BERLIN – Duck ham. Dashi infused pork fat butter. Old Bay bacon. Mon Pere brie. Kimchi.
High-end cheeses, domestic cured meats and fermented anything are the focus at Berlin’s newest business, Gilbert’s Provisions. Berlin native Toby Gilbert opened the shop last month in an effort to move away from the grueling lifestyle associated with being a chef.
“This is a way I can be at home and supply fellow Berliners with awesome stuff and still play with food,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert, who most recently cooked at a(MUSE.) in Rehoboth, has been working toward opening up a shop in Berlin since last year when he decided he was tired of the 70 and 80 hour weeks that came with working in restaurants.
“The luster of the chef life was starting to get lost,” he said.
The former storage building behind Bruder Hill caught his eye and Gilbert embarked on an extensive renovation of the space. The Stephen Decatur High School graduate said he made an effort to hire local companies like Plak That, Carpentry by Danny Hulme and Jordan Pippin’s Steel N Glory to help with the work. The shop now features one new wall, a new roof, ceiling and floor as well as new plumbing and electrical systems.
Though making the oddly shaped space usable took a lot of work, Gilbert says he’s pleased with the way it turned out.
“I like that it’s a weird little spot,” he said. “It’s consistent with how Berlin’s growing. Not everyone can be on Main Street.”
Gilbert’s Provisions opened in mid-July with an inventory of domestic and imported cheese, domestic cured meats and fermented goods among other grocery products. While Gilbert went “across the pond” for many of his cheeses, much of what’s sold in the store he creates himself. Foods that qualify as “quick” charcuterie, products like pâté, bacon and duck ham, he makes himself. The duck ham — duck cured in sugar and salt the way ham is — has proven quite popular. Gilbert is also proud of his pâté.
“I’ve been working on my pâté a long time,” he said. “I add a lot of reduced vinegar. When you’re dealing with offal, acids are important.”
This is a way I can be at home and supply fellow Berliners with awesome stuff and still play with food,” said proprietor Toby Gilbert.
Gilbert is particularly interested in fermentation and typically has kimchi, sauerkraut and fermented garlic at Gilbert’s Provisions. He says interested in fermented foods is growing.
“People are getting less scared of it,” he said. “It is controlled spoilage but when you know the right procedures it actually makes some stuff safer.”
Gilbert says it also tastes great. He enjoys manipulating the ingredients to see what results.
“There’s only so much you can do,” he said. “You have to let nature take over which I think is super cool.”
Gilbert is also experimenting with bread. This week, he was offering a garlic confit and squid ink loaf.
“I usually do four loaves a day,” he said.
There are limited quantities of much of what’s in the shop, but that’s the way Gilbert likes it.
“I’d rather see it fly out the door,” he said.
In spite of the shop’s somewhat out-of-the-way location, Gilbert says business has been going well. Other Berlin businesses have been supportive and often send customers his way.
“Berlin’s a nice little symbiotic ecosystem of business owners,” he said. “Everyone helps each other.”
Gilbert’s Provisions is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. For more information look up the shop on Facebook or call 410-973-2334.
