Lauren Leblanc and Andrew Kupke pull from the worlds of dining and design to create stunning, locally sourced table arrangements at Brown Paper Bounty. Leblanc, who has worked in jewelry and design for over a decade, found cooking to be a creative release. Kupke, who moved here from Florida to study at Johnson and Wales, has had a hand in every kind of food job you can think of. Together they applied a designer’s eye to appetizers and charcuterie, giving just as much attention to color, shape, and texture as to the flavor profiles of local goods.
Photo by John Hesselbarth/Apparition, courtesy of Brown Paper Bounty
“Setting up food spreads for friends and family started becoming more frequent and the thought of doing it for real started to develop,” explains Leblanc. “Through mutual friends’ encouragement and multiple summertime backyard brainstorming sessions, Brown Paper Bounty started becoming a real business.”
Brown Paper Bounty hasn’t met a customer request they couldn’t satisfy. “We will definitely do anything, especially if we can curate it to a certain theme or aesthetic and have fun with it,” says Leblanc. Think a Southern themed spread to compliment a backyard pig roast, complete with hot pepper jelly over goat cheese, a homemade onion dip, and sweet and spicy pecans. Or even a kid’s birthday party with healthy snacks, chocolate covered pretzels, and gummy fruit salad. “We love the possibility to constantly change what we do. If someone wants a table where all the food is pink? Challenge accepted! We want to venture [out]... not just meat and cheese spreads, but exploring or collaborating with bakers to do dessert themed tables.”
Photo by John Hesselbarth/Apparition, courtesy of Brown Paper Bounty
The two operate out of the recently opened food business incubator, Pilotworks, in Providence. There they pull from the state’s wealth of purveyors – Seven Stars, Gastros 401, Big Train Farm, and Dahlia Shed to name a few – to create gorgeous arrangements of meats, cheeses, vegetables, and breads for events. Second only to crafting that perfect tablescape is exposing clients to the culinary riches Rhode Island has to offer. “The makers, small business and farms that exist in the area...Rhode Island is pretty small, but packed with very passionate people dedicated to their trade,” says Leblanc. Providence
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