Photograph by Caitlin Abrams
Beef at StormKing
The technically masterful beef at StormKing.
"I'm at an 8.5 today." That's where Black Sheep Pizza's owner Jordan Smith is on the 10-scale of how he's doing today, and that's pretty great for a Monday in 2021. And maybe we can also get to the +8 with the news he was calling me about.
Smith has partnered with the owners of Rapid Brewing Co. to purchase the closed ONE Fermentary space in the North Loop, and they plan to open StormKing Brewpub & BBQ there this spring.
StormKing, if you remember, was the takeout BBQ spot that Smith launched in 2017 on the back side of his Nicollet location of Black Sheep. The Texas-inspired 'cue got lots of accolades (that brisket, yes), but the small shop couldn't quite make the math work and closed in under a year.
But now it's coming back, with beer! "You know the barbecue is really there to support the beer, which is really great," Smith told me. "Their head brewer was with Alaskan Brewing Co. for a long time, and I'm just blown away by their beer. We're going to do, of course, brisket and ribs, and pulled pork. But this will be StormKing 2.0 so we'll do some more fun stuff, like smoked wings and old school nachos, some sandwiches, and other new things."
The space currently doesn't have a kitchen, so they are working with Shea Design to bring in a hood and equipment, and also to change up the flow a bit. "No matter what, you're walking into a bar, so we want that to be easy. We'll do ordering at the counter, and then bring the food to you, with COVID it's all tough to figure out but we're working on that. There will be a lot on tap, to help with the efficiency and speed at the bar, and it's great because as a brewpub we get to have wine and cocktails on draft as well."
It's all in motion and Smith thinks they should be ready to open when patio weather hits hard this spring.
