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Jason Martin
Student of the trade makes good with Martin’s Downtown By Ian Price
Says restaurateur Jason Martin, “you have to be committed. It’s every day.” “I’ve been a student of restaurants my whole life” said Jason Martin, now 46, the owner of Martin’s Downtown Bar & Grill since it opened in 2005 and proprietor of the more recent upscale European cuisine and beer establishment “Sidecar” that is next door. The restaurants actually share a kitchen; part of the reason Martin started Sidecar was to expand the kitchen as Martin’s business continued to grow.
is stretch my creative muscles” As for refueling his creative tank: “my wife and I travel a lot and we’re always looking for new ideas and inspiration.” Martin said a trip to Spain in 2018 inspired the concept for Sidecar, which opened in February of 2020 just before the COVID-19 pandemic began and was closed for a while at its height.
“If I had my way, I’d probably have 10 different restaurants with 10 different Martin said he got into the restaurant concepts, that’s how much I love it,” Martin game originally because he wanted to be continued, “but I’m very fortunate to have a bartender. “[I] started managing, it was the two restaurants that I have. They are paying my bills and it’s come easy to me polar opposites of each other, allowing over the years. What it really allows me to do me to be creative in different ways.”
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t MAY 2021 / vbFRONT.com
