Falling for Food: These Pigs Don't Need Blankets

When I first read about Publican (http://thepublicanrestaurant.com/) over a year ago, the first person that came to mind was my bacon-loving friend, Monica B. I knew this would be a place that she would enjoy. The Publican refers to itself as a beer-centric restaurant but it is also very pork friendly. The menu is divided into three parts: fish, meat, and vegetable. While there is an overwhelming amount of pork on the meat side of the menu you will encounter a few chicken, duck and steak dishes.

We originally made reservations with the intent of taking advantage of the 3-course prix-fixe dinner they were serving the week of their third anniversary. But after seeing the selections for the prix-fixe menu we opted for sharing multiple plates on the menu so that we could get a broader idea of the food offerings. No one was in the mood for the seafood choices, so we mostly stuck to the meat and vegetable portions of the menu. The set up is great for group sharing, we ordered everything at once but the server informed us that he would bring food items out as they were ready, instead of waiting until everything was done.

The first dish to arrive was the taste of three hams. Now that I was well acquainted with prosciutto I was looking forward to trying similarly cured meats. While I did not especially dislike any of them, I had a preference for the Serrano as it wasn't too salty and went will paired with the buttered bread. The delivery of the squash left me a bit skeptical, as I'm still not a huge fan of the plant. But it was a different preparation and of course I had to try it. I had no idea what "spaghetti squash" would look like, but I think most of my table was surprised at its arrival in a small casserole dish.

The choice of pork belly was an early consensus, and I looked forward to its arrival. It was one of my favorite dishes of the night. As Monica would later learn and then inform me, pork belly is made from the same part of the pig as bacon. So of course pork belly should be a popular dish. This is the first year I have eaten pork belly and I must admit I have not been disappointed yet. While it is not something I would eat every week, it makes an excellent special occasion/every once in awhile dish.

I have yet to encounter a french fry I won't eat, so the baked chicken and fries dish was welcome due to its familiarity. I could have done without the summer sausage that accompanied it. I was also a fan of the country ribs, I wish there had been more as there were four of us splitting this dish. The last item to arrive was the fried green tomatoes. The tomatoes were quartered and coated in a thick buttermilk crust, I was a fan of the crust but I didn't like the large chunk of tomato that it encased. I think I would have been more of a fan of this dish if the ratio of buttermilk coating to tomato had leaned towards more buttermilk and less tomato.

There are still a few items on the menu that I would like to try. And the large craft beer selection has me eager to go back to expand my craft beer selections--they have over 80 different selections. But it's definitely a place you should go and be prepared to share. Bacon and beer lovers, unite.