Acclaimed chef Justin Severino is teaming up with Pittsburgh brewer Scott Smith to open Larder restaurant inside East End Brewing Company in Larimer on Friday.

“We chose the name Larder because so much of what we do is preserving food and making food such as salami or pickles as well as growing fresh vegetables,” Severino told the Tribune-Review. “That name gives a visual of a full pantry or root cellar. It’s basic in terms of what it does. This is a place for good food, not real fancy.”

Severino helped design and build the restaurant. “The plan is do as much as I can now, so someday I can stop,” he said.

Severino most likely isn’t stopping anytime soon. The chef and co-owner of Morcilla, an award-winning Spanish restaurant serving pintxos and family-style dishes in Lawrenceville, also owns Salty Pork Bits, an online cured meat company which opened a year ago.

Smith and Severino have been friends since 2007. When Severino moved to Pittsburgh from Monterey, Calif., he said one of his goals was to find good local beer — which he found at East End Brewing.

“It’s my favorite,” said Severino, who serves the brew at Morcilla and did at his former Lawrenceville restaurant, Cure.

Larder, which describes itself as “a casual, counter-service restaurant,” is located beside the bar at East End Brewery’s tasting room. The menu includes barbecue, rustic sandwiches and European pub fare.

“We wanted a casual area with items such as chicken wings and barbecue, more of a comfort type of food menu that people can enjoy while drinking great beer,” Severino said.

Larder will be open at 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

East End Brewing announced on Instagram it has not renewed the lease for the taproom location in the Strip District, in order to help focus on the Larder project as well as the beers it is making for each of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods.

“We’ve loved being a part of our adopted neighborhood home for all of these years getting to meet and share our beer with both locals and tourists alike,” according to a statement. “And who knows … someday, we may be back, better than ever.”

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Is it the end of an era? Perhaps. We’ve been pouring beer in the Strip for almost ten years, since we opened at the first Public Market in September 2010. But with our new partnership with @larderpgh opening at the Brewpub in Larimer, we’ve made the difficult decision to not renew our lease for the Taproom location so that we can focus our energies elsewhere for the time being. This Sunday, June 30 will be our last day in the Strip Taproom. We’ve loved being a part of our adopted neighborhood home for all of these years getting to meet and share our beer with both locals and tourists alike. And who knows... someday, we may be back, better than ever. And to our Strip District regulars: Yinz guys rock! Thank you so much for supporting all that we do, and following us on all of our moves over all these years. We hope you’ll make the extra fifteen minute drive to Larimer, score some free street parking, and join us for a beer and food (starting on Friday, July 5). But feel free to stop by in the Strip this weekend one more time to raise a last pint, enjoy a final flight, take home some cans, or just say hello! ...the more you drink, the less we have to pack! ?

A post shared by East End Brewing (@eastendbrewing) on Jun 28, 2019 at 4:27am PDT

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