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Chef Sam Mason of the Bedford Post Tavern with his root beer braised short ribs. PHOTOS BY AMY SOWDER
By AMY SOWDER
When you order this wintry Bedford Post Tavern dish, a gentle prod of your fork’s tines on the two glistening meaty morsels will yield no resistance, just a slightly sweet but ultimately umami surrender.
Chef Sam Mason’s cold-weather concoction of braised short ribs, root beer, celery root purée and charred carrots is 7 ounces of IBC root beer-lacquered nostalgia. The first forkful of beef that lands on your tongue sparks grainy childhood memories of simple delights that mingle with your modern-day adult appreciation for fork-tender threads of beef.
“I’ve been thinking about it for awhile,” Mason said as he stirred the 30-quart pot of chicken stock with carrots, onions, star anise, cardamom, cinnamon sticks and sarsaparilla. “I came up with it at my first restaurant, Tailor in SoHo. I don’t drink soda, but back then I was on a Virgil’s root beer kick, which was weird.”
Mason smirked as he seared two marbled chunks of short ribs in a pan. “I must’ve been going through a phase.”
Making its comeback in Bedford, this succulent short rib is the best of both worlds: A playful, yet grownup dinner that exemplifies the quintessential American tavern fare at this establishment, originally built in 1762 as a stagecoach stop along Old Post Road, a thoroughfare connecting Boston to New York City.
The beefy main with its trifecta of roots — celery root, carrot and child-approved beer — satisfies its frosty calling for culinary comfort. The Tavern sells about 45 short rib dinners a night.
When it’s sold out, there’s quite a fuss, “and I guess I like that,” Mason said.
Root beer on beef isn’t that crazy a pairing for this chef, who once created cerebral desserts via molecular gastronomy at the Michelin-starred wd~50 on the lower east side of Manhattan and founded OddFellows Ice Cream Co., a funky, irreverent shop launched in Williamsburg, known for its quirky flavor combos like miso-cherry and Manchego-pineapple-thyme.
A native of Jacksonville, Fla., and educated at Johnson & Wales University, Mason has had his hand in many fine and funky culinary projects over the years. He’s known for his culinary vision and ability to marry unusual ingredients that astonish, test and enthrall the palate. At Tailor, he blurred the border between dinner and dessert.
In Bedford Post Tavern’s case, the dish is rooted in the right cut of meat. Found in the lower portion of the cow’s rib cage, short ribs are muscular and need a long cooking time, but they also have a rich, beefy flavor from so much fat marbling. After a quick sear, Mason braises his boneless short ribs in the stock in the oven for five hours at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. The process nudges the collagen out of the chicken bones to give the stock more body and encourage the meat’s caramelization.
“At that point, the meat wants to disintegrate, so we put it in the walk-in refrigerator to solidify. The fat rises to the top and forms a cap, which we discard,” he said.
Mason then removes the short ribs and strains the stock to create the root beer jus, which he reduces and thickens.
“You end up with two really sticky, lacquered pieces of meat,” Mason said as he glazes the meat spoonful by spoonful with the sizzling root beer jus, creating a glossy, sweet-savory finish.
Each chunk of 3 to 4 ounces of meat is so tender, “it really doesn’t want to be together, like the Beatles … no, they do. Like Oasis,” he said with a smile. “It gives up, like me in high school,” he quipped.
Mason manages to keep the meat in one piece until the plate lands on the dinner table and a fork gives it a little tap-tap-tap.
But first to descend on the plate is a creamy cloud of puréed celery root cooked down with only milk, butter, salt and pepper to create a velvety base for the beef.
“The flavor profile itself is so awesome, I don’t want to mess it up,” Mason said about keeping the meat’s accompaniments simple. He chars a few whole carrots with the stems cut off, softening the circumference of the orange root while leaving some firmness inside.
Mason picks up a lot of his fresh produce from Rochambeau Farm in Mount Kisco, like the watercress he uses to heighten the visual and textural interest in this dish.
“I like the mouthfeel of watercress,” Mason said. He rubs the small sprigs in lemon juice and olive oil to form the crowning step in the presentation.
“This is my baby,” Mason said as he hands off the rich, robust dish wafting with a hint of sweet nostalgia.
Bedford Post Tavern is located at 954 Old Post Road, Bedford. For reservations, call 914-292-9516 or visit bedfordpostinn.com.