started to dislike the restaurantbusiness, the more and more I.
(19:13):
Um, liked the.
Really, really enjoyed the meat business.
And, you know, uh, I love, I love service.
I love cooks.
I love, you know, Ilike, I like the staff.
I like the guests and thehigh volume, and that's great.
When you're young.
I'm 45 now.
I'm an old man.
Like, the last thing I want tobe doing right now is to be on a
(19:35):
line calling tickets or cooking.
It is funny, I even as the executivechef owner of the restaurant,
I worked, I worked, torn not, Ialways worked the line and the, my.
Got my chefs called the tickets.
I hate calling tickets.
I became a cook to cook.
Um, so I that I would hate tojust be in that world right now.
It's just not who I am these days.
(19:56):
When I was young, Iwas super into it, man.
I was, I loved it.
But, uh, uh, as I've grownolder, it's, it's great.
I still get to work with food.
I get to be around the best chefs inthe country, uh, you know, tasting
the best beef in the country.
And I get to do, becreative too, like, I mean.
I mean, we're doing something thathasn't really been done, uh, before.
(20:17):
It was funny.
I, there is one other company in theUnited States that does mold aged
beef, and I didn't even know about'em till after we, I started doing it.
You know, like I didn't, right.
Yeah.
And it's, it's, it's cool.
And they're, I mean, by the pitchers,we haven't talked, but, but they're
pitchers, they're using differentmolds than I'm using so thick.
It's just per, it's just, it's just cool.
(20:39):
And now I found out there's chefsin Italy doing it, uh, and Japan.
Uh, and we kind of have a smallcommunity of people that are
doing this mold age product.
I mean, there's a guy in Japan doing iton fish, and it's the exact same old.
And I saw it.
I reached out to him and.
We swap pictures.
He is like, oh yeah,it's all the same stuff.
(21:00):
We could tell by lookingat it what strains it is.
It's, it's just really, really cool.
That's
Simon (21:07):
incredible.
Yeah.
Uh, I like, uh, I think when wefinish recording, you and I are
gonna talk little business, but Yeah.
I mean, I think that.
I don't know, man.
There's, there's so much to be done.
As, as chefs, you know, I, I spent30 plus years in the kitchen and.
(21:27):
It's like I, I look around andgo, what is it I wanna do next?
And yeah.
I found I, for me, I found that likehelping chefs be better leaders was,
was a great way for me to go into,go into my next chapter, you know?
And, and I totally agree with you.
Like, being, being on the line inmy late forties was not pleasant.
Like, I, like I, I told people.
(21:50):
A couple of times they're like, youused to be like you used to love it.
And I'm like, yeah, but like whenyou have that much adrenaline
going for so many years at somepoint, like the spark plug burns.
both (22:01):
Yeah.
And it
Simon (22:01):
stops being fun and it starts being like, I swear to you, it started
being traumatic towards the end.
It's like the rushes that would come inand the company I was working for, we
were so busy and it was so, it was like.
Higher end Mexican food.
Yeah, right.
But it was, it was cranking, dude,
Justin (22:19):
cranking
Simon (22:20):
and it just, it wasn't, it wasn't great.
Justin (22:22):
No.
It's funny, as you get a little bitolder, uh, in life, you're, uh, you
know, that adrenaline changes, youknow, like, uh, and, and cooking in
a kitchen is great and fun and I'm.
I had a great career and I had somegreat teams that I worked with and
worked for, and that they worked for me.
And we, I mean, and the, thecamaraderie and like the, the,
(22:43):
all of it, it was, it was great.
But man, you start gettingup in your forties and you're
still hucking in a kitchen, man.
It's, uh, it's hard on the body.
That is a young man's game
Simon (22:54):
game.
It's,
Justin (22:54):
it definitely
Simon (22:55):
is.
Justin (22:56):
Yeah.
Simon (22:57):
So what are the, you know, uh.
A, as we talk about getting older, oneof the things for me that is, that is
fascinating and, and that is like whatare the things that like get you out
of bed in the morning and kind of giveyou like that visceral response, like,
I'm going to get to do this today.
Justin (23:17):
What are those like for you?
I think.
You know, I'm having a lot of fun rightnow just spreading the word of the noble
mold aging process, uh, because it'sstill just blowing everybody's mind.
Like, I, I just started a LinkedIn accountand like, it's, it just blew up, man.
I mean, it's, it, people arelike, what are you doing?
(23:40):
And I have all these like.
I mean, huge beef companiesreaching out to me.
They like, we've never heard of thisor seen anything like it or, you know,
like, and everybody's like, is it safe?
And I was like, of course it's safe.
We operate under USDA inspection.
You know?
Um, yeah.
So just, you know, like, it's not oftenyou get to be a person that is creating
(24:05):
something that hasn't been done or.
Isn't done by hundreds orthousands of people in this world.
You know, like, I mean, there's literallyone other company that does some mold
aging and their product's awesome.
And it's funny, I didn't even knowabout them till after we started
and going, and then someone's like,well, you haven't heard of this?
(24:26):
I'm like, no, I haven't heard of this.
So like, it's just so, it's so crazy.
Um, but uh, yeah, man, to dosomething kind of cutting edge
and to refine a craft and.
You know, really produce someof the finest beef in the world.
Like, I'm gonna, we, we justlooked up, uh, there's a world
state competition, um, wow.
(24:48):
Every year.
And we're looking into what it,what it would cost for us to put
some product out there into it.
'cause I definitely feel like we could.
Be the best American Beastproducer out there right now.
I mean, and
Simon (25:00):
where is that?
Where is that World State competition?
Because I'm, I'm book a flight, I
Justin (25:05):
believe it's in Italy this year.
You can check.
They got an Instagram phage,Facebook, they're all over the
place, the World State Competition.
Um, and there's people fromall over the world and there's
all these different categories.
So we would be going after,um, American producer.
