Chef Garret Fleming is a graduate of the CIA in Hyde Park, NY.   He has worked a head chef in restaurants in Maine and Charleston S.C., but gained a reputation for bold, big flavored food at the helm of several popular restaurants in Washington, D.C. His time at Motto, in Durham, impressed gourmands of the Triangle with his fresh egg pastas, wood fire baked pizzas, house made charcuterie, and  talents at using a variety of cuisines to bring stunning meals to the plate. 
            In October of 2019 he and his sister Eleanor Lacy sought to fill a gap in the Chapel Hill area by offering wood smoked bbq and carefully prepared Southern sides and sweets.   They opened at a stall in the Blue Dogwood Public Market, on Franklin St.  After a few successful months as a new business serving truly great food, COVID spread itself around the world and forced changes.   In the spring of 2020 Big Belly suspended the time intensive preparation of bbq and began offering what Chapel Hillians seemed to need at the time: excellent takeout food.   There would be one dinner menu each week, to be picked up or delivered one day a week with finishing instructions .   These menus (fresh lasagna, Thai curry, gumbo) proved very popular to our community, and were great fun for us to cook.