Port Moody's Brewer's Row has a not-so-new kid in town but this addition offers salty snacks to go along with your lager or ale.
Craft beer devotees and Rocky Point Park-goers can pop in to Salumist for a bento box featuring a rotating selection of cheeses, craft sausages, crackers or breadsticks and a tiny jar of preserves, either at the shop or the next brew stop.
"What goes better with beer than salami?" asked Jordan Urbani.
The family behind Salumist, which moved from its Moccia Urbani origins in east Vancouver in 2010, started asking that question when Yellow Dog, the first craft brewery in PoMo, moved in a few doors down a couple of years ago.
At the time, Salumist was a strictly manufacturing and wholesale operation, churning out a range of sausages, salamis and arancini — risotto balls — for shops throughout Metro Vancouver and into the Interior.
But when one brewery grew to two, then three and now four within a couple of blocks, Jordan and his brother Stefan Urbani and their father, Claudio Urbani, realized it was a perfect time to get back to a part of the business they'd been missing for some time.
"It's the best of both worlds," Claudio said.
They re-arranged the factory, moving storage to the back and renovating the front area with a counter made by Claudio from reclaimed wood, bar-height tables and a long picnic-style table.
In addition to the bento boxes ($10), Salumist is also offering Rocky Point picnic boxes ($45) complete with sausage, cheese, Langley's Vista D'Oro preserves, crackers or Italia Bakery breadsticks, a custom olive wood cutting board and a folding Opinel picnic knife.
Salumist officially opened its doors on July 1 after a successful soft opening the previous weekend.
"I was ready to close at 9:30 but by 10, it was like Granville Street down here," Jordan said of Saturday evening. "It was amazing, the feedback we got was just great. We had families come in, people who've 'indulged' at the breweries… they picked up their salami and could keep on going."
The Cannoli King food truck was also parked out front for a sweet treat, and Jordan said they're hoping to make it a regular partnership.
• Salumist (www.salumist.com) is open for snackers from 5 to 10 p.m. Fridays starting July 1 and Saturdays from 2 to 10 p.m. To pick up Moccia Urbani sausages, risotto balls, quinoa bites and other options, cash-and-carry is available on Thursdays and Fridays.
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