Two St. Louis heavyweights are teaming up for a venture destined to make The Grove an essential beer and barbecue destination. Urban Chestnut Brewing Company plans to partner with Sugarfire Smokehouse to run the food service at its Grove Brewery and Bierhall. The arrangement, which is being dubbed as a six-month residency, will launch during this weekend’s Oktoberfest celebration in The Grove, after which the acclaimed smokehouse will take over the food operations at the bierhall.
“I think that part of the magic at places like City Foundry is that you have these different brands and concepts you love under one roof,” says Jon Shine, partner at Urban Chestnut. “This is what we hope to do here on a smaller scale. If you come in here for the bierhall, great; if you’re here for Sugarfire’s incredible food, even better. I think this will elevate the bierhall experience and that customers will be really happy with the collaboration.”
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According to Shine, the partnership between the two beloved local brands came about when he and the Urban Chestnut team were rethinking their business model following the company’s recent Chapter 11 filing. They looked at the success they’d had with their recent partnership with Niche Food Group’s Brass Burger at their Midtown bierhall (which ran from March through June) and wanted to bring that energy to the Grove location. Sugarfire seemed like a natural partner, thanks to the brands’ history of collaborating on different projects. Shine reached out to Sugarfire owner Mike Johnson, who was immediately on board.
The Sugarfire residency does not completely replace Urban Chestnut’s existing food service—and importantly, its wildly popular pizza. As Shine explains, guests will be able to get Sugarfire’s greatest hits—for instance, pulled pork, brisket, and smashburgers—alongside Urban Chestnut’s pizza and traditional German fare. In addition to barbecue, look for smaller versions of the brewery’s famous U.R.B. pizza, as well as a rotating selection of German-European classics, including an updated version of its chicken schnitzel and a return of its strammer max sandwich, featuring ham, cheese and an over-easy egg.
The partnership will officially begin this Sunday in The Grove as part of the brewery’s Oktoberfest celebration. Then, the grand opening for the residency will be next Tuesday, October 15. Shine notes that it’s currently being viewed as a six-month arrangement, though they are open to seeing how it goes and then reevaluating when the time is right. However long it lasts, he’s excited for the doors that it opens to both brands.
“What we are super excited about is that this gives us the ability to go to Sugarfire and say, ‘Hey, we have this new beer release from this region in Germany. Here’s a dish we would love you to prepare,’” says Shine. “They are so accommodating, flexible and can pivot so fast. This opens doors to do so many things that are organic and authentic.”
