RAVENSWOOD — Newlyweds are familiar with the paper anniversary; long-time couples with the silver and golden milestones. But the gumbo anniversary? That's a new one.
On Tuesday, Beans & Bagels is serving up heaping helpings of the seafood stew to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Will Goodwin's ownership of the Beans Montrose location, a culinary choice made less curious by the fact that Goodwin originally hails from Louisiana.
Patty Wetli says the gumbo was a natural choice for the owner:
Staff at both the Montrose and Rockwell Beans started ladeling out the gumbo when the shops opened their respective doors at 6:30 a.m., largely at the request of early-bird customers planning ahead for lunch, Goodwin said.
"I like serving people food," he said. "I like making their bellies happy."
Over the past year, Goodwin has gradually inserted more of his own taste and personality — "a little bit of southern flavor" — into Montrose Beans, with more changes to come once his operation officially splits from its sister store.
After working at Montrose Beans & Bagels, 1812 W. Montrose Ave., for more than a decade, the last several as manager, Goodwin bought the joint in August 2013 from owner Darren Brown, who continues to hold the title to the Rockwell shop.
"A lot of people thought I was the owner," said Goodwin. "I'm here six days a week from open to close."
Though technically separate businesses, the Beans stores have continued to share resources — including Rockwell's kitchen, where Goodwin cooked up his gumbo. He's bound by his contract with Brown to maintain the Beans & Bagels name until August 2015, when he'll unveil a new moniker he's keeping tightly under wraps and a logo that's already "well under way."
"The shops sort of work together and try to help each other," said Goodwin. "But in the end I am going to be going in a slightly different direction. The goal will be to become as seasonal as we can possibly be."
Goodwin, who moved to Chicago in 1996 and played a role in the early expansion of Potbelly's, has already placed his stamp on Beans' aesthetic.
A one-time design and architecture student, Goodwin has built much of Beans' furnishings — from benches and tables to countertops and cabinets — largely from scavenged lumber.
"It's mostly handmade because I can," he said.
If handyman skills are something one can inherit, Goodwin came by his from his father, an aircraft engineer.
"He was just a very industrious man. He wouldn't pay a soul to do a damned thing," said Goodwin. "His workshop was bigger than most homes — he lived out there."
Goodwin's workshop, in Beans' basement, houses a six-foot stack of salvaged wood.
"One of our customers was moving out of her home and she had a huge basement filled with shelves for canning. That was kind of the genesis of it all," he said.
Another customer gave Goodwin with a stack of oak planking for his birthday last year, while others have alerted him to materials being junked at building sites.
"I'm blown away by the things people throw out," he said.
Scouring alleys and Dumpsters, Goodwin discovered a treasure trove of plaster laths — slats of wood used in the plastering process common in pre-World War II construction.
"We came across a site on Etsy where a person was making art out of lath," he said. "We realized we could make amazing tabletop surfaces out of the lath."
In July, Goodwin laid a new wood floor in Beans, and next up are the construction of a larger customer bathroom and finally the addition of a full-service kitchen.
"We're working in a very confined space," he said. "We need to do things so that everything can operate while you're moving things around. It's a lot of puzzle pieces."
But the most pressing building project for Goodwin has nothing to do with Beans and everything to do with his pending wedding to Sidonie Gaude, whom he describes as the "bees knees" and calls "crazy agreeable and adorable with customers."
In October, he's heading to Louisiana to craft a gazebo in his mother's yard, which the couple plans to marry under next spring.
"There's a lot on deck," Goodwin conceded. "It's been a blast, it's been exhausting."
The biggest challenge as he's transitioned from working at Beans to owning the shop has been learning "how not to do everything yourself and not allow yourself to be an employee," he said.
"I'm not there yet."
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