Betta Gumbo has become a pillar in not just one, but two communities in Northern Colorado. What makes the restaurant special isn’t just amazing food, or one-of-a-kind cocktails, it isn’t just its colorful walls, or unique décor, it is that it is a home away from for all. A place where people can feel seen, heard, recognized, and connected. An establishment where it is casual on purpose and the focus is on building and having lasting relationships with people. “Our guests are our heart, we don’t have customers, we have guests just like we would in our home, the people are what comes first” states founder Clay Caldwell. His goal is to know his community and to have the community know him; he believes that success comes from connection.
Growing up in the south, food was king; everything revolved around food and the kitchen was the heart of the house. As a young boy, Clay was surrounded by great cooks in his family “we had a large family, and we were always getting together and throwing meals on the table. I can remember my grandparents and parents entertaining weekly. Community was such a vital part of my upbringing and food was that vehicle to connection, you shared life together,” said Clay. He remembers sitting at the kitchen table with his mom over a piece of pie after school and talking about his day. “Everything was done around the kitchen table; serious discussions, casual conversations, you did your homework there, we had breakfast together, dinner together.” The memories of those experiences are what became guidelines for how he wants his guests to feel at his establishments; as if they were visiting his home for a meal, as if they are sharing life together.
As a young man, Clay went on to attend the Culinary Institute of America in New York, where he graduated with honors. He loved culinary school and felt like it opened a whole new universe for him. “Every day and every class just built upon one another, and I was using that information and knowledge daily which was exciting. Where I struggled in primary school being bored, I excelled in culinary school: science suddenly came alive for me because it was tangible to something that I have a passion for. It was a wonderful experience” he stated. Clay worked for decades at five-star restaurants in the NYC area, including the Ritz Carlton before the chapter of Betta Gumbo was to be written.
Clay came from a family of entrepreneurs and so that was modeled for him as a kid. Betta Gumbo was born out of an idea to share with his community, He enjoyed owning the whole approach of taking care of people and to what standard did he wanted that to evolve to. The design, the delivery, the concept, the hospitality; It all comes together from his perception and life stories. Some may say control, but he sees is more of how he wants the vision of the establishment to be received by others, and that, is something that is extremely important to him.
As with his vision for the community he wants to create, the food speaks to who he is and his experiences as well. “My parents and grandparents were big entertainers; our home was always full of community and dinner parties. They may have been just average meals, but it brought people together. People who were struggling, or people who just needed to feel connected to normalcy, or friends and family who stopped by to catch up. My parents used food as a venue of say ministering to people; it could be a pizza party, or burgers, or steaks on the grill, or pots of gumbo or jambalaya, or a crawfish boil but it was always large batch cooking in my house. We cooked food and took it to people who were sick or going through rough times. It was a daily exercise in my home growing up.” The joy for him is what food can bring to somebody, and as such, all the recipes have come from his family table, been adaptations from old parish cookbooks, or been creations inspired out of his love for giving and entertaining.
While Betta Gumbo may be featured for its Cajun, soul food, and low country fair dishes; its southern meals are only one of the few exceptional things about this establishment. It is clear they keep their focus on core values and the quality of their engagements and relationships, they invest into their communities, and they treat everyone they interact with like family. Betta Gumbo is so much more than a business, they have woven themselves into the fabric of their towns and they are leaving their surrounding communities a better place daily, and that is something that should inspire us all to do more of the same.
"Growing up in the south, food was king; everything revolved around food and the kitchen was the heart of the house."
