Permanent, reliable food options for the region's brigade of craft breweries just keep on coming.
Big Storm Brewing Co., whose Clearwater taproom now features a kitchen inside a permanent food trailer, is the latest local brewing operation to add a dining element to its facility.
Before, brewery patrons would bring their own eats to the tasting room, or take advantage of the lineup of visiting food trucks. But Big Storm has brought on food industry vet Gerry Malynowsky to run the new kitchen as executive chef. Most recently the executive chef for Tampa's Puff 'n Stuff Events and Catering as well as Cigar City Brewpub, Malynowsky will bring his more than 35 years of hospitality experience to the brewery.
"Chef Gerry joining our team means bringing in permanent and consistent food options for our guests," said Big Storm CEO Jonathan Golden in a statement. "He has created a savory menu to perfectly coordinate with our wide spectrum of beers."
Featuring casual, beer-inspired appetizers and mains, many of them created with Big Storm's own brews, the menu offers items like grilled chicken bánh mì; four-cheese flatbread with wilted kale; ahi tuna in a garlic-ginger poke sauce; jumbo chicken wings; and beer-infused grass-fed beef sliders, featuring caramelized beer onions on a house-baked brioche bun.
The kitchen, which also allows the brewery to provide food for parties, corporate events and special occasions, is open during taproom hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.
Later this year, Big Storm plans to offer grub to guests visiting its Pasco tasting room, which is located in Odessa.
