Hawaii-native Kelly Kawachi is the Head Butcher of Blackbelly. She left the islands to attend university in Grand Junction, CO and moved back after graduating. She further developed her love for food working in the fast-paced kitchen of Alan Wong's in Honolulu. While there she was inspired to transition her experience from Hawaii, which centered on butchering fish, to learning how to properly break down animals raised on land. Kelly moved back CO, this time to Boulder, and became an apprentice at Blackbelly in 2016, when the shop first opened. After years of learning the art and craft of whole animal butchery and charcuterie making, she was elevated to run the entire program as the Head Butcher in March 2021.
