Get In My (Gold)Belly! Sagaponack Residents Joe And Vanessa Ariel Talk About The Business Of Food And Nostalgia

You’re crazy for cake, but only if it’s from Kaminsky’s in Charleston, South Carolina. Problem is, you’re in Charleston, West Virginia.

Or you’re making money in Milwaukee, but just need to have — like, now — some of Snow’s barbecue brisket from Lexington, Texas.

Who are you going to call?

Goldbelly.

Simply put, Goldbelly, co-founded by Joe and Vanessa Ariel in 2013, quick-ships food from restaurants and purveyors around the country to millions of hungry customers every year.

But it’s more than that. The company offers regional specialties that can prompt fond recollections of unforgettable occasions through a single bite. And, for those who are far from loved ones and familiarity, Goldbelly can offer a taste of home.

“At Goldbelly, we believe in the emotional power of food,” reads the company’s website. Food is “an edible hug,” capable of evoking connections, memories and love.

And never was that more relevant than since early 2020, when those on COVID-19 lockdown or waxing nostalgic for a place they couldn’t visit raised Goldbelly’s numbers through the roof.

According to Vanessa Ariel, co-founder and chief product officer, “It’s been a truly transformative few years at Goldbelly,” with “massive growth” since the start of the pandemic. “We now have about 1,000 restaurant partners on the platform, covering all 50 states, and have added millions of new customers.”

And it was during the pandemic that the Ariels began to spend more of their time at their Sagaponack home.

“We left New York City for what we thought would be a few weeks,” she said. “We slowly fell in love with the lifestyle and the surroundings here — I mean, how could you not? We have been out here for two and a half years now, and we love it more and more every day. Joe and I work really hard, but being here enables us to disconnect and enjoy family time in a much easier way.”

In their spare time, the Ariels enjoy “a bike ride to the farm stand or going for a walk on the beach as a family” with their son, Kobe.

During the last few lean years in the restaurant biz on a national scale, Goldbelly has provided a second helping to the industry through the world of food e-commerce. “Many of our restaurant partners see the value that Goldbelly provides in turning their product into experiences and enabling people to interact with their brand from hundreds or thousands of miles away,” said Ariel.

“As an example, we work with some of the most famous chefs on their high-end chef meal kits. They value the emphasis we place on merchandising those products in a way that feels like a luxury piece of clothing or furniture, with elevated photography and bold copy to make it clear to customers that they’re getting a totally unique, one-of-a-kind food experience from this chef.”

It isn’t really that different from Goldbelly’s original mission, she explained. “Though we’ve certainly become much more mainstream since we were founded, our business model and mission hasn’t changed at all. Our vision has always been to create the first national platform for food e-commerce. The events of the last few years have accelerated many of the macro trends that were already brewing under the surface.”

Aside from the nostalgic elements of regional cuisines is the fun in trying new foods. From the Cheez-It Crunch Cake from Chicago’s Sugargoat by Stephanie Izard, to spaghetti donuts out of Pop Pasta’s Brooklyn bakery, to ramen pizza courtesy of Hoboken’s Tony Baloney, customers get a chance to try the outrageous as well as the familiar.

Take the PieCaken. Called “the turducken of cakes” and created in New York City by pastry chef Zac Young, the original PieCaken offers a tower of treats — pecan pie on the bottom, pumpkin pie in the middle, and spice cake on top, all layered together with cinnamon buttercream and topped with apple pie filling. Seasonal variations abound, with a “Red, White and Blueberry PieCaken” on the menu for the Fourth of July and other patriotic events.

Goldbelly also offers gluten free, kosher, halal, and vegan options, along with overnight delivery on some of its items, great for those who might occasionally trip over an upcoming birthday or anniversary.

Vanessa Ariel discussed the early days of the company, and her relationship with Joe. “I like to say that we should have called it ‘Joe’s Belly,’ because Goldbelly is a digital manifestation of who he is,” she said, adding that “since the very beginning of our relationship, all of our travel has been centered on food experiences.”

So is there a cute meet story — or, in this case a cute “meat” story?

“When we met, I lived in Florida and when I visited Joe for the first time in New York City, he wanted to take me to all of his favorite places for his favorite bites,” Vanessa said. “He made up his very own food tour and took me to three places for lunch. Yes, three different spots for just lunch,” she emphasized.

“We went to Joe’s Pizza on Carmine Street for his favorite New York slice, Mamoun’s Falafel on MacDougal Street for his favorite falafel sandwich, and to a cute sandwich shop called Peanut Butter & Co. — which, sadly, isn’t around anymore — for a sandwich called The Elvis: peanut butter, banana, bacon and honey.”

Joe and Vanessa had just started dating in 2012, when one day “Joe called me and asked me what I thought about his idea for a website that could ship you Texas barbecue right to your door whenever you want it,” said Ariel. “I thought it was an idea straight out of ‘The Jetsons.’”