So, um, I just think with, uh,with the quality of beef we get.
(25:27):
Aging that I. You know, it costssome ruckus over there and I'm not
really, oh yeah, let's compete insomething, but it's like, man, I
just want to get, get this beef outthere for more people to taste it.
And, uh, uh, it's just so much differentthan your traditional dry style dry aging.
So yeah, what gets me outtabed is like, you know, and
excited is definitely like, uh.
(25:49):
You know, we're doing somethingthat really hasn't been
done, you know, and Right.
You know, to do it onlamb and pork and bison.
It's just really fun and, uh, um, it'sbeen just a cool thing to learn about.
Simon (26:03):
That's awesome, man.
Yeah.
Justin (26:04):
I love it.
Simon (26:05):
Um, let's see.
I think, I think my one, sort of,one of my standard questions here
is like, with all the things thatyou're doing right now, what is it?
What.
What constitutes a win in your day?
Like how do you win the day?
Man?
Justin (26:23):
Oh man.
When I, when is a win?
I mean, right now, it's just funny.
Like, so, I mean, I do, Ido ev it's, we're a small
business, so I do everything.
Um, and uh, you know, likewhen, when you, when you go do
sales, sales are really funny.
Like, you know, like everybody'slike, oh, I love the product, and
then they find out how much it cost.
(26:43):
You know, like, you know.
It's very expensive product.
And you know, you go back and forthwhen they finally come back and they're
like, all right, we're gonna, we'regonna put your stake on the menu.
And, uh, it's such a win and a buzz,like, uh, it's really hard in sales
and really as a chef, like, you know,I hope I didn't treat my salespeople.
Um.
Too bad.
Over the years I was usually pretty good.
(27:04):
I made up lunch and stuff and, but youknow, and I always told, told 'em to
make an appointment with me and I don't,I try not to call cold called, but
sometimes you just gotta do it, you know?
Right.
Um, so I think the biggest win for me isevery time, you know, we go get in, do
a tasting, the chefs are like, holy cow,this is amazing and we're willing to pay
for it, and we wanna put it on the menu.
(27:25):
So, because it is a very expensiveprocess, uh, there's a lot of costs.
So
Simon (27:30):
yeah.
I mean.
I'm a, I'm a firm believer that thatgreat product and like product that has
some, some craft to it costs money, man.
Yeah.
But you can't, you know, it's,it's like, uh, I was talking a
pizza guy the other day, right?
Like he's opening up his, hishis little Italian sort of pizza,
(27:51):
pasta joint and uh, he goes.
It's, it's, it's like the flour.
This is the flour you buy goes.
Yeah, but it's more expensive.
He goes, and I'm buying likethe good tomatoes in the can.
Yeah.
He goes, I'm not, Idon't wanna, and I said.
(28:11):
People complain about price andI, and I'm like, you know what?
Taste it.
At the end of the day,that's what it is, right?
Like,
Justin (28:17):
buy the best, do something little to it.
Like the best food comesfrom the best ingredients.
You can't, I, I mean, it's justlike, there's this saying, you can't
do epic shit with basic people.
You can't cook.
I love that with basic ingredients, man.
Like you want the goods, you gottause the good butter, the good oil, the
good flour, you know, the good local.
(28:39):
Produce that's in season.
The, the good smallfamily farm raised meats.
You know, the, the best of the, the best.
You know, like we use all USDA prime.
I buy, I buy most of it from the Midwestbecause I believe the best Angus in
the country comes from the Midwest.
You know, that's where the bestgenetics are, the best corn.
(28:59):
I think those cold winters, uh, reallykind of make a tougher animal, the
strongest the animals, the better it'sgonna taste, and a happy animal as well.
So, um, just all the, you know, allthose little things, it all adds
up to make the perfect ingredient.
Simon (29:13):
Yeah.
Justin (29:14):
Yeah.
Simon (29:15):
Somebody said that said something to me recently
that just like rung my bell.
They're like, you don't get to drivea Ferrari when you have Kia money.
both (29:23):
Yeah.
And I was.
Simon (29:25):
Got it.
Okay.
Justin (29:26):
But it's funny, as chefs and food people, like, I mean, I've
always probably spent about 25% ofmy income on food where, you know,
a lot of people aren't like that.
And you know what, that's good for that.
You know, like, but there's so manypeople that are out there and into it.
They wanna know where the meat comesfrom and the process and how we're doing.
You know, it's just socool that people are in.
(29:48):
To what they're putting into their body.
And I've always looked at it as like food.
You know, food is medicine, you know,like, I mean, I, I don't get sick.
I don't, you know, likeI eat really healthy.
I mean, yeah, I'm a fat guybecause I'm, I eat too much.
But like, you know, like I don't havehigh blood pressure, any of that shit.
I mean, I eat protein and vegetablesand nuts and fruits and, you
(30:08):
know, every once in a whileindulge in a little bit of sugar.
And, uh, but it's just like, youknow, food is medicine and people
are thinking like that more.
And, you know, there are alot of people with a lot of.
So Depo disposable income these days too.
You know, there's all thesetech people and stuff.
Totally, totally.
You know, like you could, you could buymy, one of my steaks and cook it at your
house for about, you know, 80 to 90 bucks.
(30:29):
Or you could go to a restaurantand have it for $300.
So, um, what do you like to do?
And I like, I rather go get it home andbuy some better wine, you know, because
just the steak would be $300 and thenyou're be doing that, you know, buying
wine out and it's just, I don't know.
So, I mean, it's fun.
It's fun.
I. It's not every day meatfor everybody, you know?
(30:50):
It is for some people, um, uh, at least onthe beef and the bacon's everyday stuff.
We're in, uh, we're in Kroger here.
We had 7 99 pack for a12 ounce pack of bacon.
So the bacon is like that.
Simon (31:03):
Really?
