Beechwood (Marina del Rey, CA)

Restaurant: Beechwood
Address: 822 West Washington Blvd. Venice, CA 90292 (Map)
Phone: 310.448.8884
URL: http://www.beechwoodrestaurant.com/

My wife and I decided to go to Beechwood after deciding to treat ourselves after a long stint of DIY meals (it's a long story, maybe I'll go into it after I know you better)...

Anyway, we decided to go to Beechwood because we had both gone there before and partaken of their awesome bar food. We did want to try their restaurant food though, so we made our Open Table reservation.

We arrive purposely early at around 8pm for an 8:45 reservation (maybe to get a few nibbles, a cocktail and hang out with the "cool" people in the bar scene -- y'know, to feel young again), but we all know what happens to "plans," especially when restaurants are concerned. They surprised us and let us get seated immediately. Even though I was slightly disappointed, we took the earlier seating (you never know what will happen when our real time comes around).

Although seated in close quarters to another couple, the atmosphere was pretty modern-ish with a steak-house kind of feel -- dark wood, nice, minimalist. The dining room was really small, maybe seating about 75 max (but I'm really bad at guesstimating after the fact, so you should confirm with the restaurant).

We perused the menus, and being the food-and-wine-guy-in-training I picked what I was going to order, then tried to pair the food with the wine (something I admittedly have VERY little knowledge of, so I'm enjoying learning under fire using a trial-and-error methodology -- I know, not very efficient). I knew I was going to try the Cremini Mushroom Tart (served with baby mizuna salad, truffle honey vinaigrette) ($9) as an appetizer, so I wanted a white. Not knowing much about White Bordeaux, I thought I'd try it. I ordered the Chateau Sainte-Marie White Bordeaux 2003 ($8 by the glass). My wife, knowing she was going to order the butterfish, ordered the Redbank Chardonnay 2003 (Australia) ($7 by the glass).

The Mushroom tart was very tasty, with a slight hint of truffle-esque flavor. Very earthy and light. It also went well with the mizuna. The only thing I could criticize was not fully knowing whether I should expect it to be crisp or more doughy. Instead, it was kind of in between. But I'm more of a flavor guy than a texture guy, and the flavor was definitely there. My White Bordeaux was nice, very flavorful, but less acidic than a straight sauvignon blanc (it's a mix of sauvignon blanc, semillon and muscadelle), nice and light, fruity, but still very smooth. I thought it went well with the tart, although a better pairing might have been with a Chardonnay, to match the butteriness of the tart with a buttery Chard. However, tasting my wife's Chardonnay, it almost seemed like they mistakenly gave her a Riesling or other lighter white. It didn't have the strong oaky flavors or the more buttery textures of Chardonnays I'm used to, but then again, I'm just learning.

For our main courses, my wife ordered the Broiled Butterfish (served with sunchokes, farro, scallion & green olive salad, $18) and I ordered the Slow Roasted Brisket (served with grits, white corn, asparagus, $22). I entertained the idea of going with a Zinfandel or maybe even a Syrah, but I decided to go with the Cab. Several reasons: 1) Zins can be a risk (e.g. too spicy), 2) I don't drink Syrahs regularly, and although I wanted to learn more, I thought it was the wrong time to be experimental and 3) the Cab is the Camry of wine selections, right? Although it's not that exciting, it's reliable and it'll get you where you want to go. So I went with the only Cab by the glass, Flying Cloud Cabernet 2004 (CA) ($10).

Now to order my cab, our waitress had to be flagged down, unfortunately. Sure, she was nice as can be once flagged and an additional order was placed, but man, service wasn't 100% there, that's for sure. She looked like she was constantly pre-occupied watching the door, maybe for the beau she'd seen earlier in the bar? Anyway, it was a little annoying to have her around the area and not check up on us, especially when we had something we wanted/needed.

Anyway, back to the main dishes. My dish came with two fairly large pieces (maybe 4-5 oz each?) of brisket, devoid of the braising liquid, except for what was on the meat itself. They were laid on a large mound of grits, corn, asparagus tips and some other green that apparently didn't make it on the menu description either. The meat was extremely flavorful and just what you'd expect out of braised meat. However, texture-wise, the meat was slightly dry and hence, chewy. Now, as noted above, I'm not one to nit-pick on texture, I loved the dish. But my wife, who loves sauce, juice and any thing else that will keep meat moist differed in her opinion of the dish. Although I couldn't pinpoint the seasonings, it had a hint of sweetness to the braising liquid which paired extremely nicely with the grits (mostly to provide a base starch and a subtle hint of corn) and corn kernels (nice sweetness). The asparagus also lent it a nice green flavor. The wine really worked well more as a backdrop for the meat, which I would say helped the dish shine.

My wife loved her butterfish, but when I tasted it, after I had enjoyed a bite of my brisket, I couldn't help but get a fishy note to sour my experience. Not used to such a taste in such a soft white fish, I really didn't enjoy it, but then again, I'm not a fish man and I did have that initial bite of my meat dish, which probably wreaked havoc on my tastebuds. In any case, my wife was happy, I was happy and the evening ended well (except for the fact that I had to once again flag down the waitress for the check -- can anything be more annoying?).

I recommend Beechwood highly. Not only for the food and the main restaurant mentioned here but for the scene they've developed in the bar area as well. Although I don't remember the exact food I had (that was a drinking night ;)), I did have a fantastic sandwich and remember that they had great fries and dipping sauces. I remember everyone else in the party as well raving about their miscellaneous dishes.

I will definitely be going back.