Public Opinion
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Martins West in Redwood City: San Francisco Chronicle
November 11, 2010
Operated in a historic building in downtown Redwood City, the restaurant feels both cavernous and cozy. Exposed brick, massive support beams and sky-high ceilings are softened by wood floors, dusty blue walls and vibrant paintings. Diners can sit in leather booths near the kitchen, at regular tables in the front or on stools at high tables, the best spot for watching sports. The decor reflects the homey but adventurous food, reimagined British pub fare fashioned with local ingredients. It's creative comfort food, generally well balanced and executed, especially the meat.
Andrew Zimmern Interview with Chef Michael Dotson
October 13, 2010
The UK hasn't exactly earned a reputation for great cuisine. But take a good look at the kinds of restaurants getting press these days. Notice British and Scottish cuisine are slowly tip-toeing their way back into the mix? You have the Breslin in New York, Minneapolis' Anchor Fish and Chips has a line stretching out the door, and then there's Michael Dotson's Scottish-influenced gastropub, Martins West, in San Francisco. We talk to this chef about cooking in California, condiments, and of course, haggis.
Martins West gastropub in Redwood City will please Brits and others who enjoy wonderfully prepared dishes: San Jose Mercury News
September 18, 2010
It's not easy to find good fish and chips. Just ask British expats, who will tell you how often a search for that dish on these shores has led to utter disappointment. What a shame so few of them know about Martins West in Redwood City, which serves some of the best fish and chips in the Bay Area, maybe along the entire West Coast. But Martins West offers much more. A self-described 'gastro pub' (a term coined about 20 years ago in England), it lives up to the moniker by turning out high-quality food in addition to the drinks you'd expect at a British-style public house.
Chef Chronicles: Michael Dotson, Martins West: Inside Scoop SF
June 8, 2010
Down in Redwood City, Michael Dotson heads the kitchen at Martins West, a fine gastropub in the hamlet of Redwood City.
Martins West: San Francisco Chronicle's 96 Hours
September 3, 2009
Four months ago, a bit of the United Kingdom landed in downtown Redwood City with the opening of Martins West. This Scottish-style gastropub incorporates California sensibility and modern riffs on traditional pub fare.
Black Pudding and Beer: Gastropubs Move West
July 21, 2009
Your host recently had the opportunity to visit Martins West, a new gastropub that opened in May in the historic area of Redwood City. The founders include the husband and wife team of Moira Beveridge and Derek Smith, both active in the local restaurant and bar scene, as well as Michael Dotson, former Executive Chef at Evvia in Palo Alto. It's named after the Martins Restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland, run by Martin Irons, a family friend of Ms. Beveridge.
Located in the old Alhambra Theater building constructed in 1896, the restaurant incorporates some of the original design elements of the building including a line of solid wood columns that extend down the middle of the room. Also notice the scorch marks on the back exposed brick walls, resulting from a fire in years past. The proprietors went through great lengths to use recycled materials during construction. The bar is made from an older wooden water tank, and many of the tables are made from old wine barrels.
Martins West Pub Looks East
A new Redwood City restaurant serves authentic Scottish food with a twist
By Stett Holbrook, Jul 06, 2009
YOU’VE GOT to love a restaurant that has the sense of humor and temerity to serve haggis on a stick. Haggis, in case you don’t know, is a beloved Scottish dish made from, among other things, sheep organs and oatmeal boiled inside the animal’s lungs. Haggis is also a funny word to say that sounds to me like what it is: haggis.
Redwood City’s Martins West Pub, a 2-month-old Scottish-inspired “gastropub,” serves the intimidating dish in an approachable format: battered and fried on the end of stick. As offensive as the dish sounds, it’s quite good here. In America, haggis is generally made in artificial casings like sausage, so it’s really pretty tame. It’s just a rich, savory sausage made with lamb heart, kidney, sweetbreads and little regular old lamb meat.
A Touch of the Old Country
British and Irish pubs offer a friendly dose of tradition
June 10, 2009
PUBS AND PUB culture have found fertile ground in Silicon Valley. Whether old school like Cupertino's Duke of Edinburgh and the Trials in San Jose or neotraditional like Campbell's Katie Bloom's and Martins West in Redwood City, the pub's appeal extends well beyond a place to get a drink.
"It's a social space," says John Goldstein, bartender at downtown San Jose's O'Flaherty's Irish Pub. "It's a meeting place. It's just a relaxing place to come. ... Plus we pour proper Guinness, which you don't get at a lot of places." He claims the pub is Silicon Valley's No. 1 seller of the 250-year-old brew my Irish friend affectionately calls "mother's milk" when it first crosses her lips.
Martins West Brings Market-Fresh British Pub Fare
to Silicon Valley
April 30, 2009
The successful marriage of a relaxed dining atmosphere and chef-driven cuisine has proven itself across the globe in countless culture-specific forms such as the Italian trattoria, British gastropub and French brasserie. This Spring on May 7, 2009, these two key components come together in Silicon Valley at new restaurant Martins West Pub, co-owned by General Manger Moira Beveridge, Bar Manager Derek Smith and Executive Chef Michael Dotson. Dotson’s menu, demonstrating his reverence for local, sustainable ingredients and authentic British pub fare, is served in surroundings as convivial as a neighborhood saloon.
"I’ve searched for years for a chef and space to make this vision a reality," says Beveridge. "Martins West has always been evolving in my mind, but it took a perfect partnership and shared enthusiasm and passion to bring this to fruition."
"From historic public house to Scottish-inspired gastropub"
Mistie LoNardo
