Sunday, October 28, 2007

Paul Martin's American Bistro, Roseville

Paul Martin’s American Bistro is having its grand opening tomorrow, Monday, at Eureka Rd in Roseville. I got a preview and tasted their food at the soft opening Friday at lunch with my husband and a friend.
The restaurant is a joint venture by Brian Bennett and Paul Flemming. Executive chef is Peter Serantoni and the Day-to-Day Head Chef is Scott Rose that has previously been at Spataro Restaurant and Bar, and Paragary's Bar and Oven, among others. The goal for the restaurant is to concentrate on seasonal, sustainable, and organic ingredients, sourced from local farmers/producers.

The restaurant has a modern, sleek, warm, decor with brick wall accent, brown leather, and a lot of wood. The large bar covers a full wall of the restaurant and serves up a long list of specialty drinks made with their own fruit infused vodkas, and more.

We were seated promptly and ordered a bottle of ZD 2006 Chardonnay (a wine we have enjoyed many times), and were served bread and butter. The butter is hand churned in the restaurant from organic cream. A nice touch. Although there was a wide array of great looking starters we went straight for the entrees. I ordered the Cedar Plank Salmon topped with Bacon and Shallots ($17.95) served on top sauteed spinach, criminis, and jus. The salmon was cooked medium just to my liking and the bacon/shallot topping added a big punch of flavor. A really good dish.
My husband ordered the Braised Short Ribs with Mashed Potatoes and Horseradish Sauce (18.95). I am a big fan of short ribs and these make it to my top 3 list of best that I have had. And I have tasted a lot! Succulent, incredibly tender and big flavor. A true rustic comfort dish and the best out of the three entrees we tried.
My friend tried the Grilled Skirt Steak with Maple-Bourbon Glazed Roasted Sweeet Potatoes and Arugula ($17.95). The beef came out as ordered, and this dish with its sweet accents was very tasty as well.
For dessert we ordered the Devil’s Food Cake with Vanilla Whipped Cream and Sour Cherries ($6.75), and the Pear and Huckleberry Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream ($6.75). The cake is a dark chocolate cake with medium dense ganache (I would guess that a semi sweet chocolate was used). It was a little bit to heavy on the ganache and I wish it had been bitter sweet instead. But that is just a matter of taste. It was still very good. The crisp was not to sweet, flawless, warm, and delicious.

The service was really good for being a soft opening and the manager came up to our table several times to check in and make sure that everything was to our satisfaction.

I am leaping with joy that there is finally another quality restaurant in our area. I can’t wait to go here for dinner real soon to try some items from the dinner menu. Two members of the staff independently told us that the Braised Lamb Shank is the best item on the menu. I will have to find out...

Paul Martin's American Bistro
1455 Eureka Rd
Roseville, CA 95661
(916) 783-3600


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16 comments:

Unknown said...

Great review. My car broke down so I couldn't make it to the soft opening and had to give up my reservation! *cry*

Also always fun to find another Nor Cal food blogger!

Victoria said...

Thanks for your comment. I can't believe your bad luck with first the traffic and then the tire... I am going back there for dinner tonight with an out of town friend. I am hoping that they have kept up the good work and that it will be a great meal and evening... I will let you know...

Cheers, Victoria

Anonymous said...

You can add me and my husband to the happy diner list. We started with the Butcher's Board which was a superb selection of cured meats, cheese, olives and capers, though no bread was included so I guess the restaurant expects you to eat this as finger food--I would prefer to eat it on crostini or crackers. It is $9.95 per person but we found the board for 1 is perfect for 2 to share. Husband had the cheeseburger, I had the BLT and asked them to hold the avocado. Both were cooked to perfection. Also, my compliments to the chef on the french fries, they are better than the frites from nearby La Provence, and that alone is quite a feat.

We had a good sized booth in a very quiet corner. I especially appreciated the sophisticated decor, table spacing, dim lighting, low-volume music and attentive waitstaff. However, our waiter stumbled (figuratively) more than once and he was a trainer! Before we even finished our dinner he asked if we wanted dessert; when I asked for water he only brought one to the table then my husband had to ask for another water, I noted that other waiters added lemon to the water glass--ours did not. Also, he cleared flatware after our first course and did not replace it until after our dinners arrived and we asked for new forks. A little surprising since he was training another person, IMO.

Victoria said...

Thank you for the comment! I am glad you enjoyed your dinner a much as I did. I am surprised to hear that the waiter, and trainer(!), made so many mistakes, that should not happen. Hopefully just an off night for him, and hopefully he have, and will provide customers with better service...

Anonymous said...

My husband and I had lunch at this great restaurant yesterday. We started with the grilled artichoke which was perfectly cooked -- so many places feel they need to char an artichoke beyond recognition. This was perfect. I had the BLT and my husband the turkey sandwich. Both of which were outstanding and the fries kicked hiney! We splurged and ordered cappucinos and the lemon meringue tart with huckleberries. I think it was the best I have ever had. The tart crust was flakey and buttery and the meringue was definately perfection -- toasted just before coming to the table. The service was friendly and they are still working out the kinks for for a restaurant only opened for one week, I was impressed. Paul Martin's is what I expected when Crush 29 opened -- and never ever saw!

Victoria said...

I will have to try the lemon meringue tart next time I go there!
I am glad you had a great experience. I am 100% agreeing with your comment on Crush 29. I was so excited to get a new "quality" restaurant to our area and was crushed when both food and, in particular, the service was bad at opening night. Hoping things would get better I have revisited a couple of times but the level I expected has never been reached. Certain improvements have been made, but it is far from the level of quality in food and service that Paul Martin's provide...

Anonymous said...

My girlfriend and had lunch at Paul Martin's today, January 16, 2008. Our server was charming and efficient. It was crowded so there was a longer wait than usual for our order. My grilled salmon was cold, raw, and not over spinach (as menu indicated) but over chard. My friend's sandwich was fine so I nibbled at mine and took it home. This is my second and last try at this restaura

Victoria said...

I have had negative comments about the service, but never before about the food. I am hoping and assuming that your experiense was just an off day and nothing that will repeat to often. My food has always been great there...
Always a disappoinment however when you do have a bad meal at an establishment you expect more of...

Anonymous said...

This was our second time dining at PMAB. The food was fine however the server was not friendly and seemed indiferent. It really made our experience disappointing.

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