Cured and Culture's hybrid restaurant-market concept allows patrons the same experience whether on premise or at home

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Photography courtesy of Cured and Cultured.

cured and cultured

For lunch, Cured and Cultured boasts a substantial deli menu. Dinner is also served.

Every once in a while, one indulges in a restaurant meal so perfect they only wish they could re-create it again at home. In the restaurant-market space at Cured and Cultured in Belleville, self-proclaimed meat-lovers can do just that, all within an atmosphere customized to fit their needs. 

“It’s more like a lifestyle brand than it is a restaurant or market,” owner Adam Hill explains. “People like good food, so we wanted to create an opportunity for people to have a similar dining experience whether they’re within our four walls or in the comfort of their own home.”

Combining an eatery with a deli isn’t the only thing setting Cured apart from other local restaurants. Unlike other restaurants, Cured and Cultured does not operate on a strict time table; Cured encourages patrons to sit and visit as long as their own schedules allow.  

“Everybody wants to fill it up, turn the tables over and over again, and I said, ‘We don’t really need to do that. Why don’t we have a different plan where people don’t have to be in a rush, they can take their time and eat and take as long or short of a time as they want?’” Hill says. “We want people to engage and talk, stop for a minute. Everybody’s in a hurry. We want people to come here and be chilled out and enjoy the experience.” 

Photography courtesy of Cured and Cultured.

Cured and Cultured Pizza

The live fire pit isn't only reserved for meat at Cured and Cultured, chef Scott Muir also uses it to make signature wood fired flatbreads.

Further enriching the dine-in atmosphere, staffers limit the amount of table service provided at one time in order to pay utmost attention to those seated. Even before COVID-19 regulations called for restaurants to operate at limited capacity, Hill and chef Scott Muir were planning on implementing this business model.

“We do 70–80 percent of our business by reservation only, so there’s a lot of attention paid to the customer experience, and we do this by design,” Hill says. “We want people to have a really special experience, we want them to leave full, and we want them to come back, so we limit the number of table service that we can.” 

Cured and Cultured staff want to make sure the same experience follows each customer home. The same cuts of meat served at the restaurant can be picked up in the connected deli. While not every home is equipped with an oak wood–fired grill (alright, most aren’t), Hill says Cured and Cultured staff are always ready to provide basic meat prep instructions to guarantee a tasty homemade result. 

Photography courtesy of Cured and Cultured

Cured and Cultured fried chicken

Sunday fried chicken at Cured and Cultured

“When it comes to making a really good New York strip, that’s pretty basic: You just salt, pepper, add a little bit of garlic, and go,” Hill says. “That’s the way it should be. It doesn’t have to be complicated.”

Whether in-house or enjoying Cured’s New York strips or ribeyes at home, Hill says he has the same hope for all Cured and Cultured customers: that they engage with the ones they love most. 

“We want people to sit down and engage because as a society, we’re just not doing that very well,” Hill says.