No Comply Foods
In conversation with Katy Sparks
Sometimes, you do get the business you deserve, and it makes you very grateful for the community that supports you and makes it all possible. This sense of gratitude and a little bit of “how did we get here” energy suffused my conversation with Steve and Julie Browning on a terribly cold day in February. I think they were using the scaled up BerkShares denomination as a wind break!
Katy Sparks: Thanks for painting your building pink! It makes it so easy to find you as I drive by looking for it on the busy business strip on route 7.
Julie Browning: Yes, we knew it needed a face lift when we bought it and since there’s a lot of restaurants around here, we thought the pink would distinguish us. And pink is the color of rebirth, joy and hope and this restaurant is our rebirth into the restaurant world and the joy Steve has found in cooking again.
No Comply Foods in Great Barrington. Photo courtesy of the owners via Instagram.
KS: Steve, what’s your emphasis in terms of food sourcing?
Steve Browning: In the summer I buy a lot of local stuff, but I don’t want to be completely limited by that. I also have limited cold storage space- just a 2-door and a1-door refrigerator so I rely on local vendors that can deliver small quantities more often like Marty’s Local that can deliver every day if we need it. And we’re grateful to our long-time egg supplier Off the Shelf who have kept their prices stable even through the disruption in egg supplies nationally.
KS: What inspired you guys to participate in the BerkShares currency economy?
JB: I teach at a school just over the border in CT and when I tell my students about this unique, local currency they think it’s so cool!
SB: I’m not too studied on the subject but it just makes sense to me to keep the money local.
KS: And how do you spend them when they come into your coffers?
JB and SB, in unison: The Coop! It’s just easy to pop in there and get whatever we need knowing they take them.
JB: I’d really like to have more BerkShares flow through our business. Keeping the money in the local community really benefits all of us. And using them makes me have to be a little more thoughtful and conscious and do a little more planning vs. just making a quick and maybe impulsive on-line purchase.
KS: As people who have jumped in with both feet to create your business on your own terms, what would you like to see happen to keep the economic vitality of this area continue?
JB: For me, it would be some form of entertainment that serves as a community gathering place for all ages to go that isn’t fueled by alcohol. A place where young and old can be together – like a roller rink!
SB: Whatever business someone gets into, just do the business that works for you and not necessarily what you think works for everyone else.
KS: Any thoughts or ambitions for the rest of 2025?
SB: Just to keep doing what we’re doing. The chef part of me says to get more seats and more staff. And then I’m like “Wait, I built this so I’m not chasing a huge business with a big staff.” For me this place is success in a different way where I’m doing something that makes me happy. I just want to cook and try to minimize the management part of the job.
JB: We are just so grateful to the community that has embraced us. We are not originally from here, but this area feels more like home than any place we’ve ever been. And our staff is the best of the best!
