According to Alex Brandt, he and Andy Salyards, his partner in Urban Restaurants Group (of Urban Brew and BBQ, Urban Comfort and Urban Creamery fame), were never really quite sure what to do with the space they opened as Urban Provisions in October 2015.
Until now.
The New York-style deli and bottle shop, which offers sandwiches and craft beer, is about to undergo a big change at 2410 Central Ave.
It’s a fine time for the Provisions, always meant to act as the restaurant group's line of packaged condiment products, to morph into Urban Deli and Drafts for two reasons, Brandt says. 1) Urban needs to put the building’s large kitchen to use (The Urban Canning Company, which has since moved into its own brick and mortar off Fourth Street, was previously renting out the kitchen). And 2) Brandt and Co. found that folks dig Urban's cured meats, so why not expand upon that? The deli has been supplying the restaurant group’s other eateries with scratch-made meats like bacon, pastrami and roast beef.
Deli and Drafts manager John Kinser, who served as the kitchen and bar manager at a similar concept called Union in Richmond, Virginia, calls the reimagined delicatessen “a celebration of food.” Rather than taking a straightforward approach, the menu will highlight traditional deli fare with a Southern-Florida twist. It’s driven by pickling, canning, curing and other food preservation elements (think lacto-fermented pickles and old world-style ‘kraut) done on site.
Some existing Provisions items will be served alongside bar bites (such as fish dip, pork belly bites, pupusa or pimento cheese and pickles), soups, salads like the kale and mango, and 12 or 15 new sandwiches — the Pickled Pig (house-cured and smoked pork loin, pickled collard greens, Fresno pepper relish, smoked provolone, roasted garlic aioli) among them.
More vegetarian options will also be on hand. Specifically, the guys mentioned boiled peanut hummus and mushroom pastrami, a meatless alternative that Deli and Drafts will treat the same as brisket — smoked and all.
Beer, of course, is an important part of the vision, too. Patrons will continue to pair their eats with more than 150 specialty brews, whether that means grabbing a bottle from the shelf and throwing it into a cooler to enjoy in minutes, or ordering a glass from the expanded draft line’s 14 taps, or taking a six-pack or growler home. Deli and Drafts expects to draw a crowd during lunch, so it plans to carry brewed-in-house iced teas, and is also considering nonalcoholic drafts like kombucha, root beer and nitro coffee.
“We’re trying to push not only are we a deli, but we’re a unique beer bar,” Kinser says. “We’re trying to celebrate the deli movement and the craft beer movement, and what it’s done for this town already. It’s gonna continue to grow.”
Since another part of the deli’s transformation includes rebuilding the kitchen and reworking the look of its interior, construction will close Provisions for a week, starting July 11.
A six-foot deli counter, set to sling meats by the pound and feature Provisions condiments on the wall behind it, will replace a former storage closet. The fresh color scheme will follow what Comfort has going on. And to accommodate more lunchtime diners, the space will see the installation of a second bar where the packaged beer displays (which are relocating across the room) used to be, among other changes. Counting its outdoor community seating, the deli will have north of 40 seats.
On July 23 — the same day Deli and Drafts will officially introduce itself, the updated menu and host an unveiling for the Small Town Brewery mural covering its exterior — Provisions condiments will be available for purchase at any of the Urban concepts. The deli’s mural reveal will showcase a pool party, photo booth, water balloons, grilled grub from BBQ, and a sampling bar from Small Town’s Not Your Father’s portfolio.
“There’s a significant investment and commitment to really bring a true delicatessen to this area, and we think it’s something that’s gonna be embraced by the community,” Brandt says.
Locals have shown interest in the provisions process in past. An Urban event with Savory Spice Shop taught guests how to pickle, cure bacon and make sauerkraut, while another gave attendees a how-to on charcuterie boards. Deli and Drafts aims to hold similar gatherings, such as beer dinners, at least once a month.
The Urban gang doesn't mind sharing their can-do efforts with the neighbors. For them, it's more about the how than the what.
“Some people think, ‘Why are you giving away your secrets?’ It’s not like that,” Brandt says. “What we do isn't the secret, it’s how we do it and making sure everything is fresh and from scratch. And hey, if people can make their own pickles, we’re happy for them. We’ll show them how to do it.”
This article appears in Jul 14-21, 2016.