You're in Kroger, that's still,yeah, I gotta, I gotta look around.
Um, I, I, I, I would be interested tosee if it makes its way out to Seattle.
So,
Justin (31:12):
yeah.
Uh, I mean, we're, so we justlaunched with those guys.
Right around Christmas time here.
Um, so it's been great.
It's been received well.
I mean, the packaging's great.
The quality of product's great.
The price is great.
Um, yeah, so it's just, you know,slow grow, slow, slow development.
See, see how it works in this market.
And hopefully we can take theBacon National with those guys.
(31:34):
There
Simon (31:35):
you go.
That's what I love to hear.
Like, just take it slow.
Uh, buddy of mine in San Diego, he goes.
I grow my business thesame way I cook my brisket.
I said, how's that?
He says, slow and low.
Justin (31:50):
Oh yeah.
Well, I mean to have, uh.
Steady growth is way betterthan to have this, like, this
is scary in anything, man.
Like, you know, I rather totally, Iwould rather cruise ride along and grow.
Uh, anytime you start take takingspikes like that, it's uh, life can
get choppy real fast and it's hardnot when you have the opportunity.
(32:10):
I say no a lot more than I say yes.
Um, I'll tell you that.
Uh, that's, you know, one of those thingsyou just learn as an older man too.
It's like, well, let's, youknow, try to grow slow and.
You know, the young guy wants to goget it, or you're like, well, I, I've
made a bunch of mistakes in my life.
Let's try to do this as slow as wecan and responsibly for everybody.
Simon (32:32):
Well, I think that for me it's about, well, I, I just think
like old fashioned football, likereal old fashioned football, right?
When they used to, and there wasa coach, and I don't even know his
name, but he used to talk aboutgain an inch and hold the inch.
Right.
Don't, don't give up ground.
Yeah.
Right.
Just, just go, go smooth.
(32:54):
Gain an inch.
Yeah.
Hold it.
Gain an inch.
Yeah.
Hold it.
You know?
, And that's, how I try to do business.
'cause I'm not really interested in,in falling back or having to start
over 'cause Oh, we, we got greedy.
You know, so I, I appreciate that man.
I can't tell you how much Iappreciate you coming on and
talking to us for a little while.
Justin (33:16):
Yeah, man.
Thanks for having us.
I haven't done a podcast in a longtime, so it was fun to, uh, get out and
preach the, preach the word of the noblemold, dry aging process and Brunson.
I love it.
Yeah, it'd be, it's great if any of yourviewers wanna come check our website out,
it's www do brunson meats plural.com.
(33:38):
Uh, we ship all over the country,our bacon or beef, our dry edge pork.
We got some gowa on there too.
So.
Nice.
Yeah, man.
Nice.
Thanks.
, Simon (33:47):
For all you out there.
You can , find us wherever youconsume your podcast and YouTube.
So please go like, subscribe,leave us a review and uh, we'll
catch you on the flip side.
You're listening toHeritage Radio Network.
I.
From kitchen chaos to well-oiled machines.
Get ready for newfangledtechnology and old school Know-how
(00:21):
stories and a good bit of fun.
I'm Simon, and this iscalled Area Mechanic.
I don't know about you, but I did notget into the restaurant business to spend
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I love being in thekitchen, out on the floor.
(00:42):
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Simon (01:30):
According to the, there we go.
Alright.
. Joining me today is JustinBrunson from Brunson Meat Company.
Justin, welcome to Kohler Mechanic.
Awesome.
Happy, uh, Friday afternoon, my man.
Yeah, man.
Happy Friday.
Uh, we're gonna drop this ona Tuesday, but that's okay.
(01:53):
Um, you know.
Full disclosure, I've been a fan ofyours for, I don't know, 12, 13 years.
I was in Denver on a business,business thing, and I got the
opportunity to eat an old major, andI was like, this guy really gets it.
Justin (02:10):
So, um, he took some, uh, really dope food out of that joint.
So thank Oh, yeah,
Simon (02:15):
I remember sitting, I remember being caught in a downpour like downpour
in mid, like early, late August and.
Walking in and your bartender,like he from, from 10 feet away,
throws me a towel, a bar towel.
And he goes, here you go, sir.You'll feel better in a minute.
And I was like, man, this is, I,I knew I was kind of in, in, uh, I
(02:38):
was in a home like I was in, I wasin a place that I could call home.
Um, but here we are in 2025 andyou got some cool stuff going
on with Brunson Meat Company.
But I think before we get tothat, I'd really like to say just.
How'd you get into this industry?
How did it start for you?
Justin (02:56):
I mean, I've always been a fat kid.
I've always liked to eat food.
My grandma was a really amazing, uh, cook.
Um, I grew up in Iowa.
You know, we hunted and fishedand forage and gardened.
And there was always forging going on.
I mean, food, like being from the Midwest,uh, food's a big part of who you are.
(03:19):
And you know, I, I spent a lot of timewith my grandpa and grandma growing up,
uh, and my, my grandpa grew up in theGreat Depression, so, you know, like if
he could hunt or fish or grow or somethinglike that, my, you know, there was
canning going on and it would, you know,just food's always been part of life.
I mean, I. It was we'd, he'd evengo as far as he knew where all the
(03:40):
walnut trees were and we'd go, youknow, pick the walnuts up off the
ground and soak 'em in the water and.
You know, to clean 'em offand dry 'em out and pick, you
know, pick the nuts out of 'em.
We'd go forging for, you know,uh, beach nuts and stuff out in
the woods, like in the woods.
And then all the morale mushroom huntingin the spring and tons of fishing
and, you know, deer hunting, just, Imean, just food's always been around.
(04:04):
If you're gonna harvest all thatstuff, you just don't do it for fun.
Uh, it is fun to do, but youknow, it really comes down to, uh.
Eating and, and, and I just,I love food, you know, and I
think the Food Network came out.
