Meet Catherine Neckes and Brian Pierce | Pastry Chef (Catherine Neckes), Executive Chef (Brian Pierce)

We had the good fortune of connecting with Catherine Neckes and Brian Pierce and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Catherine and Brian, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
CATHERINE: Michael, Brian, Lizzie and I have been talking about starting a restaurant together since we were all living in Brooklyn in the early 2010s. At the time, Michael was head of operations for a chain of restaurants in the New York area, and Brian and I were both working as cooks. It wasn’t until I was pregnant with Simone (my second daughter), and living in New Orleans during the pandemic that we really started thinking about it seriously. Brian and Lizzie had landed in Colorado after New York, and I wanted my daughters to grow up near their aunt, so somehow I convinced Michael (my husband) to move our entire life to somewhere we’d never even visited! (Boulder), to start a restaurant with Brian and Lizzie. This was a big ask, since we didn’t have a place to live or an actual restaurant to run. It was a tough first year – we didn’t know anyone, had a 2 year old daughter an infant and no jobs! but we persevered. Family businesses run in our families, so maybe it felt natural to me to want to create something with my sister, husband and brother-in law. Also, I must have had a lot of confidence in these people to think this was a good move! It’s not without challenges and clashes, but I have to say I love getting to see them everyday and create great restaurants together.

BRIAN: When we first decided to begin on this endeavor I was a bit over confident. I knew I had the chops in the kitchen and creativity, and was therefore convinced that the business side of things would come along naturally. I soon realized that I was completely at sea and needed to build an entire new set of skills from the ground up in order to put my culinary skills into action. Luckily, Michael has been a generous and patient mentor and partner. He created space for us to make critical decisions together and helped me get back on track when I stumbled off the trail. The volume of decisions that needed to be made and the pressure to get them right is something that working in a kitchen can prepare you for, but the scale and the gravity of it all was a bit overwhelming. Luckily, the foundation of our business is built on family and I knew from the start that we would always be there to support each other.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
CATHERINE: I’ve been working in kitchens since the early 2010s. I never went to culinary school (I was an English Major at Liberal Arts college in Western Massachusetts), but I’d always love to bake (and eat baked goods!) and I was disillusioned with my job – writing ad copy for tech companies – and the idea of “desk jobs” in general. I spent time working in various bakeries and restaurants in New York City and then New Orleans as a baker and pastry cook. I was inspired by the high powered female chefs I worked for (and, yes, I intentionally sought out female chefs because I found the environment they cultivated in the kitchen was more cooperative, open and supportive while still being focused on craft and quality). I don’t think I could ever go back to having a desk job because I love the physicality of kitchen work, the camaraderie among the staff and the opportunities for creativity. I didn’t feel many obstacles professionally, and maybe that’s because I really like what I do, so even the hard things felt worth it. I’ve learned that it takes time to become good at things, and you have to practice! Also, it sounds cheesy, but do what you want, and don’t write ad copy because you think that’s what you’re supposed to do with an English degree from a Liberal Arts college. I feel eternally grateful to have a job where I can eat pastry cream for breakfast, and to feed it to others.

BRIAN: My career began when, on a whim, I moved to New York City after graduating from Colorado State University in Fort Collins. I knew my philosophy degree wasn’t going to get me very far and I had worked my way through college at sandwich joints and a steakhouse downtown. I found a job at an upscale restaurant in Brooklyn and quickly realized that Hospitality was something that one could take seriously. I saw that cooking was a craft and a vocation that one could master and not just a way to get beer money (though the late nights and ‘work-hard/play-hard’ mentality certainly had its appeal back then). I also realized that I missed my mothers cooking and my fathers garden and found that I could satisfy those cravings in the kitchen, creating dishes with local produce from the farmers market. For the next 9 years, I put my head down and worked my way through some amazing kitchens in Manhattan and Brooklyn, taking in as much as I could along the way. You never know where the morsels of knowledge will be but that are everywhere, and if you are open and receptive to them they will enrich your experience and grow your skills. My most important realization was that restaurants are about community. The community of people working together with common cause, the community of growers, producers and purveyors that provide the products we cherish, and the community of guests that choose to share their moment with us in the dining room. We are all here to support each other and it is a privilege to be a part of it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
CATHERINE:
Really so many things to love about Boulder and Colorado. In terms of restaurants, I think Barchetta has the closest thing to a New York slice you can get around here. My daughters love the gelato at Alberico (and so do I) – that’s our birthday/special event spot. Dry Storage for croissants and bread when we make it out there. Boulder is unbeatable for hiking, like my husband says it’s like living in a National Park. And Eldora is a great little ski spot 30 minutes from town for a quickie day run. I try to get out to Red Rocks once or twice during the season because it’s an amazing venue no matter what band is playing. My girls love the Botanic Gardens in Denver – it’s a magical space. We spend hours there.

BRIAN:

Boulder is hard to beat. You have such amazing access to the outdoors from just about anywhere in town and there are epically delicious things to eat and drink to get you psyched for the big adventure or to treat yourself after crushing it. If I had a friend in from out of town we’d start our tour de Boulder with a breakfast burrito from Black Belly (love those tatertots and wicked spicy hot sauce) as well as a coffee from Boxcar for good measure. Then we’d hit the trail. My favorite bike ride from town has to be Chapman Road, its close by, you get amazing views and you can do it on just about any bike if you have the legs. We might pack some sandos from Deadilous and crash out at Eben G. Fine Park after the ride. For dinner we’d head to Marigold in Lyons. Theo Adley is the most creative chef in Colorado right now and is making magic up there. For a nightcap we’d head to Jungle. I’m not a drinker anymore but the crew behind the bar is so welcoming and fun loving. Plus they light stuff on fire and have delicious late night snacks.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
CATHERINE: Tireless work from Lizzie, Brian and Michael. Running restaurants is not an easy job, especially post-pandemic and facing the current economic climate. Blood, sweat and tears. Michael is my rock, and his eternal optimism and appreciation of the absurd make him an excellent candidate for a restaurant operator and partner.

BRIAN: Part of being in the restaurant game is knowing that you are providing space for people to celebrate the holidays, long weekends and life’s little moments in between. As a young cook or waiter this is drilled into you from the beginning with the obligatory interview question, “can you work nights and weekends??”. As life goes on this becomes more and more of a challenge especially when you start a family. The patience and understanding that is required to be with someone that has chosen hospitality as a career path is hard to fathom. I am so lucky to have a wife that takes it all in stride and finds ways to support and uplift me along the way. Elizabeth has limitless capacity to nurture and love those around her and I am so grateful that I get to spend life’s moments with her.

Website: geminiboulder.com, highcountryboulder.com

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Image Credits
rachael@savorproductions.com