After a decade of slinging suds, Pompano Beach’s 26 Degree Brewing Co. has debuted its first in-house restaurant — with help from a major Miami tastemaker whose name is synonymous with comfort food.

Restaurateur Danny Serfer (from locally beloved Blue Collar and Michelin-recommended Mignonette) is the unlikely force behind the new 26 Degree Brewery & Kitchen, which soft-opened April 17, months ahead of 26 Degree’s 10th birthday in September.

We say “unlikely” because, with all due respect to 26 Degree, why would the Miami-based Serfer care about a northern Broward County brewery? That answer, Serfer tells the South Florida Sun Sentinel, starts with the rekindling of an old friendship.

 Thirty years after becoming middle-school buddies at Davie’s NSU University School, Serfer and 26 Degree cofounder Yonathan Ghersi had grown apart. Then, in 2018, they got reacquainted after realizing they not only lived near each other on Bay Harbor Islands, but their kids went to the same preschool.

“It turned out our kids are really super-tight friends,” says Serfer, who serves as 26 Degree’s consultant but not its chef. “So I started hanging out with Yonathan more and now we play tennis three times a week.”

Sometime in 2019, Ghersi says he asked Serfer to help him grow 26 Degree’s revenue streams beyond craft beer with a full-scale restaurant, but the pandemic and badly needed upgrades sidelined their collaboration until 2023.