You know, I'm 45 now, so watching, likeback in the day, I think it was like,
you know, Emer Lagasse and Bobby Flay.
(04:25):
But even before that, like watchinglike, uh, Graham Cure, Justin Wilson
and all those old cooking shows, I'dsit there with my grandma and watch
Julia Childs, you know, and, um, youknow, I just, I, and I like to eat, man.
I've always liked to eat.
Uh.
Um, so that's what really got into me.
I'm a fat kid.
Nice.
Simon (04:46):
Me too.
Me too.
Yeah.
My inner fat.
I love
both (04:48):
it.
Simon (04:49):
Um, and so like rest o obviously restaurant, restaurant work is, uh, part
and parcel to, to getting to eat a lot, so
both (04:58):
yeah.
Simon (04:59):
How, how did that kind of, like, how did the industry thing sort of.
Fall in place for you?
Justin (05:04):
Yes.
I mean, I think my first restaurantgig, I might have been 14 years
old, washing dishes for a cateringcompany in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
And then I think, you know, I definitelydid some ca other stuff with that
catering stuff like as a server.
And then, you know, I thinkwhen I was more like I.
I don't know, 17.
(05:25):
I went off to college in Iowa andneeded to make some money and I
was like, well, I think I couldbe a cook and became a fry cook.
Nice.
I got kicked outta college.
Yeah.
I had to, you know, and then I had tofigure it out and I, you know, I took like
a year off, worked in a feed warehouseand I was like, well, I really love food.
(05:47):
Uh, I think I wanna go to culinary school.
So I took that journey through theCordon Blue down at Scottsdale.
Uh, this is probably in 20.
Sorry.
Oh.
Oh, it was oh one I think.
Alright.
Yeah.
Oh one, not 21.
Um, but yeah, but you know, I mean I thinkI got my first taste of it when I was 14.
(06:11):
Um, um, schlepping dishes, man.
Simon (06:16):
Yeah.
Um, I don't know.
We gotta go back andsay one thing for sure.
And that is Justin Wilson.
That old boy could cook man.
Oh man, Owen and Yum baby.
It
Justin (06:27):
was, yeah.
I love watching.
You
Simon (06:29):
didn't really know what he was saying.
Justin (06:31):
Yeah, but it was amazing.
Reached up the west, man.
All that old, I used to watchall that stuff with my grandma.
She was always trying to figureout some new way to do something.
I mean, I still got, I mean, I haveher, her whole cast iron collection and
her old Wagner pans and I mean, my, my,my kitchen's a bit of a family museum
too, which is pretty cool at the house.
Simon (06:52):
That's awesome.
Justin (06:53):
Yeah.
All
Simon (06:53):
right.
So in it, in it from birth Got it.
Food.
It's, it's there.
Yeah.
Uh, culinary school.
Yeah.
Dish washing at 14.
Like, I, I guess I wannaknow, like, personally, like
how did old Major come about?
Justin (07:10):
Like, um, yeah, so I, I mean, at the time I already had Masterpiece Deli.
I think we might have.
Two locations of that at thetime, which was my sandwich shop
concept, which was my first one.
And like, you know, weopened up Masterpiece Deli
2008 with 15 $16 sandwiches.
Everybody told me I was gonna go broke.
(07:30):
We opened up the door.
I wanted like, you know, best newchef in town and stuff like that.
And you know, I was 27 years old.
I was an owner, opened up asan owner and I was like, Denver
needs a good sandwich shop.
So I did that.
We crushed it.
I made all these Baller Spa likewe won best cast le at a deli.
Um, and I was like, damn, I really wannado something that's really focused about
(07:52):
farming local animals, the pig salami.
Um, I. So that's where the ideaof old Major actually came from.
And I had a buddy, Ben Parsons, he's awine local winemaker here in Colorado,
and he's like, you should do it, you know?
And I remember sitting, it was, therewas a bar, it's actually the oldest
(08:13):
bar in Denver called My Brother's Bar.
And him and I sat down onenight and had too many beers
and he still has the napkin.
But that's where itall started, which was.
Pretty great.
So we, you know, we raised the money andbuilt like this dreamy restaurant with
the sickest kitchen and a, you know, aslummy dry aging room and actually had
the the first HA plan in Colorado for.
(08:35):
Making whole, uh, whole mossel and groundferment salami inside of a restaurant.
And I used to do, do the wholeanimal butchery while we were
open on Wednesday nights.
And it was like, I mean, thatplace was a party in there too.
Like we were putting out sexyfood with tweezers, but it was
somewhere you could walk in withflip-flops and a t-shirt and get.
Ha ha have too much to drink andtoo much to eat and get loud.
(08:59):
Like, at one point I remember the talkingheads were playing and like the whole
dining room was like dancing and like Iwas running through dancing with them.
Like it was a really fun environment.
But yeah, that's kind ofhow old major came about.
I really wanted to focus on the pig.
I love the pig.
It's the coolest animal ever.
It's saved every culture.
I mean any, you can feed the thinggarbage and, and, and, and it.
(09:20):
Turns in this big, robust, beautifulanimal that you can feed your whole
family on and use every bit of it too.
You know, uh, you know, from therooter to the Tudor is definitely
a cool thing about the pig.
And, uh, you know, beingfrom Iowa, I love pigs.
Uh, uh, uh, so yeah, that's,that's how major came about.
Simon (09:40):
Nice.
Yeah.
All right.
Now let's just, let's just shootinto the fun stuff like, yeah.
Brunson Meat Company,noble Mold, like, yeah.
Tell me a story, dog.
Justin (09:51):
Yeah, so, you know, through all this Lummi making, over the years, I
have really learned a lot about mold andmeat and flavor and some fermentation
and aging and all these things, and.
We did it on salami.
And I was like, well, I found this chef,his name's John Ssar down in Dallas,
(10:14):
and I went to a steakhouse and Seanand I became, we were cooking a dinner
at the James Beard House in New York.
