Opening a new restaurant in the best of times is a challenge. When it is a “first” restaurant, the stress level increases. But opening a first restaurant in the midst of a pandemic is cliff-diving, tightrope-walking stress. Seven years ago Patti Burton opened Raw Bob’s Organic Juicery, a small juice and smoothie bar on Main Street in East Greenwich. On April 9, she opened PB Bistro and Bar, a brand-new, plant-based restaurant, also on Main Street in East Greenwich.
In the midst of this coronavirus-social-distancing-mask-wearing world, PB Bistro and Bar opened for business. Burton and her business partner, physical therapist Dan Hatch, have helped many people on their journey to a healthier lifestyle by showing them how to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into their diets. Hatch is also an Ironman triathlete, entrepreneur and owner of NPT HealthWorks LLC in Newport, which provides a variety of proactive and reactive health and wellness services and products. He has lived a plant-based lifestyle for over the past three years. But can anything prepare anyone for what life has become these days? Burton and Hatch are philosophical about it, as are their customers. “People are taking second, third and fourth looks at their lifestyle right now,” Burton said by phone. “We are just needed. People are starting to take a step back and think about what they are putting into their bodies.”
PB Bistro and Bar couldn’t wait for a better time to open. The clock is ticking. The meter is running, as are the refrigerators that have been stocked by the produce suppliers, and the bar built by the contractor and stocked by the liquor distributor. They all need to get paid for the goods they delivered in good faith before the restaurant sector shut down. So the doors opened, at least wide enough to let takeout containers out.
Burton designed the menu. She has culinary experience but said, “I don’t want to be the chef.” An executive chef and sous chef came on board. There is a learning curve in menu planning and execution since there are so few plant-based restaurants in the state.
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STARTING FRESH: Patti Burton, far left, and Dan Hatch, far right, have opened PB Bistro and Bar in East Greenwich, which features a plant-based menu. With them are sous chef O’Laro Waite, second from the left, and executive chef Mike Fleury. / COURTESY CAITLIN COSTA[/caption]
Burton and Hatch welcome everyone. “We want to be the place where everyone can come in and enjoy a meal, not just the people living the lifestyle,” Burton said. The restaurant seats 46 – or will when dining-in resumes. She describes the menu as “dishes that you would expect to have meat but don’t, yet are completely satisfying – you’re happy, you want to come back and have it again.”
An example is a “seafood” chowder that appears to be brimming with scallops that are mushrooms. The chowder is hot, creamy and aromatic thanks to a generous pour of Old Bay seasoning, which is based in Baltimore – “I’m from Maryland,” Burton said – and delivers the same texture as its mollusk inspiration.
It was not a difficult pivot to come up with a takeout menu. Burton and the chefs already had a lunch menu called “Street Kicks” that has lent itself to the curbside pickup all restaurants find themselves in these days. “It’s a late-night menu, something quick [that you would eat while] walking down the street,” Burton said.
PB opened on the Thursday before Easter. Two days in, Burton was already welcoming repeat customers. That would be a success story even if the place was fully open with patrons at the tables and bar.
Burton is already an ambassador for her style of eatery. Several restaurant owners have come in to get takeout. “I hope they put some plant-based options on their menus,” she said. She sees herself as a trailblazer. “When I opened Raw Bob’s, there were no juice bars around here. In the past seven years, the area has evolved and now there are several.” n
Bruce Newbury’s “Dining Out” radio talk show is heard Saturdays at 11 a.m. on 1540 AM WADK, on radio throughout New England, through various mobile applications and his podcast. Email Bruce at Bruce@brucenewbury.com.
