Member Spotlight: It’s All Gravy

Meet James Moody, founder of It’s All Gravy and winner of the 2023 British Street Food Award’s Best Sandwich with his salivating creation – The Beef Dip – consisting of slow-cooked beef, beef fat onions, Swiss cheese, confit garlic mayo, mustard, crispy onions and light beef gravy.

We caught up with James to get the lowdown on how a trip down nostalgia lane turned into a new and enjoyable career where he never feels like he’s working.

A dream thought up in a meeting room…

It was a journey of realisation. I had a successful marketing career working for clients including Coca Cola and from a distance it looked like I had it all, but I’d be sat in meetings and my heart just wasn’t invested in what I was doing anymore,

I’d always had a keen interest in food and so I decided to get out there to the likes of Pop Brixton and ask traders if they’d got any work, It was the best risk I’ve ever taken. I worked with about three or four different street food traders before going on to work at Honest Burgers for three years, going from waiter to general manager and working in the kitchens in a head chef role.

I got some real robust operating experience under my belt and then I officially launched It’s All Gravy two years ago from a pub. I grafted for a few years to work up to my position before I felt it was the right time to launch the business and I’m really pleased about that. I feel like I went down all the right roads to make it work for me.

Why sail on the gravy boat?

I grew up Lincolnshire with Northern parents and food to me is my childhood. I’ve got fond memories of having roast dinners every Sunday with Yorkie puds and thick gravy as a starter. Monday’s for me then were leftover night where I’d play some football with my mates and get home to beef and gravy sarnies. It’s pure nostalgia for me and that’s what I’m trying to bring to the customers.

I think I’ve got quite a unique product in that I’ve taken an iconic sauce that people rarely make properly and married it together with some classics such as the French dip sarnie. I’ve had customers try my dishes and realise that actually, they’ve never had proper gravy that wasn’t instant or just a bit basic.

Weirdest thing you’ve ever put gravy on?

When I was a kid I found some leftover pizza in the fridge and decided to pour gravy over it. It didn’t work out though I’m afraid.

Do a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day…

Street food offers the opportunity to be myself. I’ve worked in corporate environments where you can’t stray from the framework and there’s no real opportunity for creation. With It’s All Gravy, there’s never a moment where I feel like I’m working. When you do something you love and see people enjoy your food, you have a connection with them. There’s no doubt it’s really hard work though and you need it to be your passion otherwise you’ll never be able to drive the business forward and keep grafting.

Utilise free resources to learn about your craft

My biggest inspiration on a chef level was Jamie Oliver. I know he gets some flack but I’d come home from work when his 15 Minute Meals programme would come on and it just inspired me to continuously cook. I learnt a lot of techniques from TV shows; I’d sit down and watch YouTube videos and Man vs Food and note down how they braised the pork or what spices they used and over time I built up a catalogue of recipes that I could put to the test. I’d advise anybody thinking of coming into this industry to just absorb yourself in all the information you can find free online.

Consistency is key

Marketing is just about creating awareness of your brand, your location and your product. In the first year, try and find what sticks and what’s right for you. Social media can be a full time job for many people and when you sit down and think about it all; the content creation, how you’ve got to have the right imagers and ideas and then how to execute in a way that ties in with the algorithms, it can be really daunting and almost puts you off doing anything.

For me, consistency is key. You’re not going to build a following overnight so just being consistent on social media about where you’re trading that day and what you’re offering can be all that’s needed in the beginning.

Breaking the mold of toxic kitchens

One of my key goals at the moment is to retain a loyal workforce. It’s really difficult in an industry where so many people are self-employed and have things on the side to retain good staff, which is why I’ve approached local catering colleges to hire some fresh, young talent to the business. I’ve just taken on two students who are eager to learn and I’m trying to teach them that actually, hospitality doesn’t always live up to the bad stigma it so often receives of toxic kitchens with angry chefs. The street food industry is an exciting environment in which to build a career and I want to be a boss that develops his staff and inspires them to remain in hospitality.

Favourite independents

Benoli in Norwich is just phenomenal. It’s a high end Italian and I always have to stop for a bite whenever I’m in the area. Also, Otto in Chislehurst; their pizza is outstanding and their branding is really cool.

In five years’ time…

The goal is to have a three-pronged approach to the business and there’s different avenues I’d love to explore. The first is obviously the street food side, focusing on delivering our offering to places with high footfall such as festivals, sporting arenas, breweries and the like.

The second, is to potentially open up a sandwich shop like the ones in LA where you can tailor your sandwich however you want and grab and go. Our French Dip sarnie has the potential to become a household name and in fact, we get a lot of American and Canadian customers saying we’re the most authentic this side of the Atlantic.

Thirdly, it would be great to scale up our gravy and make it into a product that could be outsourced to retail, butchers shops, pubs, restaurants and at home.

Follow the journey