And uh, you know, I didn't know whohe was or whatever, and I cooked, we
cooked, we all cooked our dish, andhe was like, Hey man, your dish was.
That was the best dish here tonight.
I want you to come down to Texas andcook an event with me down there.
And John and I became friends andthe first time I walked into John's
(10:35):
Steakhouse, he had this aging caseand it was full of moldy meat.
And I'm like, what the hell?
I've never seen the moldson the, on the meat.
And he just called it the molds.
He didn't know what it was like.
He just knew that it madethe steak way better.
Right.
And so, so I mean, John shipped,let me take some of the malt.
(10:56):
I work, I've had this, I had arefrigerator in my garage that
all my friends call the JeffreyDahmer refrigerator, and that's
where I learned about the processover about the last eight years.
So I did this at home for eightyears and learned, and, you know,
learned about the molds and.
Temperatures and humidity and wind speedand breed and feed and what different
(11:21):
processes are like on different animalsand different cuts and different moisture.
Lo it's just totally took a deep,I'm a dork, like I'm a meat geek.
And I, and I really learned about it.
And then, uh, a couple years ago I reachedout to John and I was like, Hey, you know,
I've been playing with this stuff and.
There's nobody out there doing aprogram like this in the country.
(11:42):
And I was like, would I have yourblessing to take what you taught me
and turn it into a business and, and,and, uh, sell, sell the, no, the noble
mold aged beef, uh, pork and lamb.
To people in the country and he islike, I would love that Bronson.
That sounds great.
You go do that.
So it was really cool that hetaught me very rustically and then
(12:02):
I got super scientifical about it.
'cause this is how my brain works.
I wanted to know exactly what moldstrains and exactly what temperatures and
humidities those certain mold strains.
Grow at.
And like, it's funny 'cause theyfeed and they'll die on that piece
of meat too if they, you know,they, they, they live on protein.
They eat on protein.
Um, so it's just been so cool.
(12:23):
So it took me like eight years of, youknow, just being a weird freak with a
Jeffrey Dahmer refrigerator in his garage.
Um, and I took the molds and wehad 'em all tested and it was
okayed by the USDA to start a,a small facility here in Denver.
And I had a room that I couldput about, I don't know, 3000
pounds in, and I started there.
(12:44):
And, uh, while we outgrew thatin, like the first month I had,
I had two chef friends that hadtwo of the best chefs in Denver.
Alex, I, uh, Alex Delat Mercantile in Denver.
And then.
Matt Vadder at Rootstock, uh, andred up in Breckenridge, and they're
both like, we'll buy meat from you.
So I started off with those twoguys as my customers, and then
(13:05):
we picked up a bunch more people.
And then I outgrew my little room here.
And then I have two rooms in Iowanow, and I have one here in Denver.
And I mean, between the three roomsthat holds about 60,000 pounds of meat.
Um.
If they're all full, of course,but of course that's amazing.
One time and yeah, and then, you know,we just, I mean, it was posted on
(13:26):
Instagram, all this cool stuff I wasdoing, and this chef from this restaurant
chain called Masters was like, Hey man.
What is that?
I want to taste that.
I sent him a steak and he was like,holy cow, he sent, and then he is
like, can you send a couple boxesoff to our, the COO of Landry's?
And I'm like, sure.
And yeah, the COO of Landry'sis like, wow, this is one of
(13:48):
the best steaks I've ever had.
And you know, it's been a lot ofjust like organic growth and a
lot of the growth of my businesshas come from Instagram and just.
You know, it's blasting.
These p people are like,what in the hell is that?
You know, like, you know,you show, I'm not gonna lie,
Simon (14:03):
I was right there.
Justin (14:04):
Yeah, man.
You show him these fuzzy like pieces ofmeat that look like, you know, like, I
mean, I've had, I, there's a couple of'em that I've had so much long, like I
called 'em a g looked like a goat man.
Like I was, but the, what, whatthat, that whole thing does.
I mean, it's not just about a.You know, it's about the aging.
You're still going throughyour traditional dry aging.
You're getting dehydration, right?
(14:25):
Water loss, the natural enzymaticbreakdown is still happening, so
you're getting all that stuff.
But what the mo Noblemolds do, uh, it's insane.
It's like ev everybody right awayis like popcorn brown butter.
Hazelnut and Parmesan Ryan.
But popcorn is the one that just, itblows up like you're cooking the steak.
(14:47):
The whole house smells likepop brown, like butter popcorn.
It is insane.
And a lot, most dry aging rooms, theykind of have more of a sour smell to 'em.
Ours has a sweet smell.
Um, it's just, you know, what, what isoff coming off the meat as those molds
are eating the outside of that and it, andit's really imparting some insane flavors.
(15:07):
Uh, it's, and it's a. Traditional dryage beef is a lot different flavor.
Uh, your traditional dry agebeef, you got like a lot of blue
cheese, um, where this is like.
Popcorn.
Um, right.
So that's, that's the big thingand that's kinda what we do.
And you know, I'm a chef too, so I triedit on beef, started crushing beef, and
(15:28):
then I started bringing in some heritagebreed pork from this little farm in
Missouri and these red waddle pigs.
And we did pork chops and it was awesome.
And I brought in some Colorado lamb.
We did that.
It was awesome.
We just did an r and d test batchon some Colorado bison and it
might be my favorite product.
Um.
Wow.
And then we also have awhole ba uh, bacon line.
(15:50):
I mean, I'm, I've alwaysbeen a big bacon guy.
I have a great bacon recipe.
Uh, so we, we, we havethree lines of bacon.
We do a applewood smoke to sugarfree and a black pepper rub.
And we sell that nationally as wellthrough our distribution partners.
And, uh, it comes in layout.
Format for restaurants.
We have retail format, we do slab.
It's super high quality baconthat fits a perfect niche.
