Today we’d like to introduce you to Delia Champion.
Delia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I began my lifelong career in the restaurant industry the day I was born and brought home to the family-owned tap room, where the Champions had lived for three generations. “I remember pulling a chair up to the stove in the restaurant’s kitchen and scrambling eggs on the grill. I must have been about 4 or 5, and my dad would encourage me to scramble faster!” This set the pace for my career!
Another one of my early memories is making sausage with my grandfather. He let me crank the old red sausage grinder, clamped onto the kitchen table they would fill the grinder with fresh meats…from venison to pheasant…but chicken was always my favorite.
In 1993, some friends and I, including Emily Saliers from the Indigo Girls, opened my dream restaurant…called the Flying Biscuit Café …and no one could predict what would be in store!
We were showcased on Good Morning America, Rachel Ray’s $40 A Day on the Food Network, Turner South, where the Flying Biscuit won Best Breakfast in the South, featured on Oh! Pure Oxygen, PBS “This is Atlanta Cooking” and Good Day Atlanta. The Flying Biscuit has also been featured in Gourmet Magazine, Bon Appetite, the New York Times, Frommers, Zagat and has also been selected as one of the Top 10 restaurants
in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In June 20006, I was ready to move into something new. I partnered with a franchise organization to grow the company and continued to work with the flying biscuit for the next five years.
Over the years, I continued to perfect my recipe for chicken sausage by teaming with a family-owned meat manufacturer in Gainesville, GA. The chickens are then handed de-boned and mixed with spices sourced from south Atlanta. The sausage is made in small batches to ensure consistency and the highest quality. The sausage is 100% pork free, even the casing!
In 2011, by popular demand, I got back into the restaurant industry, opening Delia’s Chicken Sausage Stand in East Atlanta. My vision is to feature a healthy, affordable alternative to fast food. Using all natural chicken sausage, I have created a menu featuring an eclectic selection of breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night items. Within 90 days, Delia’s Chicken Sausage Stand was featured on CNN. We continue to surpass our own expectations.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has been an exciting journey…filled with some of the most colorful characters in the world. Focusing on doing one thing…and doing it to the best of one’s ability has gotten me through all of the ups and downs of being a business owner.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Delia’s Chicken Sausage Stand story. Tell us more about the business.
I have perfected my chicken sausage recipe over the last 20 years. Delia’s Chicken Sausage is hand-deboned and prepared from scratch…with the highest quality ingredients…all locally sourced. No preservatives. No hormones. No pork. Just 100% goodness made fresh to order. We are most proud of our ability to serve clean, delicious food…without any extra additives.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I am by far the luckiest person you will ever meet! I’d rather be lucky than smart. I’m lucky that people choose to work with me. And I’m lucky that customers choose to eat my food…because you can eat anywhere! And if you’re REALLY lucky – customer comes back and brings a friend!
Contact Info:
- Address: East Atlanta
489 Moreland Ave SE
Atl, GA 30316
404-474-9651 - Westside
881 Marietta ST NW
Atl, GA 30318
404-254-0408 - Website: www.thesausagestand.com
- Phone: 404-254-0408 404-474-9651
- Email: info@thesausagestand.com
- Instagram: delias_chicken_sausage
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesausagestand/
- Twitter: @sausagestand
- Yelp: Delia’s Chicken Sausage Stand
Lena
March 10, 2017 at 4:10 pm
I was introduced to Delia’s Chicken Sausage by a chef in Atlanta GA that included it on her menu. For years I’ve enjoyed it.