The backstory, she explained, “is that Joe went to college in Nashville and always craved his favorite Southern foods, like hot chicken, while living in New York. Even though there were literally thousands of amazing takeout and restaurant options in New York, there was a difference to us between what was available locally versus those iconic, authentic, regional foods that invoke a sense of nostalgia for a specific place.

“We figured if we would pay anything to have access to these foods, there would likely be other people who would feel the same way.”

Vanessa notes she “had a deep background in UX design and knowledge of how to build online shopping experiences, which was really applicable to what he was trying to build with Goldbelly. Part of me used to wonder if Joe wanted to date me because he needed a free product designer to launch this company with.”

Vanessa led the technical and user-experience side of the business to bring the idea to life, with a vision to make shopping for food on Goldbelly as easy as buying a pair of shoes online.

“After Joe and I started thinking about how we could make this vision a reality, we linked up with some friends who would become our co-founders. Not only did we all quit our full-time jobs to start Goldbelly, but we had to dedicate our hearts, souls and every waking moment we had to this idea, even when we didn’t know if it would have potential.”

Luckily, she acknowledged, “the other co-founders and I all truly believed in the vision for the company and the possibilities of what we could achieve together, so that has helped to keep us focused over the years.”

As chief product officer now, “I continue to oversee these areas of the business and drive new innovative shopping experiences. I love photography, elevated design and bold branding, and working with our team to transform a perishable food product into a one-of-a-kind at-home experience is what makes Goldbelly a place that allows people to order foods based on what they love and not be limited by where they live,” she said.

And what is the process for getting a delicate order — say, Anderson frozen custard from Buffalo, or a Primanti Brothers sandwich from Pittsburgh — to its destination in perfect, edible shape?

“We have a scientific approach with our packaging and logistics teams that will work hand in hand to coach every chef and every restaurant partner on the best way to package everything,” Vanessa Ariel explained, “from packaging technology, to structuring the product layout the right way so that it lasts in transit. From there we do repeated testing to perfect every single item that goes out from every restaurant.”

Using Primanti Brothers as an example, “You can’t get the whole menu on Goldbelly,” she said. “What we’ve done is work with their team to pick the star items that they’re famous for and then break them down into kits, determining the quantity, serving size, how each ingredient should be packaged, and so on, to ensure it gets to the end customer after a nationwide journey.”

Some of the most popular foods, Ariel said, revolve around certain holidays, like Christmas and Valentine’s Day. “As we move into the summer months, we’re seeing an uptick in our grill kits, steak dinners and seafood kits, along with fun desserts like banana pudding or artisan ice cream,” she said.

All in all, “people are really craving comfort food given the state of the world right now so those have been hugely popular — things like New York bagels, Southern barbecue and Chicago deep dish pizza.” Also, the chef meal kits are hot sellers, “like David Chang’s Momofuku pork buns and bo ssam, Jose Andres’s famous tapas kits and Ina Garten’s tasty desserts.”

When asked if she and Joe have personal favorites, Vanessa laughed. “Joe always says that picking his favorite foods on Goldbelly is kind of like picking a favorite child.” But some of her favorites right now are Ina Garten’s coconut cake — “truly the best coconut cake I’ve ever had” — items from the Shortbread Society (“a tiny family-owned mom and pop shop in NYC making some really creative shortbread”), and the hands-on meal kits, like Blue Ribbon’s sushi kit and Ivan Ramen’s DIY ramen kit, “true food experiences that elevate a Friday night at home, especially with kids,” she said.

Vanessa said the family is also fond of enjoying a number of South Fork restaurants. In Sag Harbor, the Ariels frequent Grindstone Coffee, Estia’s and Harbor Market, enjoying other restaurants in Bridgehampton like Elaia Estiatorio and Topping Rose House, and also pick up treats at Carissa’s in East Hampton and Round Swamp Farms.

And speaking of kids, spending time with her 4-year-old son, Kobe, nourishes Vanessa’s spirit. “We moved to the Hamptons when he was just one and a half years old. To watch him discover the world here has been one of the most soulful experiences of my life. He goes to a farm school where he is surrounded by animals and nature. Seeing him experience this is so rewarding and inspiring to me in some many ways,” she said.

But, back to business.

“The focus of our mission is to empower small food makers,” she said. We aim to make meaningful revenue for mom-and-pop shops and restaurants nationwide.”

With that comes the ability to make a difference in a meaningful way, she said. “With the growth of our customer base and reach, we have also been fortunate enough to raise funds for different causes. Like, one of our amazing restaurant partners is Chef Jose Andres and just recently we did a fundraiser to donate to his World Central Kitchen to support their efforts of feeding the people of Ukraine.”

Her words of wisdom for any entrepreneurs out there: “One of the most important pieces of my success is my support system — having a team of co-founders as we started on this journey and then also having a partner in Joe. So my biggest piece of advice would be to find and nurture that support system.”

And what about the future of Goldbelly? How high is that pie in the sky?

“With over 300,000 independent restaurants in the U.S., we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible for America’s best chefs and artisan food makers,” she said.