When the flagship outpost of Bee’s Knees Supply Co., the artisanal market and craft beer and wine store in Fort Point, opened in spring of 2013, a lot changed for downtown and channel denizens.
Suddenly at their fingertips was a truly handsome provisions store set in a renovated mill. Owner Jason Owens and his team gutted and transformed it into a funky and fun variety market (with one hell of a cheesemonger station). And ever since, office workers, local artists, and residents in the area have been stopping by for quick grab-and-go lunches.
So when time came to settle on a new outpost, Owens wanted retain the brand’s penchant for sourcing and selling charcuterie and hard-to-find cheeses (and the obsessively curated beer and wine to pair with them) but also to tweak the original concept. Besides adding fully prepared take-home meals, the Allston location will be a nod to the lounge-y cafe culture of Owens’ youth in Nashville, TN.
“I got into this because I love cheese, beer, and wine,” he says. “But we will have a very elevated cafe concept [in Allston] versus Fort Point. I’d like to say everything is a little different and better. This represents what I’m into now.”
The new location is slated to open in early mid-June in the old Joshua Tree space across from the Griggs Street/Long Avenue Green Line T stop. There, Allstonians will be able to take advantage of the open-windows format of the 75-seat cafe, replete with a fireplace lounge and a vinyl record player, which will spin Owens’ record collection via the house system.
In addition to the culinary treasures from producers he has personal relationships with (“I like to know where things are coming from and how they are made”), including direct-from-farm meat and seafood offerings, there will be an “elevated coffee program” involving roasters from all over (see: Four Barrel, Stumptown, etc.) and everything from espresso, to Chemex pour-over, to siphon-style brewing for the purist java experience.
“Allston is a great neighborhood,” he says. “That’s why we wanted to push the cafe concept. This will be somewhere [locals] will want to hang out in.”
BEE’S KNEES SUPPLY CO. OPENING EARLY JUNE. 1316 COMM AVE., ALLSTON. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT BEESKNEESSUPPLY.COM
Dan is a freelance journalist and has written for publications including Vice, Esquire, the Daily Beast, Fast Company, Pacific Standard, MEL, Leafly, Thrillist, and DigBoston.
