Luckily, that's not a problem at Beckett's Table, the third in a series of eateries we checked out for Restaurant Week. Service here was lightning-quick and almost too attentive -- we had to physically hold on to our plates a few times to prevent them from being whisked away.
The overall experience: If food had the same personalities as people, the offerings at Beckett's Table would be the quiet, mousy girls in the corner who don't say much but have a lot of depth. The kind you take home to mom.
There are no flavor explosions or exotic ingredients on the Restaurant Week menu at Beckett's Table, but instead a series of simple, lovely dishes.
Oven-roasted beets served in a cast iron pan were light and summery, with a refreshing drizzle of lemon vinaigrette. A light dusting of pungent feta and toasted pecans added sharpness and a nutty flavor that brought out layers of earthiness in each variety of beet.
Sausages served with whole grain mustard and grits was an interesting mash-up. Grits don't have much flavor, but helped to bring down the heavier flavors of fennel and mustard seed for an enjoyable dish. In contrast, green chile pork stew was almost too subtle for our palates.
More enticing was the salmon, which had a charred, crispy skin and paired perfectly with the cold cornbread and tomato salad that at first seemed an unusual accompaniment to the hot fish.
Dessert was unexpected. The fig and pecan pie was rich and dense, with a lemony undertone that paired well with the orange zest ice cream. While made locally by Crave, the addictively delicious ice cream is a Beckett's recipe.
We could've eaten a whole damn tub of the stuff.
But the standout of the night was the deconstructed bacon chocolate s'mores dish, which came with a homemade toasted marshmallow and fresh peanut butter. The crisp pork was the perfect salty foil for the sweet, dark chocolate. The only downside was the store-bought graham cracker, which didn't have the same simple, natural flavor as the other ingredients.
After wrapping up visits at The Dhaba, Spasso and Beckett's Table, we're pretty pleased with the Spring Restaurant Week offerings. The food at Beckett's Table is subtle (amazing desserts notwithstanding), but that just makes your palate pay attention to every detail even more.
