Mulvaney’s Building & Loan gets its name from the movie It’s a Wonderful Life where George Bailey learns that his business  actually holds the community together.  Owners Patrick and Bobbin Mulvaney wanted to honor the community that has been good to them and so chose that name.  They serve New American cuisine in a farm-to-table restaurant whose menu changes with the seasons and local availability.  The restaurant is in 1893 firehouse with the original brick walls and open ceilings and exposed ductwork.  It’s a medium sized room but next door is a larger room, that can be rented and a patio joins the two.  White cloths are on the tables, music is in the background, art is on the walls and there are lots of windows(the old firehouse doors being repurposed as such).  Staff was super friendly but a bit slow.  However, the food was interesting and worth waiting for.  Hope you’ll give it a try.

Set-Up

 

Food

Cowboy bean with B & L bacon soup topped with cotija and cilantro was a warm and hearty starter soup.  It was a little like chile because of the cumin seasoning but the ground bacon gave it a lovely smoky flavor.  This was very good.

 

Harvest Salad was made with honey-roasted Seckel Pears, pistachios and warm goat cheese, then tossed with a pear vinaigrette.  The warmed goat cheese made it very soft and easy to blend in with the lightly dressed greens.  The pistachios were roasted to bring out their flavor and add a good crunch.  The pears were sweet and at their peak of ripeness.  Roasting them made them warm and delicious. Another good starter.

 

The Single cut Bledsoe pork chop with fig compote was plated with Spanish rice and green beans.  In the evening they serve this as a double cut chop and that would be huge.  The very soft and sweet figs blended nicely with the juicy medium rare pork.  The green beans were very crunchy  but still edible but the rice was a bit forgettable.  Overall a good plate.

 

The Parmesan crusted swordfish was plated with Fregola risotto and butternut squash.  The crusting was a fairly thick layer of parmesan which had been sauteed to a nice crunchy exterior.  The flavor went well with the meaty fish.  The risotto was not runny but tasted good.  The squash was sweet, soft and well cooked.  Another nice plate.  We were stuffed and decided to pass on dessert.