Building the Valley: Ash Taphouse fires up service at former Beermuda in New Kensington

Jenn Toney takes pizza seriously.

The New Kensington businesswoman attended a three-day “boot camp” in Chicago to learn how to make dough for wood-fired pizzas. She went to Las Vegas for a class on her rectangular, thick-cut “grandma” style, similar to Sicilian.

And she bought a large, Italian wood-fired oven from Fiero Forni that is the heart of the kitchen in her new Ash Taphouse restaurant, created within the shell of what had been Beermuda on Freeport Road.

Toney, 47, managed Beermuda for its retiring owner, Ron Madison.

Being the owner “feels nice,” she said.

Toney’s journey to owner was not an easy one. She started talking with Madison about buying the place in early 2020, before covid shut it down. Then the building was damaged by a basement fire in October.

“We’ve been like a team all this time,” she said of working with Madison.

Toney didn’t know what she was going to call her new place until she caught a whiff of the fire smell on a rainy day. Having been there since 2007, Toney can get emotional talking it.

“I’ve just been here so long,” she said. “It’s my life.”

In remodeling the interior, Toney said she was going for a cozy atmosphere. With messages like “Love at first slice,” wall murals by Amy Kryzosiak focus on pizza.

The dartboard, pool table and jukebox are gone.

Toney’s manager, Tara Salem, said they’re going for more of a restaurant feel. Since a soft opening in late June, she said they have been getting some Beermuda regulars but mainly new people, including families and kids.

“It looks completely different,” Salem said. “She did a great job putting it all together.”

While smoking was once allowed at the bar, the interior is completely nonsmoking. Outside, the taphouse retains Beermuda’s lower and upper decks. Smoking will be allowed only on the upper deck. Access to the decks is now controlled, with patrons required to come through the restaurant to get to them.

A backyard will be available for parties and events.

The downstairs, which had been a bar, will become a takeout market, which Salem said will take six months to a year to complete.

“There’s a lot of work that needs done there,” Salem said.

Open for lunch and dinner, Ash Taphouse retains favorites from Beermuda’s menu such as the chicken salad sandwich, New Ken Stacker, steak hoagie and the spinach artichoke dip.

The rest of the menu is new and dominated by nearly two dozen pizzas under three categories: the wood-fired “Classica,” which are slightly charred by high cooking temperatures; the rectangular “Grandma Style”; and the “Beermuda Style,” described as a cross between Neapolitan and New York styles.

“I love pizza,” Toney said.

There also are soups, salads, sandwiches, pasta and desserts. “Mains” includes a roasted half-chicken, chicken pot pie, chicken bruschetta, salmon, and mac and cheese.

Friends Kathy Kaminski and Shirley Bowser, both of Allegheny Township, and Kit Hanna of New Kensington recently visited Ash Taphouse for lunch.

“The menu is excellent,” Kaminski said.

Hanna had been to Beermuda a couple of times and remembers it as a smoky, old bar. She likes what Toney did with the place.

“I like this. It’s really nice,” she said, pointing to the brick wall inside and the light fixtures. “I like anything rustic, anything industrial.”

Toney owns two other bars: Hot Spot Hotel & Lounge in Kittanning and Broken Bottle in Rayburn. She also owns Market on Second, a specialty market in Leechburg.

She plans to open Rare Bar & Grill, a burger joint, in Springdale in the fall. She said the menu there will include exotic meats, such as ostrich, kangaroo, bison and rattlesnake.

“I don’t know when she sleeps,” Salem said.

Despite how busy she is, Toney is very much a hands-on owner, and customers may find their meals made by her.

“I love to cook,” she said.

Beermuda, previously called The Reservoir and before that Time Stops, was the last of six bars Madison owned.

“I want out. I’m old and tired of this business,” said Madison, 72, of New Kensington. “It’s tough.”

Madison said Toney was doing well with Ash since its soft opening and before its grand opening July 15, and he likes what she has done with the place.

“She’s a good kid,” he said. “I wish her luck.”