(16:13):
It's uncured, no trolley, po.
Tri polyphosphate.
All the pork comes from seaboard farms.
Uh, they have an outpost here in Colorado.
Uh, so it's a clean label.
Bacon made with commodity pork.
And it hits that perfect like price pointfor restaurants, but it's like, because
you're super high quality in flavor, thecommodity pork makes it a little cheaper.
(16:36):
So we sell a literally.
Tons and tons of that every week.
You
Simon (16:40):
had me at Bacon Dog.
Yeah.
I
Justin (16:42):
mean it's a bite tub ball of recipe.
It's all dry rub bunch of, youknow, bunch of Bay Leaf and
Juniper Mustard seed, brown sugar.
We use the celery powderso it's nitrate free.
So yeah, that's whatwe've been focusing on.
Brunson Meat Company is reallyjust bacon and the dry age meats.
Um, and just trying to keep our.
I mean, it's grown so fast.
(17:04):
This is our second full year in business.
Uh, like our first, first, first, youknow, little, we had six months and it
was the new year, and then we had that,we just finished our first full year.
So this will be our secondfull year in business.
And I mean, we're gettingnational recognition, uh,
chefs all over the country.
I mean.
To have Mastro Steakhouse pick us up.
(17:24):
It was like, what the dude, that's
Simon (17:26):
massive.
I got
Justin (17:26):
a bunch of Michelin star guys.
I got a bunch of James Beard guys.
I mean, it's, it's fun tosee people eat the meat.
Like I just did a food show in Orlandoand like these chefs from Disney were
like, holy cow, we don't tasted anything.
I'm like, you know, like, these guys getto try some of the best beef in the world.
I mean, you're Disney, um, right.
So it's just really cool towatch everybody's, uh, face
(17:49):
when they eat it and smell it.
Like my favorite thing to do whenI do a sales meeting is like,
I'm like, smell this steak raw.
And everybody's like, I've neversmelled anything like that.
It smells sweet andpopcorny when it's raw.
Uh.
And it's just, we, you know, we useall USDA Prime Angus beef right now.
I mean, my big thing is to work withAmerican owned companies, you know,
(18:10):
support American farmers, but also allthe way back to the ownership to make sure
that it's a, you know, just trying to, Igrew up on a farm and I would try to, you
know, support the, the American farmer.
So.
Nice.
Simon (18:23):
Yeah.
Um, I mean, I guess I, you know,I. They're tough, but here we go.
Um, I think the big thing for me,like looking at your, looking at your
career and like hearing the passionfor the, the product, like how.
(18:44):
How would you say, like beinga chef set you up to, to be
doing what you're doing now?
Because that's, that's a big thing, man.
Justin (18:53):
Yeah, I mean, I felt, I mean, I wanted a meat restaurant
and I got a meat restaurant.
It was a sick meat restaurant and it justgot me more into meat, you know, like,
I mean, doing, playing with some dryaging there, we were making salami there.
And I mean, it was, you know, andit was just like the more and more
I started to dislike the restaurantbusiness, the more and more I.
(19:13):
Um, liked the.
Really, really enjoyed the meat business.
And, you know, uh, I love, I love service.
I love cooks.
I love, you know, Ilike, I like the staff.
I like the guests and thehigh volume, and that's great.
When you're young.
I'm 45 now.
I'm an old man.
Like, the last thing I want tobe doing right now is to be on a
(19:35):
line calling tickets or cooking.
It is funny, I even as the executivechef owner of the restaurant,
I worked, I worked, torn not, Ialways worked the line and the, my.
Got my chefs called the tickets.
I hate calling tickets.
I became a cook to cook.
Um, so I that I would hate tojust be in that world right now.
It's just not who I am these days.
(19:56):
When I was young, Iwas super into it, man.
I was, I loved it.
But, uh, uh, as I've grownolder, it's, it's great.
I still get to work with food.
I get to be around the best chefs inthe country, uh, you know, tasting
the best beef in the country.
And I get to do, becreative too, like, I mean.
I mean, we're doing something thathasn't really been done, uh, before.
(20:17):
It was funny.
I, there is one other company in theUnited States that does mold aged
beef, and I didn't even know about'em till after we, I started doing it.
You know, like I didn't, right.
Yeah.
And it's, it's, it's cool.
And they're, I mean, by the pitchers,we haven't talked, but, but they're
pitchers, they're using differentmolds than I'm using so thick.
It's just per, it's just, it's just cool.
(20:39):
And now I found out there's chefsin Italy doing it, uh, and Japan.
Uh, and we kind of have a smallcommunity of people that are
doing this mold age product.
I mean, there's a guy in Japan doing iton fish, and it's the exact same old.
And I saw it.
I reached out to him and.
We swap pictures.
He is like, oh yeah,it's all the same stuff.
(21:00):
We could tell by lookingat it what strains it is.
It's, it's just really, really cool.
That's
Simon (21:07):
incredible.
Yeah.
Uh, I like, uh, I think when wefinish recording, you and I are
gonna talk little business, but Yeah.
I mean, I think that.
I don't know, man.
There's, there's so much to be done.
As, as chefs, you know, I, I spent30 plus years in the kitchen and.
(21:27):
It's like I, I look around andgo, what is it I wanna do next?
And yeah.
I found I, for me, I found that likehelping chefs be better leaders was,
was a great way for me to go into,go into my next chapter, you know?
And, and I totally agree with you.
Like, being, being on the line inmy late forties was not pleasant.
Like, I, like I, I told people.
(21:50):
A couple of times they're like, youused to be like you used to love it.
And I'm like, yeah, but like whenyou have that much adrenaline
going for so many years at somepoint, like the spark plug burns.
both (22:01):
Yeah.
And it
Simon (22:01):
stops being fun and it starts being like, I swear to you, it started
being traumatic towards the end.
