Kurt Wewer wears his heart on his chef’s sleeve, making it easy to determine where his passions lie.
The 30-something Harrisburg resident is happy to share his thoughts on the many things that interest him: exceptional food, craft beer, great music and classic literature. It then becomes obvious that Grain + Verse is aptly named.
Located inside the Clarion Hotel off Limekiln Road in New Cumberland, the casual restaurant focuses on pizza, calzones, panini and small bites just right for sharing. Craft beer aficionados, wooed to the place by the siren song of 300-plus beers that take up an entire wall, have been flocking to the establishment since it opened last spring.
“We are constantly rotating stock, and, if you’ve heard of it, well, we likely have it,” said Wewer about beers with such diverse names as Funky Monkey Wild Ale, Monkshine Belgian Blonde and Wewer’s current favorite—Sassamanash Cranberry Ale, a witbier-style quaff from Rivertowne Brewing just outside of Pittsburgh.
“Sassamanash is the native American word for cranberry,” Wewer explains.
Creativity Inside
When you first set foot in the spacious restaurant, you’ll hardly know where to first fix your gaze.
Chalk renderings of Stephen King, Ernest Hemingway and Thomas Edison, matched with pithy quotes encouraging indulgence, demand attention, cleverly steering the eyes to daily specials listed on butcher paper on a wall-mounted roll. Nearby is a selection of board games ready for play, along with a life-size Jenga game, an oversized Connect Four game and the ever-popular foosball.
Much of what Wewer has used for the décor has been repurposed or “upcycled.” So, whether you call it rustic or industrial chic, all he knows is that it seems to work. People enjoy the space, from the wooden cable spools he acquired and refinished into tables to the reclaimed wood from a mushroom barn that he used to frame out the windows. Wewer is nothing if not self-sufficient.
“I had a limited amount of money and knew how to do all these things,” he said, describing how he first had to remove all the nails in the spools, once used by an electric company. “So many nails.”
Little touches add visual appeal, like varnished bottle caps set in the middle of the spool tables.
With décor choices and implementation complete, Wewer set his sights on the cuisine.
“I have creativity inside of me that I need to get out,” he said.
Using that creativity, he put his own riff on dishes like pizza, adding literary names to his unique pies.
“Catcher in the Pie,” for instance, is a margherita pie with toasted barley; “Lord of the Pies” pops with flavorful pepperoni and hop sausage; and “As I Lay Pie-ing” puts a gourmet twist to the humble peasant fare, adding bacon and truffle marmalade, Millwood Farm’s blue cheese, Cascade hop sausage and hop-marinated local mushrooms.
During my visit, I tasted the popular “Jekyll + Hyde,” made with malt-braised pork, capicola, homemade pickles, shaved red onion, Keswick Tommenator cheese and house sauce. Of course, the question that was uppermost in my mind was—pickles on pizza?
Fear not folks, the ingredients work in perfect harmony to create a flavorful composition that keeps you yearning for that next piece.
Decadent & Delicious
Brad Moyer, general manager at Scotzin Brothers in Lemoyne, said that Grain + Verse filled a void in the area.
“We needed a central location for really awesome food and beer, and no one does it with an artisanal and passionate twist like Wewer.”
As for his favorite dish, Moyer opts for the Cubano sandwich, which he says pairs well with practically any of the beers, whether stouts, IPAs or even sours.
Brandalynn Armstrong, owner of Zeroday Brewing Co. in Harrisburg, vouches for Wewer’s cooking chops.
“I call him the kitchen karate kid,” she said, laughing.
The two collaborated on a firkin that came about one night when she was enjoying a cocktail at the Garlic Poet restaurant next door (which Wewer also oversees) and mentioned that she enjoyed the flavor of an Italian cherry liqueur called Luxardo.
“He suggested that it would go well with our chocolate hazelnut sweet stout, and we tapped it at Grain + Verse,” said Armstrong, who’s a big fan of the sour beer pickles Wewer makes. “They’re delicious,” she said.
As for her favorite dish, one memorable evening, Armstrong had the opportunity to try a duck egg/foie gras pizza. “It was decadent and delicious,” she said.
Wewer is committed to using as many local ingredients as possible. Besides Zeroday, he works with area purveyors like Keswick Creamery, De Glae Organic Farm, Hope Springs Farm, Hidden Hills Dairy and Strites Orchard, to name just a few. And he can’t say enough about the produce from the Steel High aquaponics program.
“I use a variety of ingredients from them—arugula, bok-choy, basil, cucamelons—very vibrant stuff,” he said. “Kids are in there every single day, nurturing it.”
As for the future, you get the idea that this isn’t Wewer’s swansong—for a restless, creative mind, there are always more verses on the horizon. He hints at an expansion, but only time will tell.
Grain + Verse is located at 148 Sheraton Dr., New Cumberland. For more information, call 717-317-3044 or visit www.grainandverse.com.
