Nestled on the corner of Virginia and North Highland is Kinship Butcher and Sundry, a market that offers locally sourced, fresh cut meats, breakfast sandwiches, coffee and various other essentials.

Owners Rachael Pack and Myles Moody share a passion for food and fine dining. Moody was mentored by internationally acclaimed chef Linton Hopkins in Atlanta. He then moved to New York City to work in several highly acclaimed Michelin star restaurants including Aska, a Scandinavian restaurant, where he met Pack.

“As soon as I graduated I moved back to Atlanta and went to chef Linton Hopkins,” Moody said. “He was doing a demonstration at the Buckhead Farmers Market so I asked him if I could get a job. I got the job at Holeman Finch and worked there for a year then worked at Restaurant Eugene for a year and a half, and trained in fine dining.”

Pack, a sommelier (wine steward) and food writer, had studied at the International Culinary Center in California. She moved to New York City for the culinary opportunities it had presented, and began working at Aska with Moody. The two moved up the ranks together, Pack as the General Manager and Beverage Director and Moody as the Chef de Cuisine. When the pandemic hit, they lost their jobs and moved to Atlanta.

“We decided to move back to where [Moody] grew up in Atlanta,” Pack said. “Kinship was actually the third concept we wanted to open; we wanted to do fine dining, that’s where our hearts are, but that is not pandemic safe, this is.”

Pack’s goal was to create a grocery store that mirrored the way she likes to shop.

“I wanted a place like this, I wanted it to be the type of grocery store where you could walk around the corner to get your milk, eggs, meat, all sourced really thoughtfully,” Pack said.

Both Pack and Moody are conscious about consumption and are focused on a zero waste initiative for Kinship and future business ventures.

“We would provide all the meat for our other restaurants and conversely they would send back their waste and it would be repurposed into something beautiful,” Pack said.

Moody describes Kinship as a ‘farmer’s market driven grocery store.’

“We work with local farms and producers to stock our shelves, so we’ll get Georgia-raised animals for our butchering case,” Moody said.

Kinship is family-owned and run. This detail inspired the name – “kin” means family, and makes Kinship unique in how it is run. Moody’s brother owns Academy Coffee, which is located in the same space. Moody’s parents also helped out with the construction and design of Kinship’s interior.

“Myles’s dad is a wonderful ceramic artist so he’s doing some fun things for us, he’s also an awesome builder so we built up the whole thing ourselves,” Pack said. “His mother is an architectural designer, so she helped us design the space.”

Starting a business during the pandemic came with a multitude of unexpected problems. Shipping delays, gas and part shortages and long waits from City Hall all hindered Pack as she inaugurated the opening process.

“Every single delay that we hit was due to the pandemic,” Pack said. “City Hall was closed so it was really hard to get someone’s attention by a call, or email. There were strange shortages for things that you wouldn’t even think you’d need.”

The community has expressed enjoyment of the local, friendly feel of Kinship.

“I think it will be a great addition to the neighborhood since it caters to people of all ages,” sophomore Grace Franetovich said. “It would be fun to go with friends.”