It's like the rushes that would come inand the company I was working for, we
were so busy and it was so, it was like.
Higher end Mexican food.
Yeah, right.
But it was, it was cranking, dude,
Justin (22:19):
cranking
Simon (22:20):
and it just, it wasn't, it wasn't great.
Justin (22:22):
No.
It's funny, as you get a little bitolder, uh, in life, you're, uh, you
know, that adrenaline changes, youknow, like, uh, and, and cooking in
a kitchen is great and fun and I'm.
I had a great career and I had somegreat teams that I worked with and
worked for, and that they worked for me.
And we, I mean, and the, thecamaraderie and like the, the,
(22:43):
all of it, it was, it was great.
But man, you start gettingup in your forties and you're
still hucking in a kitchen, man.
It's, uh, it's hard on the body.
That is a young man's game
Simon (22:54):
game.
It's,
Justin (22:54):
it definitely
Simon (22:55):
is.
Justin (22:56):
Yeah.
Simon (22:57):
So what are the, you know, uh.
A, as we talk about getting older, oneof the things for me that is, that is
fascinating and, and that is like whatare the things that like get you out
of bed in the morning and kind of giveyou like that visceral response, like,
I'm going to get to do this today.
Justin (23:17):
What are those like for you?
I think.
You know, I'm having a lot of fun rightnow just spreading the word of the noble
mold aging process, uh, because it'sstill just blowing everybody's mind.
Like, I, I just started a LinkedIn accountand like, it's, it just blew up, man.
I mean, it's, it, people arelike, what are you doing?
(23:40):
And I have all these like.
I mean, huge beef companiesreaching out to me.
They like, we've never heard of thisor seen anything like it or, you know,
like, and everybody's like, is it safe?
And I was like, of course it's safe.
We operate under USDA inspection.
You know?
Um, yeah.
So just, you know, like, it's not oftenyou get to be a person that is creating
(24:05):
something that hasn't been done or.
Isn't done by hundreds orthousands of people in this world.
You know, like, I mean, there's literallyone other company that does some mold
aging and their product's awesome.
And it's funny, I didn't even knowabout them till after we started
and going, and then someone's like,well, you haven't heard of this?
(24:26):
I'm like, no, I haven't heard of this.
So like, it's just so, it's so crazy.
Um, but uh, yeah, man, to dosomething kind of cutting edge
and to refine a craft and.
You know, really produce someof the finest beef in the world.
Like, I'm gonna, we, we justlooked up, uh, there's a world
state competition, um, wow.
(24:48):
Every year.
And we're looking into what it,what it would cost for us to put
some product out there into it.
'cause I definitely feel like we could.
Be the best American Beastproducer out there right now.
I mean, and
Simon (25:00):
where is that?
Where is that World State competition?
Because I'm, I'm book a flight, I
Justin (25:05):
believe it's in Italy this year.
You can check.
They got an Instagram phage,Facebook, they're all over the
place, the World State Competition.
Um, and there's people fromall over the world and there's
all these different categories.
So we would be going after,um, American producer.
So, um, I just think with, uh,with the quality of beef we get.
(25:27):
Aging that I. You know, it costssome ruckus over there and I'm not
really, oh yeah, let's compete insomething, but it's like, man, I
just want to get, get this beef outthere for more people to taste it.
And, uh, uh, it's just so much differentthan your traditional dry style dry aging.
So yeah, what gets me outtabed is like, you know, and
excited is definitely like, uh.
(25:49):
You know, we're doing somethingthat really hasn't been
done, you know, and Right.
You know, to do it onlamb and pork and bison.
It's just really fun and, uh, um, it'sbeen just a cool thing to learn about.
Simon (26:03):
That's awesome, man.
Yeah.
Justin (26:04):
I love it.
Simon (26:05):
Um, let's see.
I think, I think my one, sort of,one of my standard questions here
is like, with all the things thatyou're doing right now, what is it?
What.
What constitutes a win in your day?
Like how do you win the day?
Man?
Justin (26:23):
Oh man.
When I, when is a win?
I mean, right now, it's just funny.
Like, so, I mean, I do, Ido ev it's, we're a small
business, so I do everything.
Um, and uh, you know, likewhen, when you, when you go do
sales, sales are really funny.
Like, you know, like everybody'slike, oh, I love the product, and
then they find out how much it cost.
(26:43):
You know, like, you know.
It's very expensive product.
And you know, you go back and forthwhen they finally come back and they're
like, all right, we're gonna, we'regonna put your stake on the menu.
And, uh, it's such a win and a buzz,like, uh, it's really hard in sales
and really as a chef, like, you know,I hope I didn't treat my salespeople.
Um.
Too bad.
Over the years I was usually pretty good.
(27:04):
I made up lunch and stuff and, but youknow, and I always told, told 'em to
make an appointment with me and I don't,I try not to call cold called, but
sometimes you just gotta do it, you know?
Right.
Um, so I think the biggest win for me isevery time, you know, we go get in, do
a tasting, the chefs are like, holy cow,this is amazing and we're willing to pay
for it, and we wanna put it on the menu.
(27:25):
So, because it is a very expensiveprocess, uh, there's a lot of costs.
So
Simon (27:30):
yeah.
I mean.
I'm a, I'm a firm believer that thatgreat product and like product that has
some, some craft to it costs money, man.
Yeah.
But you can't, you know, it's,it's like, uh, I was talking a
pizza guy the other day, right?
Like he's opening up his, hishis little Italian sort of pizza,
(27:51):
pasta joint and uh, he goes.
It's, it's, it's like the flour.
This is the flour you buy goes.
Yeah, but it's more expensive.
He goes, and I'm buying likethe good tomatoes in the can.
Yeah.
He goes, I'm not, Idon't wanna, and I said.
(28:11):
People complain about price andI, and I'm like, you know what?
Taste it.
At the end of the day,that's what it is, right?
