Words By: Justin Kautz

There’s a certain energy you should take on--almost like stress, like restlessness--if you want to keep up in a conversation with Owen Byrnes. It’s not just how quickly he produces words; it’s how he darts from subject to subject, forcing you to track, at times, several micro-conversations within the original matter. You get the sense that his mouth is in a footrace with his mind, always one step shy of a proper neck-and-neck. It’s rarely frustrating and usually fascinating. Call it energy, anxiety, or compulsion; whatever you do, you’ll do well to listen.

Byrnes grew up in Minneapolis, MN, with both parents and an older brother. Since he was young, his parents--he very lovingly calls them “hippies”--have run an Asian and African art store out of his childhood home. His dad studied painting in college; his mom, weaving. Perhaps more relevant, however, is his mom’s relation to the award-winning chef, Cindy Pawlcyn.

The 28 year-old Byrnes credits his aunt, in large part, for his love of food and drink. As a kid, he’d spend time in San Francisco and Napa Valley (where Pawlcyn lives), eating where most parents would never bring their children (he tells a story, for instance, of a somewhat embarrassing encounter with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse, which he asks me not to share in detail here). Growing up in Minneapolis, too, provided a rich food scene that informed Byrnes’ tastes. Eventually, his time expo-ing, serving, and managing in various restaurants in his 20s put his love of food and drink to work and gained him his early industry chops.

Probably most formative, though, was Brynes’ time working for his aunt in Napa Valley in 2015. For five months he harvested and prepared vegetables for one of Pawlcyn’s well-respected restaurants, Mustards Grill, in addition to selling some produce for off-premise consumption. It was in that time, he says, that he gained a true appreciation for the labor and care that go into crafting ingredients for world-class dishes.

Today, we feel the benefit of Byrnes’ expertise at our taproom and restaurant in Downtown Sioux Falls. Since taking over as the GM in September 2019, Byrnes has brought energy and education to our staff and helped make Fernson Downtown a place that’s passionate about customer service, consistency, and, altogether, quality. 

To show him off, I had a beer with him downtown and asked some questions for a blog post. Appropriately, I asked twenty of them in just ten minutes. Predictably, he got a lot of words out in that time.

Q: Do you remember a particular food/drink experience that got you hooked?

A: I think it’s because of my aunt partially, but I always had a lot of really nice food experiences growing up. As far as beer and wine, it was just everything in California. The way it’s taken in California and the way people look at it in Napa Valley, it’s more of a lifestyle than a treat.

Q: What’s your beer-drinking wheelhouse?

A: I’m a pale ale guy. It’s just my perfect beer style. Bitter, medium ABV, hoppy, but not mouth-numbing. If I’m drinking a full 6-pack, it’s a pale ale. It’s kind of my litmus test at a lot of breweries, whether I’ve been to it or not. That’s why I love Patcher.

Q: Do you have a comfort food?

A: Fried chicken. Me and my buddies used to always go to this spot in Minneapolis (that doesn’t exist anymore) called Shorty and Wags. And if you go to my athlete profile for the Augsburg soccer team, it says my favorite food is fried chicken from Shorty and Wags every single year. It’s my thing.

Q: What’d you study at Augsburg?

A: Communications with an emphasis on marketing and advertising. I thought I was gonna work at an ad agency, making funny ad campaigns and shit, doing yoga on my lunch breaks.

Q: Besides sustenance, what do you see as the purpose of food?

A: I love it because it’s almost like a common language, a universal language. Everyone needs to eat, and no one tries everything, so you always get a chance to show somebody or teach somebody or be around when someone finds a new favorite food. I think that potential is always really fun.

Q: What inspired your fashion? You’ve got kind of a skate vibe going on.

A: Comfort. I’ve been wearing the same thing since I was in high school. Same Levis 511, occasionally a dabble in the 512. Plain-colored t-shirts, plain-colored hats. You could look at my Facebook. My hair length changes; the fat on my face changes; that’s about it. Nike SBs, Vans, Levis--that’s, like, all I’ve been in since I was a kid. Just cleaned it up a little bit--matured it, if you will.

