The Unvegan

If you’re getting tired of food truck writing, well, you are in luck. Today unvegan is jumping back into the brick and mortar world with a visit to Paul Martin’s American Bistro. Paul Martin’s is exactly the kind of restaurant a lot of Americans are looking for in the new decade. A creation of restaurateur Paul Fleming and Brian Bennett, it isn’t too expensive, but is definitely upscale. Perhaps more important than that is its supposed dedication to serving organic, sustainable and local foods. It’s a great concept that I can get behind, but pretty ineffective unless the food is good. Using my heightened unvegan senses, I checked them out for lunch to see if organic, local and sustainable translates into a good meal.

Looking at the menu, I was torn among a few options, eventually narrowing it down to the Bistro Burger and the Short Ribs. When I asked the waitress to decide for me, she heartily recommended the Short Ribs. Hopefully this wasn’t because they cost more. These ribs were braised, had a horseradish cream and only came with mashed potatoes. All of this was perfect for an unvegan and required no modifications.

They arrived doused in a sauce, which was a little bit frightening. I know this isn’t a steak, but sometimes when the sauce is the most noticeable thing on the plate, it draws question to the preparation of the meat. I started eating and realized this wasn’t a huge deal. The meat was juicy and fatty, like it should be, but there was still just too much sauce on it. One thing that is great about short ribs is that they rarely have bones, and these were no different. Sure, bones play a great role in the cooking of other ribs, but for these short ribs, there was no need. The mashed potatoes did a great job as the carb portion of my meal and tasted great.

I definitely recommend these Short Ribs from Paul Martin’s, but I would ask them to go light on the sauce. Also, remember that although it looks like a steak, it is still ribs and there will be fat and that fat will taste delicious.