'Top Chef' alums to open delicatessen in former Holtman’s Donuts space

Deli meats have always been a labor of love for chef Brian Young. He remembers the day his late father arrived at his apartment in Boston just as he was finishing up his first attempt at homemade smoked ham. “He came into the kitchen just as it was coming out of the oven and it knocked him on his heels,” Young said.

That memory is at least part of the reason why Young – a wildly accomplished chef who has worked at some of the best restaurants in New England and the West Coast – decided to focus much of his culinary training on butchery.

Along with studying Italian and French butchering techniques, in 2013 he essentially begged for an unpaid apprenticeship at an old-school butcher shop in North Andover, Massachusetts, despite his already sparkling credentials. When he started working there, the owners made fun of him by sarcastically calling him "Chef," Young recalls. But by the time he left, they were doing it with respect instead of mockery.

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Young's passion for butchery is also why he and his wife, Caitlin Young (formerly Steininger), will open Young Buck this spring in Over-the-Rhine. The mom-and-pop style delicatessen takes the place of the former Holtman’s Donuts.

That mom-and-pop dynamic seems promising. “Caitlin is Midwestern nice and I’m kind of a gruff dockworker,” Young told me. At Young Buck, the couple will be making every cut of meat, every slice of bread and every pickle, sauce or jam in-house.

To anyone unfamiliar with the Youngs, they first met while competing on the Kentucky-themed 16th season of Bravo’s "Top Chef." Caitlin – well known locally for her Cooking With Caitlin column in The Enquirer and CWC restaurant in Wyoming – later convinced Young to leave Boston for Cincinnati. They briefly worked at Station Family + BBQ in Wyoming (which was owned by Caitlin and her sister, Kelly Trush) before signing on at Dear restaurant in Hyde Park. They are now married and recently welcomed their first child together.

After the Youngs parted ways with Dear, the couple ventured out on their own. They first opened Young Buck (a spin on their name as well as the name of one of their favorite rappers) as a pop-up concept at various bars and restaurants, including Binski’s in Camp Washington, Oakley Wines and Juniper Gin Bar in Covington. Eventually, they took up residency at Downtown's Crown Republic Gastropub, which is owned and operated by the ever-growing Crown Restaurant Group.

The Youngs had known Crown Restaurant Group owners Anthony Sitek and Haley Nutter-Sitek for several years before the couple's residency began at the gastropub. In 2023, Brian Young signed on as an executive chef with the restaurant group, whose other concepts include Losanti, Rosie’s, Crown Cantina and Five On Vine.

Eventually, Sitek decided to team up with the Youngs and sign a lease for the Holtman’s property. Its owner, Cincinnati Center City Development Corp., also owns all but one of Crown Restaurant Group's restaurant spaces and was happy to build on their relationship.

The 1,100-square-foot space will double as the butchery and pasta commissary kitchen for all Crown Restaurant Group restaurants, both of which will be overseen by Young. It's something Sitek believes will add to the neighborhood's vibe.

“During the day, you’ll be able to look into the windows and see a butcher in action,” he told The Enquirer. “When you look into those same windows, you at night will see someone making pasta all night long. It will be a pretty awesome site to see.”

The fact that it would serve a dual purpose made it particularly attractive, according to Lindzie Gunnels, director of commercial leasing with 3CDC.

“We’re always looking for new and creative concepts and feel like Young Buck is the best of both worlds, allowing us to introduce a much-needed sandwich shop to OTR while expanding our partnership with Crown Restaurant Group,” Gunnels said.

For the Youngs, it’s a chance to offer a new breakfast and lunch option in a neighborhood where both are few and far between. The deli, which will be open Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., will offer breakfast sandwiches (such as a goetta, egg and cheese) and a biscuit sandwich slathered with his grandmother's pimento cheese recipe.

Lunchtime offerings include specialty sandwiches such as the Youngs' riffs on the Chicago Italian Beef, New England’s North Shore Beef, the New Deal Italian sandwich inspired by New Deal Fruit in Revere, Massachusets, and, of course, that ham sandwich that knocked Brian’s father on his heels all those years ago.

For Caitlin Young, Young Buck offers a chance to reintroduce the kind of Downtown and Over-the-Rhine eateries her father always reminisced about while she was growing up. "My dad tells stories about all of these old sandwich shops in OTR, places like Stenger's Cafe, which I never got to go to – even though I know about the dog that was always asleep on the floor and the roast beef sandwiches they served," she said. "We want to create a home for hungry people like that. A place that they will talk about forever."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 'Top Chef' alums to open Young Buck deli in former Holtman’s Donuts