On the Menu: The Publican

Chef Paul Kahan can sum up the inspiration for his latest restaurant in Chicago, The Publican, in very few words. Three, to be exact: Oysters, pork and beer.

“The idea stems from three things I love,” he says. “We took that holy trinity and just went from there.”

His passion for those three culinary muses evolved into what he calls a “modern American beer hall” featuring a menu of simple yet meticulously sourced products served in a bustling, convivial environment. Though the Publican’s boisterous atmosphere and lower check average are a bit of a departure from the style of Kahan’s award-winning fine-dining restaurant, Blackbird, his focus on farm fresh, seasonal ingredients at The Publican is consistent with his approach at Blackbird and at his wine bar, Avec.

“Our intention with The Publican is to do the simplest food, with no garnish on the plate that’s unnecessary,” Kahan says. “Really straightforward food.”

When Kahan can’t be in the restaurant, that philosophy is carried forth by chef de cuisine Brian Huston, who previously worked for Kahan at Blackbird. Huston keenly understands The Publican’s less-is-more approach, Kahan says.

“What drew me to him is the fact that he’ll look at a dish and rather than add something he’ll say, “How about if we took this off the plate?” he says.

The simple ingredients in the restaurant’s dishes come from a number of farms across the country and in some cases from abroad, each selected by Kahan for their superior quality. The pork, for example, comes from a certified organic farm in Iowa, and mussels are purchased from a mussel bed in Stonington, Maine.

The menu, which changes daily, is divided with simple section headers: Fish, Meat, Aged Ham, Vegetables, Cheeses and Dessert.

The meat section is anchored by a variety of pork-based dishes, including country ribs with polenta and caraway-mint slaw, $20; house-made spicy pork rinds, $5; and potée, which Kahan describes as a mixed pork pot-au-feu, $25. Additionally, four or five types of sausage are made in-house and used in several dishes.

AT A GLANCE

Location: 837 W. Fulton MarketPer-person check average: $45Food cost: 31 percentBest-selling dishes: mussels, house-made pork rinds, pork ribs and whole organic chickenSlowest-selling dishes: salads

One signature nonpork item is a whole or half lemon-garlic chicken, served on a bed of French fries with grilled summer sausage. Other meat dishes include beef heart with mushrooms and bone marrow, for $9, and sweetbreads with bacon, mustard greens and tarragon mustard, for $15.

“We serve a lot of offal: sweetbreads, beef hearts, kidneys.” Kahan says. “We didn’t want to pussyfoot around the food.”

The fish section features six types of oysters – sourced from Washington, Virginia, Massachusetts and Canada – as well as smoked pompano with blood orange and avocado, $11; striped bass with salsify and preserved tomato-black olive vinaigrette, $17; and fish stew made with salt cod, shrimp, octopus, clams, mussels, tomatoes, oranges and rouille, $21.

The per-person check average is $45. The restaurant’s robust fare may not win any points with the food police, but Kahan says serving simple, comforting food that complemented the beer was nonnegotiable.

“We’re not going to strip anything down so people perceive it as more healthy,” he says. “You don’t go to a beer place to eat light, anyway.

“Bloggers have been talking about a phenomenon called the Publican 20 – the weight you gain once you start coming here,” he adds with a laugh. “[The food] is not low in fat, but I don’t think it’s any less healthy than a lot of stuff that’s out there. We use incredible product and we treat it well.”

No beer hall concept is complete without a selection of suds, so The Publican offers 12 beers on tap, as well as 100 beers by the bottle. Several large communal tables, designed to further the casual hall ambience, dominate the dining room.

“It’s pretty novel in the fact that the majority of seating is four tables that form a big square, a giant communal square, kind of like the Last Supper,” Kahan says.

In the “square” between the communal tables are several high-top, three-tiered tables where guests waiting for seats can drink, eat and chat with fellow diners.

“It really is a bustling place,” Kahan says. “It’s loud. Portions are designed to be shared.… We like to have fun and try not to take ourselves too seriously. After all it’s only food.”— [email protected]