Former Kavarna Owners Launch uBu Foods

Linda and Alex Galt, former longtime owners of Kavarna Coffeehouse in Green Bay, are known for their devotion to fresh, locally-sourced and nourishing food and beverages.

Linda started Kavarna in 1999, and over the years the pair has launched several offshoots of their café, to include Parisi Delicatessen (an Italian-influenced deli, which was later absorbed by Kavarna), Liberty Café (the working example of the pair’s ubiquitous “slow food made fast”; the cafe served seasonal and from-scratch soups in what is now Glas Coffee across the street from the Northland Hotel) and Locktender’s House (serving concession-style beverages, picnic food, snacks, and treats out of the historic riverfront locktender’s house in De Pere).

After selling Kavarna in early 2019, Linda and Alex took a brief (and well-deserved) hiatus before distilling their collective experience and shared passion for thoughtful cooking into their next venture. Under the moniker uBu Foods (pronounced oo-boo), the pair produces and distributes small-batch hummus in a variety of unique and seasonal flavors, including, but not limited to, “Cilantro Lime,” “Everything Bagel” and “Chipotle Pepper”.

“We created our hummus at Kavarna from scratch, and it was so popular that it became a side hustle,” says Linda. For those looking for the original recipe, “when we sold Kavarna, we licensed our original hummus recipe to them,” Linda says.

Hummus was a natural next move for the Galts. “We enjoy the flexibility this model gives our family,” says Alex.

“We wanted a name that was versatile and culturally-neutral to reflect the ranges of the flavor profiles of our hummus,” he says. “For example, on one end of the spectrum, we offer a classic harissa hummus (North Africa), but we are also really proud of the salsa verde (Mexico).” The Galts sat at their kitchen table with their children and had a family brainstorming session to come up with the name uBu.

“We didn’t want to be anything like ‘Caravan Hummus’ or ‘Oasis Hummus,’ because our eventual plans include many different types of food from different parts of the world,” Alex explained. “uBu suggested itself because it doesn’t really mean anything. There’s a play by Alfred Jarry called Ubu Roi, which is an odd, scatological, absurdist play about a demented king. There’s the dog from the production company that produced Cheers, the TV show. ‘Sit Ubu, sit. Good dog.’ So it’s a two-syllable nonsense word with a bit of history. We like the way it looks set in type.”

uBu hummus perfectly characterizes the Galt’s lifelong commitment to sustainably-produced, seasonal and thoughtful food production and consumption. Made in small batches in Green Bay and flavored with local ingredients whenever possible, uBu hummus is a great source of plant-based protein.

Hummus is also a great source of minerals like folic acid and iron. uBu sources their non-GMO, Food-Alliance Certified Kosher-dry chickpeas from a fifth-generation family farm in Washington state. Their 100%-recycled, PET packaging comes from Michigan. The packaging enables uBu hummus to be sold frozen to cut down on food waste and avoid preservatives.

“We strive to engage in a reciprocal responsibility with our suppliers and producers” says Alex.

uBu Foods hummus is available at the Appleton and Green Bay Woodman’s locations as well as at Piggly Wiggly in De Pere. Renard’s Cheese south of Sturgeon Bay, which is expanding its retail store to add a café and restaurant, will feature uBu hummus in their recipes and Alex said you should see his hummus in Sturgeon Bay’s recently relocated Healthy Way store.

Several flavors of uBu hummus are also available for delivery through Farmer’s Best Home Delivery. The Galts are working to expand into the Fox Valley and the rest of Wisconsin. They will be at the Appleton Community Public Marketsat the Fox Cities Exhibition Center on March 21 and April 18. They pointed this writer to their Bloody Mary Hummus; indicated that the Salsa Verde is excellent on chilaquiles; and recommended slathering any of the flavors on toast with eggs.

“Hummus is our starting point – we will probably use it as a launching- off point for other products,” says Alex. Their website, ubufoods.com/hummus, has a complete listing of their flavors and is updated periodically as to seasonal flavors, availability and locations.