Two and a half years ago, two friends and co-workers that shared a passion for craft beer and high quality cured meats and cheeses envisioned a unique space where you could find obscure beers, ciders and sours along with family owned, small batch wines and champagne. It took quite a while but finally their vision is coming to fruition as Crafted & Cured.
Together Christian Alvarez and Andy Routson have quite the background that makes them a great team to lead this inspiring business. Chris is a chef, with his degree from Le Cordon Bleu in California. He will be making all kinds of pickles, mustards, anything to go with their charcuterie.
Eventually, his goal is to cure their own meats in the market itself with other vendors. Wait till you see their meat slicer, flown in straight from Italy, it is an eye catcher. Bright red with a hand crank wheel to give you the sheerest of cuts on prosciuttos, this is sure to please with fine meats.
Andy is an avid craft beer drinker and trader. He is working towards becoming a certified cicerone. (A cicerone is a certification awarded to an individual who has demonstrated an expertise in beer service.) He comes from a family of entrepreneurs and has always known he wanted to own his own business. Obviously, one of the most important questions on the table during my chat with them was what their favorite styles of beer are. Andy loves stouts and anything barrel aged. Chris is all about those IPA’s. I am going to love drinking with these guys!!
Crafted & Cured simply put is a growler house, not a bar. This is a place to come taste some samples of unique brews and take them home to enjoy. Not only do they offer the growlers that we have all become so familiar with they also have a crowler! A crowler is a 32 ounce can to-go that they will right in front of you! Crafted & Cured will have 60 taps with 10-12 of those dedicated to ciders, sours and meads. Dayton has a great beer scene and we have been seeing the new trend of beer infusions popping up all over town, especially at Toxic Brew Co. Luckily Crafted and Cured has a Randall, made by Dogfish Head, to infuse beers right there at the bar! You will be able to pick from a variety of ingredients, from lemongrass to vanilla beans or cocoa nibs to make your own specially seasoned beer.
Not only will Crafted & Cured offer beer, there will be a whole wall of wines and champagnes that you can’t get anywhere else. They are working closely with their rep Mike Freeman to make sure they only offer small batch, family owned, grower vineyards. Mike will be available once a month for a fun educational night with tastings.
You don’t have to worry about a lack of parking, there is plenty! They have 9 spots available in the space between them and Wheat Penny and all of the surrounding roads behind them. Monday – Friday during the day till 4:30pm at the Theatre Guild, right across the street to the right, and from 5 pm on at the Behavioral Health Center on Wayne, also across the street to the left, and all day and night on the weekends here as well.
Crafted & Cured plans on opening their doors for a soft opening, prior to May. This soft opening period will last approximately one month and will not include the cured side of the business quite yet. They plan to master the beverage side of the business then launch a grand opening in coordination with the opening of District Provisions. The grand opening will mark the start of the cured side of the business. And don’t worry, District Provisions will open soon!
The rest of the building is going to be fantastic. It’s big and beautiful and full of potential. District Provisions is a turn of century style neighborhood market. It is designed to supply the primary grocery needs to the residents of the Oregon District, South Park, St. Anne’s Hill, and downtown Dayton. The focus of this market is to provide the highest quality produce, local humanely raised meats, fresh local dairy, organic health foods and unique household goods. We can’t wait! This is just what downtown Dayton needs.
You’ll find Crafted & Cured at 531 Wayne Ave, just 2 blocks south of 5th Street. Watch DaytonDining for their exact grand opening date.