Love supporting local farm-fresh food? This new pub might be the place for you.
A new pizza and beer place is coming to Frankfort. But this place will be more than just a pub.
Because the restaurant at 863 Wilkinson Blvd. will be part of an overall mission: selling local farm-fresh food.
Locals Food Hub & Pizza Pub, which is expected to open in mid-June, will have a retail grocery space with Kentucky-grown vegetables and fruits, cheese, meats, artisan breads, eggs, jams and syrups, shelf-stable items such as salsas and sauces, and more, according to co-owner Birch Bragg.
Bragg and his wife, Michelle, along with Joseph Fiala and Taylor Marshall plan to operate the store and restaurant seven days a week “because that’s the best way to serve the local food system,” Birch Bragg said.
The store also will offer same-day delivery with online ordering, he said.
Even the pizza will be a showcase for Kentucky-grown food. The wood-fired pizza will be made from scratch daily with Weisenberger Mill flour, and toppings will include locally sourced chicken, bacon and housemade Italian sausage from local pork.
For cheese, they will use Kenny’s Farmhouse mozzarella. And seasonal vegetable toppings could include anything from fresh-picked asparagus and arugula in the spring to fresh farm tomatoes and peppers in summer, and sweet potatoes and kale in the winter.
The menu also will feature fresh salads year-round.
And Bragg, who helped launch West Sixth’s Frankfort farm, said the pub will have a 10 beer taps from craft breweries around the state. They plan to offer Kentucky wines as well, he said.
The pub, which is about halfway between downtown Frankfort and Buffalo Trace Distillery on Wilkinson Boulevard, will have a large pavilion attached for people to sit and eat on site.
Bragg said he and his wife now own their own Franklin County farm raising pastured pork and grass-fed beef, and the coronavirus pandemic brought home to them how fragile the food supply chain can be.
“We have three main goals,” he said. “Create more markets for local producers while increasing access in the community. And create a gathering space for celebrating local food.”
The hub hopes to fill a crucial (and tasty) gap between farmers and foodies.
“So we chose this business model, combining prepared food with the retail grocery side. Locally sourced wood-fired pizzas and salads create a wonderful platform for the amazing ingredients being produced in this region,” he said.
This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 11:38 AM.
