Phoenixville’s Bluebird Distilling combines alcohol and artisanal dough making in new $2.2M expansion

When Jared Adkins gets interested in something, he goes all in. That’s how he ended up learning about distilling, opening Bluebird Distilling in Phoenixville roughly a decade ago. Then, he became infatuated with pizza dough.

It’s led to an expansion of the business: Bluebird Distilling & Dough House, which will open its doors officially on Tuesday.

The $2.2 million renovation adds a whole new component to the cocktail bar, which will now offer a “neo-Neapolitan” — a modern, Americanized take on the classic — pizzeria and restaurant. Changes also have expanded the bar itself, added to the dining room, and enhanced the retail and bottle shop.

Adding food was something Adkins, Bluebird’s owner and master distiller, didn’t initially anticipate when they opened the distillery in 2015. But in 2022, he started to get the itch. He considered a full-scale restaurant, and began the early planning for one. But then there was just something about pizza dough that caught his attention.

He signed himself up for pizza school, and spent three days in Washington, D.C., learning from chefs about the art of pizza making.

“There was like a light bulb that went off,” he said. “We’re already doing so much fermenting that just seemed the natural next step to get into dough making.”

As he threw himself into dough-making a few years ago, he connected with pizzaiolo Gregorio Fierro to learn the basics. That helped get his vision off the ground, as he began designing what the kitchen would look like.

Devon Migeot is joining as executive chef to bring the menu to fruition every night. Migeot spent roughly a decade working as sous chef at Philadelphia’s Zahav and Laser Wolf, plus Tresini in Ambler, and as chef du cuisine at Rosalie in Wayne.

Together, they’ll offer pizza made with 100% Petra stone-ground Italian flour, milled from 100% Italian wheat, with no preservatives or additives. The business will have house-baked breads, plus shareable small plates. Offerings will include ricotta gnudi with sweet corn, brown butter, and scallions; meatballs with beef, pork, gravy, and Parmesan; beets and burrata; chicory salad; a snacking plate of meats and cheeses; and more.

The decision to expand into food comes at a particularly salient time, Adkins said. The industry as a whole has been seeing a decrease in people drinking.

“It’s kind of perfect timing that it’s going to fill a niche where maybe people aren’t coming in solely just for drinks anymore as much, but now [we’re] giving another artisan aspect of having pizza, or something that we’re really putting a lot of time in, to craft the best,” he said.

The distillery will still, of course, honor its roots with its spirits and cocktails. It’ll feature old favorites, such as Bluebird (a vodka, blueberry, lime, and mint mix) and the Phoenixville Old Fashioned.

But new additions will join too. Customers can try the Huntsman, which will feature French cigar bourbon, morel-infused vermouth, tobacco bitters, and stave smoke; or the Rum Ham, a pancetta fat-washed Bluebird dark rum along with burnt pineapple syrup, and tiki bitters; or Off the Vine, a “garden-inspired” martini composed of Juniperus Gin, basil, lemon, agave nectar, Aleppo pepper, and “clarified” tomato.

The renovation also came with some aesthetic changes. In 2015, they led with a steampunk vibe, Adkins said. They refreshed the interior, using a Japanese-style charred wood that resembles the inside of a barrel.

The outside patio is now enclosed, featuring a “huge” rectangular bar, which can seat up to 30 people. Adkins described the bar area as light and airy, where it feels communal and social. It feels more “upper casual” than “too-serious speakeasy.” Surrounded by windows, it feels like you’re sitting on the street, in the middle of the action, he said.

When customers are ready for dinner, they can head back to the lounge, which curates a masculine, Western style.

And the kitchen, where customers get to enjoy watching the whole process unfold, embraces that steampunk essence with barrels hanging from the ceiling.

“I feel like as you walk through the area, you’re getting two or three different experiences all at once,” he said.

The bar was open through renovations, but operating with 50% of the facility for the last seven or so months, and maintaining about 80% of their normal crowds. It took some ingenuity, he said.

As they look at the new chapter, it feels like starting all over again, he said.

“I think it fills a gap on one side for us there, of now we have something else that we can present to our customers for an overall experience,” he said. “That’s what we’re going for the most. We’re giving our cocktail experience, our spirits experience, and now a dough side of it.”

This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

Inquirer Chester County

Want to get Inquirer Chester County straight to your inbox every week? Sign up here for our guide to the news, stories, and events shaping life in your community.