Ale and hearty
Karbach lets beer shine on their menu or yours
During his interview for the chef ’s job at Karbach Brewing Co., Joseph Stayshich was asked to describe his passion for craft beer. He gave an honest answer that could have cost him the job:
“I told them my passion was for cooking,” said the chef who admits he wasn’t a committed beer connoisseur. “Their passion obviously is for beer. But my life is in the kitchen.”
Luckily, his fledgling interest in craft brews didn’t spoil his chances at working for one of the country’s fastest-growing craft breweries. In fact, it might have helped. Now Stayshich, the executive chef of the Kitchen at Karbach Brewing Co., is learning about beer in the best possible place.
His palate is being schooled in rich suds, and his education in the finer points of malts and hops is on the fast ferment. The brewery owners who tapped Stayshich to cook at the restaurant within the huge, 19,000-square-foot plant that opened to the public in May have found someone who has created a menu that enhances Karbach brews.
Stayshich, who was executive chef at Benjy’s in Rice Village for five years, said he came to his new position ready for change. He switched gears fast, moving from the upscale adult comfortfood pleasures of Benjy’s to creating unique, craveinducing dishes for a beer-loving crowd.
And his appreciation for wine is being augmented by a newfound respect for craft beers. The result is a menu of bold flavors that pair well with Karbach’s finest, and in many respects employs beer to enhance those flavors.
“I always thought craft beers were so heavy,” said the chef who was a casual Lone Star drinker before being exposed to the Karbach portfolio. “I had it wrong. Beer, in a lot of cases, pairs better with food than wine does.”
His menu offers snacks and shared plates that include house-made pickles; roasted eggplant hummus made with house Hopadillo beer; charcuterie served with house-made beer mustard; fried shrimp coated in a crispy batter made with Weisse Versa beer; and a poutine boasting a brown beef gravy stoked with Karbach.
There are dishes where no beer is an ingredient, such as the pizzas, the crunchy-coated Korean fried chicken glazed in a chili sauce and served with red cabbage kimchee; grilled shrimp banh mi; fried chicken torta; and kale Caesar salad with miso dressing, Texas peaches and ricotta salata.
But there’s no escaping the beer influence at Karbach. Stayshich found clever ways of getting beer into the menu (beer-battered fish and chips; a beerdeglazed sauce for Gulf shrimp and heirloom grits; Rodeo Clown vinaigrette in a salad; brining chicken in pale ale) as well as beermaking ingredients (he ground raw malt and added it to flour to create malted ricotta gnocchi). Even tacos are made from beef that was raised on spent Karbach grains. That’s the Karbach story coming full circle.
Though some beer ingredients and flavors took some getting used to — the bitter, aromatic components of hops were initially likable — Stayshich proved to be a quick learner in the intricacies of craft beer. He’s now game for reinterpreting his recipes to incorporate beer or beer-making ingredients whenever possible.
The more he does it, the more he’s enriching the Karbach experience. He hopes that his restaurant will be a draw for food as much as the brewery entices beer fans. Stayshich says that as the menu grows in delicious sophistication, he’s taking the restaurant beyond what people perceive pub grub to be.
“I didn’t want to be a chef slinging cheese sticks and potato skins,” he said. “We want to introduce things people wouldn’t normally associate with a brew pub. We wanted to give our guests something new.”