Vista Ramen will helm kitchen at new Earthbound location

Earthbound Beer will partner with fellow Cherokee Street denizen Vista Ramen to run the kitchen for its new tasting room at 2724 Cherokee St. Instead of Vista’s namesake noodles, Vista Ramen chef-owner Chris Bork said bill of fare will feature smoked meats, sausages and sandwiches.

As The Scoop reported in September 2015, the folks at Earthbound Beer have slowly but surely been working to get their new location up and running. After several delays, Earthbound co-owner Stuart Keating said things look good for a September opening.

Now that the end is in sight, Keating and his partners’ thoughts turned toward food service for the new place. Rather than helm the kitchen themselves, they followed in the footsteps of other area tasting rooms like 4 Hands Brewing Co. and 2nd Shift Brewing, which have enlisted local favorites Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co. and Guerrilla Street Food, respectively, to handle their food programs.

“We obviously can’t do our food down there,” Bork said. “It’s too close — it’s less than a city block away. But the opportunity to work on a new project, and the opportunity to work with Earthbound, was attractive. Earthbound is a brewery that’s really trying to do some different things, which I definitely appreciate. And that’s what we’ll be trying to do with the food.”

Bork said Vista would serve as a commissary of sorts for the project initially, though some items will be prepared at Earthbound.

“I’m not trying to get into the barbecue business, but we will have a smoker (at Earthbound) and a lot of the food will see time in the smoker or be based out of it,” Bork said. He plans on doing a rotating selection of smoked meats, along with sausages and a selection of sandwiches.

“We’re thinking of trying out a mostly beef kielbasa and probably a straightforward bratwurst,” Bork said. “Also probably one rotating barbecue plate, depending on what’s available, a couple of small plates, one of which might be a smoked fish dip.”

Orders will be placed at the bar, and patrons will be given a buzzer that will notify them when the order is ready. To avoid confusion, Bork said the Earthbound project may get a new name to differentiate it from Vista Ramen. He said food service would start sometime after the brewery’s grand opening.

Matt Sorrell is staff writer at Sauce Magazine.