Q: What was your favorite cereal growing up?

A: Never really into cereal. I was more of a get-obsessed-with-a-cereal-then-burn-out-super-fast-then-don’t-eat-cereal-for-six-months kind of guy. But I really liked Cap’n Crunch. But you needed, like, the three-week tolerance break so you could reheal the roof of your mouth. 

Q: Album you hold dearest? Not necessarily the best album, but the one you always go back to.

A: It’s funny, there’s this album--my friend actually gave it to me, he burned me a copy of it for my birthday in 7th grade--it’s Blu and Exile’s “Below the Heavens.” Blu is this rapper from out West, and Exile’s his producer. Blu actually went crazy; he had a couple shows in Minneapolis that were an absolute nightmare where he was just super tweaked out. But it’s an album that, when I hear it, I’m taken back to, like, driving to school in the winter, drinking an Amp energy drink. Start to back, there’s no skippable songs. It was one of those albums where, when I heard it, I was like, “Shit, this is special.” Ten years later it’s out of press, out of release, but it’s been written up as one of the better hip-hop albums of the decade.

Q: Artist--music or otherwise--that you respect the most?

A: I’ve always loved The Roots and the way they can continue to put out great records that are slightly different, not stale-sounding. Every once in awhile, especially in my car, I’ll be listening to a cut I haven’t heard in awhile and I’ll be like, “I can’t believe Questlove just drummed like that for seven minutes straight.” It’s wild to me.

Q: Would you rather have a glass of wine, a beer, or a cocktail?

A: I’d rather have a beer and a shot of Bulleit Rye. That’s kind of my go-to. I love the combination of flavors. My desert-island combination would be a Fulton Standard, which is a little bit sweet, little bitter, and a Bulleit Rye--little spice, little heat. That’d be the perfect combination, something I don’t get sick of.

Q: What do you do when you’re not working? What do you like to do?

A: I’m a movie guy--like to watch movies. Other than that, I like going out to eat, going out to drink. I’m a service-industry head. That’s one thing that was a hard transition moving to Sioux Falls. I didn’t feel like I had the spots.

Q: You also game a little bit, right?

A: Little bit. Little FIFA.

Q: You played soccer in college and watch it all the time in the taproom. Tell me why I should care about soccer.

A: Don’t care about soccer if you don’t wanna care about soccer, man! For me--I’ve never been someone to convert somebody to watching soccer. I grew up around it, so I can appreciate what’s involved in it, but I completely understand that if it wasn’t something you played, you wouldn’t have any reason to like it. My girlfriend’s a volleyball coach, and it’s kinda like that. When I started watching volleyball, I had no interest in it other than her. I was like, “Shit, is this how people feel about soccer?”

Q: Overrated or underrated: Hazy IPAs

A: Overall, overrated. But there are some really good ones out there. 

Q: Favorite basketball team?

A: Minnesota Timberwolves

Q: Top five Timberwolves of all time?

A: Easy. Kevin Garnett. *long pause* Wally Szczerbiak--Wally World, yessir. Sam Cassell. Chauncy Billups. Karl Anthony Townes. Not in that order.

Q: Choose your fighter: Jason Statham or Rocky Balboa from Rocky IV

A: Jason Statham, dude. He’s a wildcard.

Q: Overrated or underrated: abstract art

A: Underrated. I come from artists--shoutout Mom and Dad.

Q: Favorite throwaway beer?

A: PBR

Q: What’s your go-to coffeeshop drink?

A: I usually get a cold brew to go--16oz cold brew to go--and if I’m hanging around I’ll chug a cortado. Sometimes both.

Q: Last but not least: What are you most excited about for the future of Fernson?

A: I’m super excited to be working with so many creative people that I feel like are constantly challenging each other. I think that’s the biggest asset Fernson has--that everyone’s so ambitious, so creative, and ready to do what it takes to be the first at something or the best at something. I really enjoy being around such driven people. I think that’s been the most fun so far since I’ve been with Fernson.

“We Shared a Beer With” is a recurring series where we share beers with the ones we love.

Justin Kautz is the Fernson Downtown Assistant to the Regional Manager.