10 Torr Distilling & Brewing is hosting a series of popups with local food purveyors, and I was invited to last night's event. I got to ask Pignic Pub & Patio owner Trevor Leppek a few questions about his involvement in the pop up and enjoy the food he and Kris Sorensen (Pignic's GM/Culinary Director) created.
The Inspiration
"I like Caribbean food, we don't have much of it in Reno, so when Annalisa [10 Torr's bar manager] asked if we wanted to do a pop up, we took the opportunity to make something that we don't normally make. I had a sandwich in New Orleans, the first time I ever visited back in 2013, at Killer Po Boy's, and it was a Dark and Stormy rum-glazed pork belly po' boy.
I took that concept and spun it into a Dark and Stormy Pork Belly Bahn Mi and added pickled daikon, pickled carrots, some sliced and pickled jalapeños and added a dark and stormy glaze after smoking the meat for 4.5 hours in the smoker. We put that on lightly toasted bread and just a quick smear of mayonnaise and a fresh slice of cucumber to chill out the spiciness and add some freshness and crunch to the sandwich." - Leppek
"The tostones are basically Cuban french fries, so the plantains are smashed and fried and then cooked again. Gives the same vibe as a french fry with some cilantro avocado lime ranch with it as a nice dipping sauce.
Then we made a Caribbean salad (I had a similar one when I was in New York in June of 2022). To fresh greens we added grilled pineapple, fresh mango, grape tomatoes, pickled red onions, and a very simple lemon guava vinaigrette." - Leppek
On the series
"It's a fun thing to partner with. Annalisa used to be my bar manager at Pignic so we go way back and we carry their spirits and their beer, so it was an easy partnership to do. We love to show people that we can cook as well as we make drinks." - Leppek
Overall
The popup was fantastic, and was a really interesting way to see the culinary chops at Pignic. It was such a unique menu with interesting drinks and I really enjoyed the experience. I'm already looking forward to the next event at 10 Torr and heading to Pignic soon to indulge in some of the dishes they make out of their on-site food truck.