Hopkins ’05 Making an Impact on the Philly Food Scene

 

His passion for food has paid dividends over the past few years as he’s started two successful food-based businesses here in Philadelphia: Brine Street Picklery and his newest venture, Liberty Kitchen PHL.

The idea for Brine Street Picklery was born when Hopkins and his now wife, Valentina, traveled to New Orleans for the city’s annual Jazz Festival. “I had a really good pickled green bean,” Hopkins says. “I started obsessing over them when I got back home.” This obsession led him, along with some other partners, to start making and experimenting with their own pickle recipes in their free time. “We would spend 5-6 hours every Wednesday night making up all these jars of pickles, then going to different businesses trying to sell them our product.” Eventually, they were able to break through by getting products into well-known chains such as Whole Foods, DiBruno Bros., and, more recently, Giant.

The deal with Giant forced Hopkins and his partners to outsource most of the production, but with some more time on his hands, he dipped his toes into his next idea, Liberty Kitchen PHL. “While everything was happening with Brine Street, we were thinking what the next step might be,” says Hopkins. “We had this idea for a shared food space.”

With a new partner, Hopkins opened up Liberty Kitchen on Front Street in Fishtown to double as a deli/market on the first floor with a commissary in the basement. The commissary acts as the “shared food space” Hopkins had envisioned, allowing other startup food businesses to rent out the kitchen space to cook and create their own products. Then, Liberty Kitchen can sell their products in the market area of the shop. It’s a great way to support other local businesses as they try to get a foothold in the market space.

Recently, the deli portion of Liberty Kitchen made headlines, nabbing the coveted title of “Best Hoagie in Philadelphia” in Philadelphia Magazine. “We were surprised. We didn’t expect the hoagies and sandwiches would be so popular,” says Hopkins. The hoagies at Liberty Kitchen, creations from Hopkins and his partners, are an homage to their past. For instance, the “Della Casa” hoagie was a nod to one of Hopkins’ favorite food spots in the Bronx, where he spent four years attending Fordham University.

Hopkins considers himself lucky to have remained open and operational during the COVID-19 outbreak. Perhaps most impressively, Hopkins has successfully pursued his passions while holding down a full-time job as a commercial insurance broker for The Graham Company, and recently becoming a new father to a son, Dominic.

Getting in on the ground floor of a new venture is nothing new to Hopkins, a Norristown native. His first experience of creation was at the Prep. “I was among the founding ‘crew’ for the now robust, nationally recognized Prep Rugby team,” Hopkins recalls. Like many Prep alums, Hopkins is making a great impact in Philadelphia, just mere minutes from Mother Prep.