Like,
Justin (28:17):
buy the best, do something little to it.
Like the best food comesfrom the best ingredients.
You can't, I, I mean, it's justlike, there's this saying, you can't
do epic shit with basic people.
You can't cook.
I love that with basic ingredients, man.
Like you want the goods, you gottause the good butter, the good oil, the
good flour, you know, the good local.
(28:39):
Produce that's in season.
The, the good smallfamily farm raised meats.
You know, the, the best of the, the best.
You know, like we use all USDA prime.
I buy, I buy most of it from the Midwestbecause I believe the best Angus in
the country comes from the Midwest.
You know, that's where the bestgenetics are, the best corn.
(28:59):
I think those cold winters, uh, reallykind of make a tougher animal, the
strongest the animals, the better it'sgonna taste, and a happy animal as well.
So, um, just all the, you know, allthose little things, it all adds
up to make the perfect ingredient.
Simon (29:13):
Yeah.
Justin (29:14):
Yeah.
Simon (29:15):
Somebody said that said something to me recently
that just like rung my bell.
They're like, you don't get to drivea Ferrari when you have Kia money.
both (29:23):
Yeah.
And I was.
Simon (29:25):
Got it.
Okay.
Justin (29:26):
But it's funny, as chefs and food people, like, I mean, I've
always probably spent about 25% ofmy income on food where, you know,
a lot of people aren't like that.
And you know what, that's good for that.
You know, like, but there's so manypeople that are out there and into it.
They wanna know where the meat comesfrom and the process and how we're doing.
You know, it's just socool that people are in.
(29:48):
To what they're putting into their body.
And I've always looked at it as like food.
You know, food is medicine, you know,like, I mean, I, I don't get sick.
I don't, you know, likeI eat really healthy.
I mean, yeah, I'm a fat guybecause I'm, I eat too much.
But like, you know, like I don't havehigh blood pressure, any of that shit.
I mean, I eat protein and vegetablesand nuts and fruits and, you
(30:08):
know, every once in a whileindulge in a little bit of sugar.
And, uh, but it's just like, youknow, food is medicine and people
are thinking like that more.
And, you know, there are alot of people with a lot of.
So Depo disposable income these days too.
You know, there's all thesetech people and stuff.
Totally, totally.
You know, like you could, you could buymy, one of my steaks and cook it at your
house for about, you know, 80 to 90 bucks.
(30:29):
Or you could go to a restaurantand have it for $300.
So, um, what do you like to do?
And I like, I rather go get it home andbuy some better wine, you know, because
just the steak would be $300 and thenyou're be doing that, you know, buying
wine out and it's just, I don't know.
So, I mean, it's fun.
It's fun.
I. It's not every day meatfor everybody, you know?
(30:50):
It is for some people, um, uh, at least onthe beef and the bacon's everyday stuff.
We're in, uh, we're in Kroger here.
We had 7 99 pack for a12 ounce pack of bacon.
So the bacon is like that.
Simon (31:03):
Really?
You're in Kroger, that's still,yeah, I gotta, I gotta look around.
Um, I, I, I, I would be interested tosee if it makes its way out to Seattle.
So,
Justin (31:12):
yeah.
Uh, I mean, we're, so we justlaunched with those guys.
Right around Christmas time here.
Um, so it's been great.
It's been received well.
I mean, the packaging's great.
The quality of product's great.
The price is great.
Um, yeah, so it's just, you know,slow grow, slow, slow development.
See, see how it works in this market.
And hopefully we can take theBacon National with those guys.
(31:34):
There
Simon (31:35):
you go.
That's what I love to hear.
Like, just take it slow.
Uh, buddy of mine in San Diego, he goes.
I grow my business thesame way I cook my brisket.
I said, how's that?
He says, slow and low.
Justin (31:50):
Oh yeah.
Well, I mean to have, uh.
Steady growth is way betterthan to have this, like, this
is scary in anything, man.
Like, you know, I rather totally, Iwould rather cruise ride along and grow.
Uh, anytime you start take takingspikes like that, it's uh, life can
get choppy real fast and it's hardnot when you have the opportunity.
(32:10):
I say no a lot more than I say yes.
Um, I'll tell you that.
Uh, that's, you know, one of those thingsyou just learn as an older man too.
It's like, well, let's, youknow, try to grow slow and.
You know, the young guy wants to goget it, or you're like, well, I, I've
made a bunch of mistakes in my life.
Let's try to do this as slow as wecan and responsibly for everybody.
Simon (32:32):
Well, I think that for me it's about, well, I, I just think
like old fashioned football, likereal old fashioned football, right?
When they used to, and there wasa coach, and I don't even know his
name, but he used to talk aboutgain an inch and hold the inch.
Right.
Don't, don't give up ground.
Yeah.
Right.
Just, just go, go smooth.
(32:54):
Gain an inch.
Yeah.
Hold it.
Gain an inch.
Yeah.
Hold it.
You know?
, And that's, how I try to do business.
'cause I'm not really interested in,in falling back or having to start
over 'cause Oh, we, we got greedy.
You know, so I, I appreciate that man.
I can't tell you how much Iappreciate you coming on and
talking to us for a little while.
Justin (33:16):
Yeah, man.
Thanks for having us.
I haven't done a podcast in a longtime, so it was fun to, uh, get out and
preach the, preach the word of the noblemold, dry aging process and Brunson.
I love it.
Yeah, it'd be, it's great if any of yourviewers wanna come check our website out,
it's www do brunson meats plural.com.
(33:38):
Uh, we ship all over the country,our bacon or beef, our dry edge pork.
We got some gowa on there too.
So.
Nice.
Yeah, man.
Nice.
Thanks.
, Simon (33:47):
For all you out there.
You can , find us wherever youconsume your podcast and YouTube.
So please go like, subscribe,leave us a review and uh, we'll
catch you on the flip side.
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