Meet Justin Brunson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Brunson.

Executive Chef and restaurateur Justin Brunson’s passion for quality ingredients and artfully designed cuisine stems from his agricultural roots, earning him recognition as one of Denver’s most impressive and innovative chefs.

Growing up in an Iowan farming family taught Brunson the importance of carefully sourcing ingredients, and he has since integrated his knowledge of the farming and agriculture industries into each of his concepts. His family of restaurants that make up Brunson & Co. highlight the best of humanely-raised meats, sustainable seafood and ingredients sourced from farms around Colorado.

Brunson began his culinary journey two decades ago at Scottsdale’s Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. An internship with renowned Chef Michael DiMaria at Michael’s at the Citadel gave him extensive training thereafter. Brunson then moved to Denver, where he worked with some of the city’s best chefs, including Chef Richard Sandoval (Zengo), award-winning Chef Frank Bonanno at Luca D’Italia and with the team at Denver’s top restaurant, Fruition.

In 2008, Brunson opened Masterpiece Deli, his first concept. In 2011, he launched the Denver Bacon Company, which led him to further his knowledge of sustainable butchery via a 30-day internship in New York’s Fleisher’s under master butcher Josh Applestone. Inspired and ready for something new, Brunson opened Old Major in 2013 to much critical acclaim. Focusing on heritage-raised meats from Colorado farms, the restaurant features contemporary farmhouse cuisine and continues as a Denver dining gem today.

Brunson & Co., has continued to grow in recent years. Brunson created Culture Meat & Cheese, which brings a carefully curated selection of cultured goods and accoutrements, handcrafted sandwiches and meat and cheese boards to The Denver Central Market and Denver International Airport; Culture also has a retail outlet inside Pearl Wine Company. Royal Rooster, a concept focusing on fried chicken sandwiches and gourmet sides, opened inside the Broadway Market in 2018. Folsom Foods opened in Rosetta Hall in Boulder, CO in October 2019. Additionally, there is a quick-service restaurant and butcher shop in Leever’s Locavore in Denver, CO set to open by the end of 2019.

Brunson taught himself how to cure meats at Masterpiece Deli and has since expanded upon and perfected his skills at Old Major, where he experiments with new world ingredients and flavors using old-world techniques. River Bear American Meats, Colorado’s premier cooked and cured meat production facility, is the next evolution of the meat curing skills Brunson has been honing his entire life. Meat is his passion, and he aims to share that with chefs and consumers alike through River Bear.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Being in the restaurant business is one of the most challenging things in life. From constantly trying to find, train and retain employees, dealing with the press and constantly keeping up with food trends and changing customer demands. But I wouldn’t want to ever do anything else.

Please tell us more about your work. What do you do? What do you specialize in? What sets you apart from competition?
We are in the restaurant and meat business. We specialize in delis/quick service, fried chicken and meat-centric restaurants. I have become known as the “meat chef” of Denver. I am proud to create great food and hire great people. We are set apart by our quality of meat – we use as many family farms as possible and only work with farmers/ranchers who do things the right way.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are going to keep our heads down and work hard. I definitely see getting more into the butchery business in the future – we recently opened the butcher shop inside Leever’s Locavore and love that side of the business.

Contact Info:

• Address: Old Major
  3316 Tejon Street
  Denver, CO 80211 Culture Meat & Cheese
  2669 Larimer Street (inside Denver Central Market)
  Denver, CO 80211 Royal Rooster
  950 Broadway (inside Broadway Market)
  Denver, CO 80204 River Bear American Meats
  3821 Steele Street
  Denver, CO 80205
  River Bear Butchery and Culture address (inside Leever’s Locavore) – 2630 West 38th Ave Denver, CO 80211
• Email: matthew@riverbearmeats.com
• Contact no.: 720-298-3368
• Website: oldmajordenver.com culturemeatandcheese.com royalroosterdenver.com riverbearmeats.com
• Instagram: /oldmajordenver/ /culturemeatandcheese/ /royal.rooster.denver/ /riverbearamericanmeats/

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