Paul Kahan - Cheers to the Publican, Repast and Present

To the Mighty Vegetable

Carrot, Turnip,

or Leafy Green,

From Farmyard Dirt

Deep Witheen,

Where Roots Do Spread

naked, unseen

Til Yanked & Rinsed,

Now Fresh, Now Clean;

A Gentle Snap,

Roasted, Steamed.

People think of The Publican as this big, meaty restaurant and so often I hear things like, We dont go to The Publican because Im a vegetarian. Thats a shame because we believe in putting vegetables front and center. Sure, there are pigs on the wall, but weve evolved since we started out with the intention of highlighting gastropub staples like oysters, pork, and beer. In the beginning, we basically had two categories on the menumeat and seafoodand dishes that progressed from zero manipulation (artisanal hams, oysters) to our big box items like Porchetta with Chicories and Ham Chop in Hay. The vegetable category was in the bottom right-hand corner of the menu, and it was kind of an afterthought. I was younger, and I was all about being bold. But then, to be perfectly honest, when we were getting ready to first open, I got really fat. I had a whole summer of R & D, just working through the menu, perfecting our now-staple dishes, eating country ribs and chicken and mussels and, of course, drinking beer like crazy. I felt sluggish and horrible (and the black circles under my eyes were blacker than usual). Part of what helped me make a change in my life was standing outside, checking in produce, and seeing all these people running through the alley carrying tires and realizing that it was time to join Mike Madoniss gym, Fulton Fit House, which had opened about a year before The Publican. But what made the biggest difference was that my wife and I completely changed the way we ate at home, adding more and more vegetables to our rotation. And in time that change was reflected at the restaurant, too.

Offering great vegetable dishes on our menu wasnt just about health. People would come to The Publican and get so excited about the food that theyd over-order and just get destroyed. The first twenty times I ate there, I felt as if I was going to die at the end of the meal, and the kitchen would be like, Theres still a Ham Chop in Hay coming! So I started pushing for more vegetables on the menu to balance things out. Brian Huston got the ball rolling with his California-inspired market connections, and by the time Cosmo came to The Publicanwith all his ties to the West Coast and his passion for finding really special produce, including stuff youd never get in our market, like kinjoki grapefruits, puntarelle di galentina (a kind of chicory), and avocados with more fat content than most cheeseswe were putting out many more plant-forward dishes that were way more interesting and complex than the usual sauted spinach.

Of course, the quality of our produce is what makes all the difference. The number-one thing for us at all our restaurants, and especially at The Publican, is that our food is driven by the market. (Within reason: There once was a restaurant in Chicago that aimed to be 100-percent seasonal. It went out of business.)

While we buy everything we possibly can from our local vendorsseriously, you wouldnt believe the pile of stuff sitting outside our back door as soon as asparagus and ramps pop up in the springweve expanded to bring in produce from warmer climes. Its important for keeping the restaurant vital and interesting, plus we can get a jump on the season with things like English peas and fava beans because theyre picked in California about two months before we get the first inklings of a pea here.

Even though we buy specific ingredients from other locales, supporting local growers really is everything to us, and I pat myself on the back for helping plant the seeds for the now-thriving farmers market system here in Chicago. I wouldnt say I was the first chef to shop at the Green City Farmers Market, which was our citys first mostly organic market, opened in 1998 by Abby Mandelchef and author, friend of Alice Waters and Craig Claiborne, author of my wifes favorite ratatouille recipe, and Chicago Grand Damebut I was one of the first chefs to shop there. For the first three or four years, the market wasnt doing so well. Local and seasonal was the talk, but no one was doing it. Abby reached out to Sarah Stegner, Rick Bayless, and me to see if we could get it to work. She believed that people would buy what we bought. And sure enough, our meetings went from five people to fifteen to twenty to all these committees that helped the market pick up steam and find a permanent location.

Our faith in the great work that these local farmers were doing led to some of the most crucial relationships that we have at The Publican, which continue to shape the food that we serve. Dave Cleverdon at Kinnikinnick Farm, who Ive known for about a hundred years, switched from growing mostly mesclun to baby heads of Little Gem and oak leaf because I wanted those beautiful and tender lime-green heads. He also grows rare varieties of Italian braising greens like spigariello, bietina, and minestra nera; and hes got the best asparagus Ive ever tasted. Tim Burton of Burtons Maplewood Farm, our maple syrup guy, brings us ramps that he forages from the woods near his house in southern Indiana. He drops them off at our butcher shop, Publican Quality Meats, has a sandwich and a beer, and all the other chefs in town come by for their pick-ups. We started giving him bourbon barrels that he now uses to age his maple syrup, which in turn makes a better product for us. Henry Brockman of Henrys Farm, in the Mackinaw River Valley, grows things we cant find anywhere elseburdock root, bok choy, tatsoi. Hes the reason (along with Ed Gast and J. W. Morlock & Girls Fruit Stand) someone from The Publican team drives up to the Evanston Farmers Market every Saturday. You cant pre-order with him; you get what you get. Were always sure that someones there at 8 AM so we dont miss anything. Thats a really good example of what The Publican is about.