DAYTON EATS: Loose Ends Brewing brings color to the new year

Credit: Contributed

Credit: Contributed

Loose Ends Brewing Company in Centerville is launching a new event over winter that promises to bring a little bit of color to the bleak winter landscape.

Winter Cheer: Plants & Beer will feature local vendors selling rare and common houseplants, plant accessories, home décor and plant services.

Dates for the events are Jan. 21, Feb. 18 and March 18.

Credit: Contributed

Credit: Contributed

For the first event, on Jan. 21, doors will open at 10:45 a.m. From 11-11:20 a.m. Karol Riviere from Jardin de Piedada will give a demonstration on creating different soil mixes for different plant types. From 11:20 a.m.-2:30 p.m. vendors will be open for business.

The full food, beer and cocktail menu at Loose Ends will be available to enjoy throughout the event.

A dozen vendors are lined up to be on hand tempting anthophiles (a fancy word for plant lovers) with a wide range of items for sale. Split Leaf Propagations, Jardin de Piedad, Morgan Grows, Sage & Oak, Curious Creations Macrame, Juju Plant Co., Leaf & Node, Rosebud Tropics, Urban Understory, Luna Gifts & Botanicals, Joe and Mia Plants, and Vickster’s Violets will all be selling their wares.

If you haven’t been before, a visit to Loose Ends Brewing is worth getting on your radar.

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Credit: Tom Gilliam

The plants are a compelling reason, at least for me, but it’s Chef Adrian Mendiola’s menu that is the reason for the season. Mendiola is uber talented, executing on a menu that isn’t your standard brew pub fare.

Credit: Alexis Larsen

Credit: Alexis Larsen

The current fall and winter featured menu items tell the tale of just how different the menu is.

There’s a Costa Rican Shrimp Cocktail served with fried green beans for $12, which is a great value with six large shrimp.

A roasted vegetable bruschetta ($7) that brings together toasted bread topped with a balsamic glaze and housemade marinara sauce mixed with eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and onion.

Credit: Contributed

Credit: Contributed

For a more robust main course a holiday oven roasted turkey salad sandwich ($15) blended with fresh herbs, red onion, sweet fennel and cranberries is finished with toasted sunflower seeds and Greek yogurt dressing for a fresh, flavorful, fulfilling option. The salad can be served on toasted 9-grain bread with a cranberry jam or on a bed of fresh greens.

For savory and filling there is a short rib slider option ($13) topped with homemade barbecue sauce, fennel apple slaw served on Hawaiian style slider buns. For something lighter they offer ahi tuna served on mixed greens with gorgonzola, rainbow carrots and sliced pears stopped with a maple vinegar dressing ($19).

The Crumbly Monkey ($7) is the seasonal dessert made with vanilla ice cream, sliced banana, crumbled snickerdoodle cookie, and whipped cream topped with the choice of a caramel or chocolate drizzle.

And if that sounds tempting, the regular menu is every bit as good.

Highlights include twice fried Korean style chicken wings ($13) that can be finished off with a variety of rubs and sauces, the Big City Reuben ($22) with 12 ounces of thin sliced pastrami piled high on grilled rye bread and stopped with beer braised sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing that is so big it demands to be shared, a Greek burger ($18) topped with feta cheese, grilled onions, fresh cucumber and housemade Tzatziki sauce on a toasted bun and a “Better Than a Burger Roasted Veggie Burger” ($17) served with red pepper relish and topped with fried avocado slices and spicy avocado crema.

Credit: Contributed

Credit: Contributed

For dessert, the “Gold Rush Adults Only Dessert” ($10) offers something different with butter pecan ice cream that’s dipped into a waffle cone cup, surrounded by house-made bourbon caramel popcorn, topped with whipped cream and more caramel sauce. A praline pecan and bacon bits are placed on top along with a pipette of bourbon.

A Sunday brunch served from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. is also a winner with a Latin-style breakfast burrito ($13), pastrami hash, ($13), French Quarter Bananas Foster Waffle ($13), Monte Cristo with herbed citrus maple syrup ($14), a salmon eggs benedict ($14) and an avocado toast ($13). If the day is your oyster go for a mimosa flight of orange, pineapple, blueberry and cranberry for $20.

Mendiola’s wonderful dishes pair well with the locally sourced kombucha that is on the menu ($5), selection of wine and spirits, house-made cocktails and craft beer brewed by owner and certified cicerone John Loose.

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Credit: Tom Gilliam

For a limited time on Tuesdays they are offering gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches pairs with a cup of roasted tomato and gouda cheese soup in a promotion they are calling “Toasty Tuesday” that brings the right mix of comfort and warmth to these chilly dark evenings.

Wine Wednesday features full bottles of select wines for half-off and Thursdays are reserved for trivia.

On Jan. 13 the brewery released a Dose and Soursop Fruit collaboration with Lock 27 Brewing. The beer menu and special releases like these are clearly inspired by the passion for beer and brewing that Loose clearly has.

Just as these new plant events promise to bring color and interest to the new year, so does the food and drink at the brewery hosting these plant loving propagators.

Not all brew pubs are made equal and Loose Ends Brewing serves as proof.

Dayton Eats looks at the regional food stories and restaurant news that make mouths water. Share info about your menu updates, special dinners and events, new chefs, interesting new dishes and culinary adventures. Do you know of exciting outdoor spaces, new exciting format changes, specials, happy hours, restaurant updates or any other tasty news you think is worth a closer look at? E-mail Alexis Larsen at alexis.e.larsen@hotmail.com with the information and we will work to include it in future coverage.

How to go

What: Winter Cheer: Plants and Beer at Loose Ends Brewing

When: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Jan. 21, Feb. 18 and March 18

Where: Loose Ends Brewing, 890 S. Main St., Centerville

More info: https://looseendsbrewing.com or 937-723-6328

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