After launching their from-scratch sandwich concept, Crumb, and its grill-focused spin-off, Gouldsburger’s, David Murray and Walter Gouldsbury, III prep Umile Trattoria for a spring opening.
By Matt Skoufalos | February 19, 2024
Chefs David Murray (left) and Walter Gouldsbury, III at Crumb in Haddonfield. Credit: Matt Skoufalos.
Almost since opening the doors of their from-scratch “sandwich and salad joint,” Crumb, in downtown Haddonfield, chefs David Murray and Walter Gouldsbury, III knew they’d hit on a concept primed for growth.
Crumb Haddonfield welcomed its first guests in the fall of 2021; by the spring of 2022, two satellite locations were serving customers in Bordentown and Medford.
A burger pop-up at the Medford store, which Murray cheekily named Gouldsburger’s as a play on his partner’s last name, led to a dedicated concept serving grilled sandwiches, hamburgers, and cheesesteaks in downtown Haddonfield in 2023.
Now, the duo are pushing Gouldsburger’s into two more locations in Medford and Philadelphia, as they simultaneously prepare a third concept — a gourmet pizzeria-trattoria — for a third location in downtown Haddonfield.
Gouldsburger’s Express, which Murray described as an effort to cater to the returning-to-work office crowd at 2 Logan Square, will open in a turnkey location at 18th and Arch Streets in Philadelphia “no later than April 2024.”
Featuring a menu that expands upon that of the Haddonfield location to include breakfast sandwiches, the Philadelphia shop will be headed up by chef and managing partner Don Peacock, the company’s task force chef of the past 18 months.
“Stefanie Gabel from MSC Realty reached out to us on Instagram to introduce herself, and said she would love the opportunity to help us expand over the bridge,” Murray said. “She sent us a couple of spaces that were available, and the one that really stood out to us was Logan Square.”
“We met with the owners, Brandywine Real Estate Trust, and they embraced the vision: cater to the office crowd with a slightly different menu,” Gouldsbury, III said.
Chefs Walter Gouldsbury, III and David Murray bake sandwich rolls in Haddonfield. Credit: Matt Skoufalos.
Gouldsburger’s Express will operate from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, with breakfast served daily from 7 to 11 a.m.
The menu will feature quicker cooks for people on a work lunch schedule, and some modified options, like a half-sized cheesesteak “so you don’t go back to the office and lay down,” Gouldsbury, III joked.
Vegetarian options like the Portobello mushroom “cheesesteak,” and breakfast sandwiches like The Kennett (portobellos, caramelized onions, swiss, and truffle sauce with an egg over medium) and The Brandywine (eggs, cheddar, kale, and charred red pepper) complement a menu built around steaks, burgers, and hot dogs. The house-made beet burger is entirely vegan.
Fried sides and entrees are cooked in olive oil, and are gluten-free. Burgers at Gouldsburger’s Express, like the other Gouldsburger’s locations, are served on house-made sandwich buns. The company recently partnered with Boaggio’s Bakery of Mount Laurel to meet the spike in demand for its everything cheesesteak rolls.
While Philadelphia opens its doors, construction on Gouldsburger’s Medford (2 South Main Street) is already well underway in anticipation of an April 2024 opening. Its menu will mirror that of the Haddonfield location.
“It just makes sense,” Murray said. “We love the Medford area. We have people coming to Gouldsburger’s from Medford who, when they find out we’re opening there, they’re ecstatic.
“It’s a completely different menu from Crumb,” Gouldsbury, III said of the decision to open a Gouldsburger’s location down the street from Crumb Medford. “Hand-crafted, same quality, but a focus on the grilled items.”
The duo’s next project, however, represents a departure from their sandwich concepts altogether. Instead, it’s an indulgence of another abiding love for both chefs: pizza.
Umile R&D pie from Gouldsburger’s chefs David Murray and Walter Gouldsbury, III. Credit: David Murray.
“Walter and I have been on a pizza kick for an extremely long time,” Murray said.
“We had an agreement to purchase [the recently shuttered] Pizza Crime, but that deal fell through.
“Then, out of nowhere, our favorite landlord, Tristan Sylk, contacted us to let us know that Earth Eats Café was going to be available,” he said.
The health-conscious café at 211 Kings Highway East, which Brianna Palmer established in early 2023, closed its doors for good over the weekend.
With a third storefront available just up the block from their other two Haddonfield locations, Murray and Gouldsbury, III jumped at the opportunity to fit it out.
“Since we’ve been able to do this, next on the checklist of satisfying culinary itches is pizza,” Gouldsbury, III said. “Now we’re trying to figure out how to get the oven in the place.”
To create what the chefs describe as their hybrid style of pizza — neither American nor Neopolitan — they’re sourcing a steam-injected, triple-deck oven that will become the focal point of both the restaurant and its menu.
“It complements the style of pizza we’re going to be doing,” Murray said. “It’s going to be able to give us a puffy crust married with crispness on a consistent basis: light, airy, and crunchy.”
Umile Trattoria signage. Credit: David Murray and Walter Gouldsbury, III.
The chefs are planning a menu of 10 pizzas comprising five traditional, “always-on” pies, and five that will rotate seasonally. They will complement these with fresh-made pastas, salads, and small plates, all with an emphasis on high-quality ingredients, and built around the capabilities of the steam-powered oven.
“We don’t want to be a boneless, skinless chicken breast restaurant,” Murray said. “We’re going to do what they do in Italy, which is cook with the ingredients around them that are growing locally.”
“The term ‘farm to table’ is played out,” Gouldsbury, III said. “We’re trying to do seasonal cooking.”
To that end, the chefs will work with Black Sheep Farm of Mullica Hill, which uses organic farming practices, to source the bulk of its ingredients. These will support its lunch and dinner menus, as well as a planned “Italian-focused brunch” concept that hasn’t yet been firmed up. Its opening weekend is planned for Mother’s Day.
Supporting Murray and Gouldsbury, III at the new location will be Ricky Coppick, former executive chef at Pizzeria Vetri, whose resume also included Zavino in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, and Harry the K’s bar and grill at Citizen’s Bank Park.
Umile R&D hybrid pizza slice. Credit: David Murray.
“We have a long history of working together,” Murray said of his relationship with Coppick.
“We try to surround ourselves with like-minded individuals; Ricky is passionate, and his work ethic speaks for itself.”
Coppick will be an executive chef and partner in the new restaurant, which the group has dubbed ‘Umile’ (pronounced ooh-me-lay) Trattoria.
“We gave a lot of thought to the name, Umile, which is Italian for ‘humble,’ or ‘modest,’” Murray said.
“This is a place where there’s no room for pretension. A trattoria is a humble, modest eatery as well.”
“We’re trying to do something a little bit different,” Gouldsbury, III said. “Haddonfield has a very hopping downtown business district. We’re trying to open as many places in town as we can, bringing quality and consistency of product.”
Even as they work to expand the dining scene in the community that has nurtured their vision, the pair emphasized the support they’ve found from the borough and its visitors as motivating the launch of their latest idea.
“We’re trying to offer people our consistent values with different concepts,” Murray said. “The same quality that we put into each concept will carry through.”
Put more simply, Gouldsbury, III said of Haddonfield, “This is home.”
Disclosure: At the time of publication, the author is parent to a Gouldsburger’s employee.
