Blind Bat Brewery in Centerport serves brisket on bialys

Paul Dlugokencky has a thing for the letter B. He established Blind Bat Brewery in his garage in 2008 and developed enough of a following that, in 2019, he moved into a tiny Centerport storefront. He and his wife, Regina, put together a beer-friendly menu and named the venture Blind Bat Brewery Bistro.

The menu of soups, salads, sandwiches and wraps has been evolving since then and, recently, he added two new items that work in tandem: brisket and bialys.

Paul starts with a whole, untrimmed Angus brisket and then braises it every so slowly with hard cider, sauteed onions (and more) until it becomes meltingly tender.

As for the bialys, he had been baking bagels for years before he was inspired to take a stab at their lesser-known cousins, made from the same dough but not boiled before they are baked. "If a bagel and an English muffin had a baby, it would be a bialy," he quipped.

The brisket-on-bialy sandwich, $12.95, comes with homemade sweet-spicy slaw. Other handhelds ($10.95 to $14.95) include a black-bean burger, a "waffled" crab cake and a gochujang chickpea wrap on house-made lavash. (Sandwiches are served on English muffins or house-made gluten-free ciabatta rolls.)

Two other Blind Bat calling cards, sadly, begin with P: Paul has developed a following for his handmade pierogi ($2.95 to $3.25 for a bruiser of a dumpling), which range from traditional (cabbage-kielbasa, potato-cheese) to more fanciful (sauerkraut-carrot-mushroom). A recent innovation is the pretzel-rogi, a baked dumpling made from pretzel dough and topped with coarse salt.

Many of Blind Bat’s most popular items (bialys, pierogi, gluten-free ciabatta rolls, soups) can be preordered on the website and picked up at the shop. The kitchen is committed to using organic ingredients wherever possible and some of the vegetables and herbs even come from Regina’s garden.

Finally, let’s not forget about the beer, usually made with New York State hops, malt and other grains. There are usually seven on tap available for quaffing, or taking home in cans or growlers. You might find earthy Reel Mower Ale, sweet-smoky Cole Porter, wheat-lead Wunder Weisse or the pale ale that honors "This is Spinal Tap": Nun More Black IPA.

While Paul and Regina are often on site brewing, baking and braising, the spot is open to the public on a limited basis. Hours are usually Friday and Saturday 4 to 8 p.m., Sunday noon to 7 p.m., but days are variable and are noted on the website. It will be open Sept. 3 to 5 and Sept. 10 to 12.

Blind Bat Brewery, 94 Washington Dr., Centerport, 631-944-3333, blindbatbrewery.com.