Dining- Beckon

Another not so particular dining review by Anna Palmer
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"How's that jew fruit?" Steve asks me from his saddle leather bar stool. We are seated side by side at the U shaped bar surrounding Beckon's open kitchen. I guess the gift for the 16th anniversary is being allowed to make fun of your partner's heritage.

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In addition to the 8 course dinner (plus bonus snack and dessert) Steve and I have chosen a juice and tea pairing with our meal. I would say this is prescient but we have also ordered the wine pairing.

Because I am always up for taking one for the team I have offered to split Steve's wine with him. It's not "drink a cold starve a fever" after all. To be kind I offer to split my tea and juice pairings. 

Now it is time for the food.

​All around us there is whisking and jhuzzing. Chefs are foaming and heating and cooling and slicing. The caviar has been scooped. The daikon has been sliced. The potatoes have been whipped. 

It is like a delicious version of a spa day. Or plastic surgery. Perhaps I should stop. But you know what doesn't stop?
​Beverages.

When the staff hears about Steve's cold a server slides a with Chamomile tea onto the smooth wooden counter. From behind my water is filled by a floating hand. And then the wine glasses arrive (times two) and then the juice glasses (times two) appear without a sound.(

We end up with a bakers dozen of glassware.

"It may be crowded" I tell Steve "but at least I won't spill things all over the place trying to divide this on my own." On Steve's left a server says "Don't worry we will manage that for you."

​On my right a server spills a drop of water as he is refilling glass #6. "You can just relax, I've got the spilling covered."

Joe is the juice guy and he is combing creative ingredients in weird and wonderful ways. None of the juices are too sweet and lots of them include ingredients in our dishes. 

When each plate it dropped we try to find the juice ingredient. Steve is a bit flummoxed by the fennel (probably my favorite juice ingredient of all) "I would have pushed these fennel fronds aside but I saw what care he took in tweezing them." A moment later he is coughing...and not from his cold. "They fennel fronds are stuck in my throat." I think he likes to say fennel fronds. "Live by the fennel fronds, die by the fennel fronds." He tells me. I am pretty sure I know what to get him for our 17th anniversary.

Did I forget to tell you about the jew fruit?

It is an etrog. Like a giant lemon with hives. And filled only with pith.  To make it work Joe has done something for many hours. Perhaps a cooking down and straining? Also- That is not Joe.

This is what it looked like when we walked in. And because of the ridiculously good service it looked a lot like this when we rolled out. Just add happy diners. And clusters of glasses. Below: Parker rolls, black cod with cucumber melon things, Halibut with some sort of foam, tweezed greens and my favorite mushroom, Beets with other delicious things, Half quail- which is ridiculous- and pickled qumquat ( guess which ingredient was in the juice). Colorado lamb, I forget but it was an icy palate cleanser with FENNEL FRONDS, Something something over incredible chocolate, Salted chocolate shortbread cookies. 

My favorite dish?

It was the snack. Some sort of cooked oysters with a sauce. Served on the rocks.

Steve loved the beef tartare cups with tweezed greens.

I think they could have served shreds of cardboard in those little cups and I would have loved it.

Please note that I had to arrange the plates so only one glass was depicted in this photo.

I tried to get a photo of them tweezing food onto plates but the tweezing happens at about the same rate as the wine glasses are filled (quickly) so it is all a bit of a blur. ​

There was only one sad note of the evening.

Beckon's partner restaurant "Call"is closed until April. On the upside though,

Joe tells me there will be lots of juice upon re-opening.

​And I can only assume the glassware to match it.

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