Executive Chef Chris Drymala aims to bring local ingredients to his menu.[/caption]
Scott Phan bought The Public House four years ago and has slowly turned this traditional Irish pub into a bar with a farm-to-table menu.
“It’s almost like we’re reinventing ourselves,” Phan said. “I think we have a pretty great bar, but the thing that was holding us back, I believe, was the food. Our food [before] was nothing to brag about. Now working with [Executive Chef] Chris [Drymala]—he has this great menu, and it’s starting to take off and we can see it.”
Drymala was trained in traditional French fine dining cuisine and worked in downtown Austin before he moved back to his hometown near Simonton in 2008.
“My background is Texas—wild game and fresh-caught seafood—so we went with that route. It gave us a lot of freedom to kind of play a little bit,” Drymala said.
Phan and Drymala decided to focus on serving local produce from third-generation farmers at Pavlock Farms in Rosenberg, freshly caught Gulf fish, and beef and pork raised in Brookshire and Bellville. They make an effort to source everything from local vendors.
Drymala said this business approach lends itself to an ever-changing seasonal menu inspired by the imaginations of people working in the pub and customers who challenge him to create something interesting.
“Working with Chris is like—every single week he has something new,” Phan said. “Whenever he gets his hands on some fish he gets excited about, we end up selling out in a day. Literally everything he puts on, we sell.”
Phan and Drymala said they are committed to serving dishes at an affordable price.
“We dress it down a little. It’s a little rustic, and that allows us to keep the prices down,” Drymala said.
Phan said Drymala was a regular at the pub for months before the two got to talking about food. Once the conversation started, Phan said he knew the chef had some interesting menu ideas that he wanted to incorporate.
“The thing that gets us excited is people are talking about us and coming in and saying they heard about the new menu,” Phan said. “We’re hoping we don’t lose steam and it keeps going.”
Watch the video:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXn_TxL088A?modestbranding=1]
Correction: On Page 11 of Vol. 4, Issue 2, the owner's name is Scott Phan.
Executive Chef Chris Drymala aims to bring local ingredients to his menu.[/caption]
Scott Phan bought The Public House four years ago and has slowly turned this traditional Irish pub into a bar with a farm-to-table menu.
“It’s almost like we’re reinventing ourselves,” Phan said. “I think we have a pretty great bar, but the thing that was holding us back, I believe, was the food. Our food [before] was nothing to brag about. Now working with [Executive Chef] Chris [Drymala]—he has this great menu, and it’s starting to take off and we can see it.”
Drymala was trained in traditional French fine dining cuisine and worked in downtown Austin before he moved back to his hometown near Simonton in 2008.
“My background is Texas—wild game and fresh-caught seafood—so we went with that route. It gave us a lot of freedom to kind of play a little bit,” Drymala said.
Phan and Drymala decided to focus on serving local produce from third-generation farmers at Pavlock Farms in Rosenberg, freshly caught Gulf fish, and beef and pork raised in Brookshire and Bellville. They make an effort to source everything from local vendors.
Drymala said this business approach lends itself to an ever-changing seasonal menu inspired by the imaginations of people working in the pub and customers who challenge him to create something interesting.
“Working with Chris is like—every single week he has something new,” Phan said. “Whenever he gets his hands on some fish he gets excited about, we end up selling out in a day. Literally everything he puts on, we sell.”
Phan and Drymala said they are committed to serving dishes at an affordable price.
“We dress it down a little. It’s a little rustic, and that allows us to keep the prices down,” Drymala said.
Phan said Drymala was a regular at the pub for months before the two got to talking about food. Once the conversation started, Phan said he knew the chef had some interesting menu ideas that he wanted to incorporate.
“The thing that gets us excited is people are talking about us and coming in and saying they heard about the new menu,” Phan said. “We’re hoping we don’t lose steam and it keeps going.”
