Palladino Farms on Sweet Road breaks ground on Heritage Hill Brewhouse and Kitchen
By Jason Emerson
editor
Central New York’s newest brewery and eatery started construction this week, with plans to open by August.
Heritage Hill Brewhouse and Kitchen, owned by Dan Palladino and located at Palladino Farm in Pompey, will brew its beers and serve food from ingredients grown onsite or sourced almost entirely from family-owned neighboring farms.
With brewmaster Jim Frazee, a Pompey native, making the beer and chef Alicyn Hart, former owner and operator of Circa in Cazenovia, in the kitchen, Palladino plans to continue the local, community focused agricultural business with Heritage Hills that has sustained his family farm and farm store for years.
“We’re really excited to be a true farm restaurant,” Palladino said during the groundbreaking ceremony last Friday, May 4.
Palladino was joined at the event by numerous state and local officials, including Deputy Commissioner of New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Jackie Moody-Czub, Onondaga County Supervisor Joanne Mahoney, Onondaga County Legislator Dave Knapp, State Assemblyman Al Stirpe and Pompey Town Supervisor Carol Marsh.
“First and foremost, this is going to be an authentic place … this is going to be in the middle of our farm, where we have been producing barley and grains for years, and our own beef cattle since the 1950s,” Palladino said. “Basically, I want to bring everything we produce on the farm and from our neighboring farms in Onondaga County to the people who live here. I want people to experience the views; we’ll have pasture walks, we’ll be dog friendly; we’ll be extremely family oriented with lots of activities for kids — and while all that’s going on, you’re in the middle of a dairy farm.”
Palladino is the third generation of his family to work the farm on Sweet Road in Pompey. After working in finance for years in Syracuse and Rochester, in 2010 he took over the family farm business. Since then, he has expanded the farm from 525 to 2,600 acres and opened Palladino’s Farm Store, which features homegrown products from over 30 local businesses and ingredients for home brewers.
Palladino has emphasized his goal that the farm will be a family-oriented destination for entertainment and education, as well. He will be partnering with the Fayetteville-Manlius and Fabius-Pompey school districts’ food and consumer science classes to offer learning experiences. He said students will be abnle to do “mini internships” and learn how to raise crops, process and malt grains, raise animals, cook and sell in a retail store.
“We really want to demonstrate end-to-end sustainable agriculture right her in New York and Onondaga County — that’s the goal, to really introduce people to a true farm experience.”
“Palladino is an example of everything that’s going to keep agriculture viable in New York for generations to come,” said Moody-Czub. “The synergy between craft beverage, production agriculture and agro tourism really represents our mission for agriculture as a whole in this state.”
“This project is so good, for so many reasons,” said Mahoney. “Agriculture is a huge part of our local economy, and this supports the whole economic engine.”
Palladino’s new endeavor of the brewery and restaurant has been in the works for over a year.
After Governor Cuomo signed the Farm Brewery Law to promote the expansion of craft breweries in New York, Palladino was inspired to use his own malt barely to produce on-site alcohol, he said. When high school friend John Frazee, founder of Gravity Brewing in Colorado and an award-winning brew master, mentioned to Palladino that he was considering moving back up to The Empire State, Palladino knew that a new, innovative brewery would be his next seed to plant.
Partnering with 1886 Malt House in Fulton and sustained by the farm’s 400 acres of barley, the new addition to Palladino Farms will specialize in craft beer made with malt barley and hops.
Heritage Hill will start with an opening beer list of: Dutch Hill maple amber (sourced from Dutch Hill Farm, the biggest maple producer in Onondaga County), Frazee milk stout (made with lactose sugar), Pompey blue ribbon lager, New England style IPA, American IPA, German hefeweizen and Belgian style saison.
The restaurant portion will feature a “rapidly rotating menu,” Palladino said, that will include whole animal cooking — utilizing the entire animal and rotating the menu around the different cuts of meat. There will be beef and pork from Palladino Farm, as well as lamb and yak from other local farms, Palladino said.
Head chef Hart, currently chef at Good Nature Farm Brewery in Hamilton, will start at Heritage Hill on June 1, Palladino said. She will start preparing food in the farm store until the brewhouse opens, he said.
As president of the Onondaga County Farm Bureau, doing what you love and keeping it local are two of the things Palladino promotes. “Let’s take back our markets, let’s cross out the middle men,” he has said. “Let’s teach people how good local foods are.”
Heritage Hills Brewhouse and Kitchen is expected to open in August.
Sarah Griffin contributed to this report.
