Merchants Pub & Plate: A college-town venue with a lot of class
A friend of mine – a restaurant-industry veteran – was complaining to me last week about the arugula salad she had been served in an inexplicably popular venue in the Crossroads. “The arugula was pretty tired-looking, and there were several pieces that were even yellow and slimy. There were a few sprinkles of goat cheese and a couple of pecans and no discernible salad dressing that I could taste. And they were charging $11!”
I was reminded of that conversation a few days later when I was dining in the three-week-old Merchants Pub & Plate at 746 Massachussetts in Lawrence. I was there for lunch and tasted one of the best arugula salads ever. Sure, the chef, T.K. Peterson, calls it a panzanella salad, but a smattering of toasted croutons does not a classic Italian bread salad make, no matter how wonderful the fresh herb vinaigrette tasted. But as a snazzy arugula salad, tossed with heirloom tomatoes, cucumber and shallots, and topped with slices of grilled quail, it was outstanding and, at $12, practically a bargain.
I’ll make a confession: I was almost always underwhelmed by the cuisine served in the various incarnations of the restaurant formerly known as Teller’s that long occupied this soaring space – built as the new Merchants National Bank in 1930. The Teller’s dishes never seemed to be able to compete with the visual grandeur of the surroundings.
Saturday’s lunch special at Merchants (there were several, actually) was a gloriously succulent “sloppy joe” sandwich made with slow-braised short ribs, served on a Farm to Market brioche bun and sided with – I paid extra for this privilege – a medley of four different heirloom carrots, roasted, crunchy and tossed in a delicate carrot frond pesto and dappled with bits of house-made ricotta.
Another unexpected, delicious dish: crispy fried beer-battered walleye sandwich (walleye isn’t frequently found on local menus), topped with a tart citrus-red pepper coleslaw. The french fries – hand-cut by the cooks! – are really excellent, but if you’re going to go with a fried side dish, I’d suggest the fresh corn arancini (and they do look like little oranges) that would have been called corn fritters in a simpler, less cosmopolitan time.
The prices may be a bit steep for a university town but are modest by Kansas City standards. The entrees on the all-day menu range from $17 for crispy pork cutlets (served with hoppin’ john) to $32 for a 12-ounce rib-eye.
The kitchen at Merchants Plate & Pub, 746 Massachusetts, stays open until 10 p.m. seven nights a week, but a bar menu is offered until midnight.
