FuD fans: The master of wafflewiches and spaghetti cones is headed to Town Brewing

Jeff McElwee of FūD on the MūV and food director at Queen City Grounds and Red Clay Ciderworks just accepted a position to lead the new food program at Town Brewing. McElwee is known for his fun and creative menus that incorporate vegan and gluten free options.

“I just realized that it was time for me to do something different. I’m really looking forward to just doing something different and expanding my craft. That is the biggest reason why I wanted to take this path, just to expand my abilities and see what else I could do as a chef,” McElwee told CharlotteFive.

New on the Town Brewing menu: items made with Town Brewing beers.

“I do have some ideas that I’m kind of working around, but I’m going to let the space dictate what we’re going to do,” McElwee said. “It’s still plant-based, plant-forward, so there will be several vegan options. We are going to focus on cooking with their beer, which is something similar to what I was doing at FuD at Salud, so I’m kind of going back to the roots.”

McElwee also plans to feature multi-course beer dinners once he gets his kitchen up and running.

McElwee got his start running the kitchen at FuD at Salud on North Davidson Street in NoDa, which was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and praised by Guy Fieri for its menu of playful sweet and savory “wafflewiches” (waffle sandwiches). In 2018, McElwee left Salud to run the culinary program at uptown cafe Queen City Grounds. Queen City Grounds has won several local awards for its plant-forward blend of internationally inspired dishes such as banh mi and comfort foods like vegan mac and cheese.

In 2019, McElwee brought the wafflewich back to Red Clay Ciderworks with a menu featuring old favorites such as Fieri’s favorite “You’re Killin’ Me S’mores” waffle, along with new weekend brunch features. Recently, he’s added ice cream cone-style treats such as spaghetti and meatballs in a garlic bread cone and vegan alfredo version with Beyond Sausage.

McElwee will continue to run Red Clay’s kitchen, and Queen City Grounds is hiring Matt Wheeler, director of food operations at Trade and Lore and former kitchen manager of Common Market to lead its kitchen. Wheeler specializes in creating menus that incorporate local and sustainable food and inclusive vegan and gluten-free options.

Town Brewing

800 Grandin Road

Instagram: @townbrewingcompany

This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 5:40 AM.