Wichita chef launching a new side business specializing in a Kansas classic: the bierock
A well-known Wichita chef is about to launch a new project that will introduce Wichita to his version of the unofficial state food of Kansas — the bierock.
Crites, whose full-time job is working as the chef de cuisine at WSU Tech’s culinary school in downtown Wichita, plans to open a new side business on Wednesday.
It will be called Burdette’s Bierocks, and its home base will be the food truck that was formerly home to Dappery Dodo Breakfast Burritos and is parked behind Lucky’s Everyday, the bar at 1217 E. Douglas owned by local entrepreneur Alex Thomas.
But the business won’t operate strictly as a food truck. Though it will have walk-up hours Thursday through Saturday evenings, Burdette’s Bierocks will be open via DoorDash starting at 10 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and people will be able to order bierocks for delivery.
The first night of service for Burdette’s Bierocks will be Wednesday, the night before Thanksgiving, when local bars tend to be extra busy. That night, people will be able to get bierocks at the truck, which can be accessed through the alley behind Lucky’s or by walking through the bar to its back patio. Food will be served from the truck from 6 p.m. until around midnight.
The truck won’t usually be open on Wednesdays for walk-ups, though. Its usual hours will be 6 p.m. until midnight Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. This week, it will definitely be open Friday and Saturday, though Crites is still deciding whether he’ll open on Thanksgiving night.
A better bierock
Crites said he got the idea for the business when he was approached by Thomas, who was looking for someone to reactivate the truck parked off of the Lucky’s back patio that had been empty since Dappery Dodo closed almost a year ago.
It didn’t take Crites long to decide he’d like to use the truck himself and sell his version of the Kansas bierock, a dish he didn’t even know existed until he moved to Wichita in 2014.
His bierocks, all put together with homemade dough, will come in a variety of different flavors: He has about 15 versions he’s invented and will rotate on the truck. But his classic bierock is a gourmet take on the cabbage and ground beef-stuffed meat pie that Volga Germans introduced to the plains states when they immigrated here in the 1870s.
Crites said he’s perfected a bierock that’s filled with meat from bone-in cuts of beef that he slowly braises before removing the bones and simmering the meat in its own juices. The result is “tasty and juicy and satisfying and so so good,” Crites said. The filling for the bierocks also includes a mixture of cooked greens.
His students at the culinary school have occasionally made a version of this bierock and sold it at The Bistro, the student-staffed restaurant inside WSU’s culinary school at 124 S. Broadway. It’s always gotten rave reviews.
“The bierock is the state food of Kansas, and ours is phenomenally better than any other bierock anyone’s ever had,” Crites said. “That’s just the truth of it.”
Crites will launch the business this week with four different varieties. In addition to the bierock described above — called the Burdette’s Original — he’ll also have one called the MamaMia-rock, which features raw garlic and herbs folded into the dough, meaty bolognese inside and melted Parmesan cheese baked on top. There will be a vegetarian bierock called the Punjabi-’rock made with curried potatoes, lentils and peas stuffed into dough proofed with onion seeds. And he’ll also serve the “Plymouth-’rock,” a Thanksgiving-themed bierock that will be filled with turkey, garlic and cheddar mashed potatoes and gravy and more.
Generations honored
Crites said the name for the truck is an ode to his paternal grandfather, Urbanus Burdette Crites. He had six sons — including Crites’ father — all of whom also were given the middle name Burdette. Crites’ middle name is Burdette, and he continued the tradition by naming his eldest son Cohen Burdette Crites.
The logo for the business, which also will be reflected on the side of the truck, features nesting owls that symbolize the generations of the Crites family that share the name.
Crites has a couple of partners in the business including Alex Chlentzos, who works as his sous chef at the culinary school, and Nick Srour, the co-owner of N&J Cafe and John’s Pita Bakery. In fact, the partners are using the John’s Pita Bakery kitchen for bierock production.
Their ultimate goal, Crites said, is to expand the business into various storefronts across the area. They think they’ll be able to produce the bierocks at the bakery then send them out to be sold in places like Derby and Andover — possibly even as far away as Oklahoma.
In addition, Crites said, Burdette’s Bierocks will take catering jobs. Inquiries can be sent to burdettesbierocks@gmail.com
Starting on Monday, those who want to order bierocks for delivery can do so by visiting the website www.burdettesbierocks.com or by going directly to DoorDash.
