Hands down, one of my current faves. Which every way you turn, the environment makes you feel great. The kitchen is open and creates the backdrop for the whole place. The bar is large, with cool tenders behind it making very interesting drinks of deep rich colors. Candles glow from behind the bottles. The tables against the wall are lit from below, creating inviting warmth.
I was by myself, so all I ordered was one dish of many that seemed appealing. Black cod with clams and ham hock. Oh my God. The black cod in its entirety as pleasing as I remember my first experience with black cod on the west coast–Matsuhisa, years ago. With this rather large delicate piece, the skin had been seared and flavored. Delicious. The small manilla clams (seems to be mostly all you get in Portland) were tiny but tasty, and the rather generous pieces of ham were incredibly tender and mixed in with some delicious greens. Great bread for sopping, too.
I found myself in a deep sensory element, so much so that I closed my eyes and took in the sounds of this place. Perfect music, perfect volume, and the sounds of people have a GREAT time. I recorded the sounds on my Droid and will use it as a backdrop for my website.
The bartender recommended the brownie for dessert. I ordered a cup of coffee and was treated to one of the best desserts… EVER. A warm brownie topped with two amazing things… carmelized bananas, and foie gras mousse. All drizzled with a rum caramel sauce. Need I say more? One might wonder about that foie gras on a dessert, but it’s a perfect balance to all the sweetness below. It works. I’m bringing Austin here for a chocolate delight on his 21st birthday. His first legal opportunity to sit at a bar.
This place is worthy of my already mentioning it to a dozen people.
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As I mentioned, we did a return visit to Beaker and Flask for Austin’s birthday. The intended purpose was for dessert (the brownie mentioned above), and to belly up to the bar with Austin, even though he swears he will never touch alcohol. A family friend of ours, who loves Austin, had said she would love to come and celebrate his 21st with us, so I texted her before we left for B&F.
We tried a new place in Lake Oswego first, called Maher’s. A little Irish Pub a few doors down from Kurata, one of my favorite sushi spots. According to the waitress, it opened last summer, yet I’d never heard of it till I happened to pass by it a few days earlier. Really nice local spot, which I’ll write about later.
Friday night at Beaker and Flask was busy, but not crazy. I saw two seats at the bar, which of course we had to do with this being Austin’s first day of drinking age, and went for them. The host told me those seats were reserved, so I backed off. Within minutes, we were seated immediately to the left of the people who sat down at the reserved seats. Austin and I looked at the menu, but I knew we had some time to kill in order for Rachel and Drew to make it, so I ordered one appetizer, the pork tongue, asparagus and greens, and asked the bartender Tim (whom I later found out was the manager) what would be a great virgin drink for Austin (again, I know it’s crazy to be asking for that on the first day he’s 21, but Austin is Austin, and I am surely not going to force alcohol down my kid’s throat, no matter what the age.) Watching Time make drinks was like watching a professor in a science lab, but dressed a lot cooler. He had on a white jacket, fully buttoned, and a what looked like a heavy Kongol hat. I ordered what I think was a Sandy Shandy, a Pilsner with all sorts of good stuff added. Tim’s response to my question of whether this was a good drink to order was that it would be refreshing. It surely was.
While all this was going on, the gentleman and woman next to me were having wine and enjoying an appetizer with a cabbage base, and seemed to enjoy it. I had noted his accent from the beginning. After exchanging a few pleasantries, we introduced ourselves. Alexis is the proprietor of Alexis Greek Cuisine, down on Burnside, to where I’ve never been, but assured him I would try soon. I told him about Portland Food Adventures, which he thought was a fantastic idea. He gave me his card and suggested we keep in touch.
Austin’s drink was a bit vanilla in flavor, and didn’t have a name. Tim told us he improvised. He must have put a half dozen liquids into that drink. Austin sipped it with a big smile on his face, once I assured him there was no alcohol in it.
I only told Austin our appetizer was pork, and I left the tongue part out. Once he tried it, I clued him in, and was glad to see he enjoyed it enough, knowing what it was, to eat more. I enjoyed the grilled flavor and the interplay between the crusty outside and more tender inside. The sauce was delicious.
We killed some time with conversation and slowly looking at the dessert menu, which was our purpose for being there, but of course that couldn’t take long, because other than a cheese plate, there were only two desserts. One was the brownie I’d ordered earlier in the week, which I knew Austin would love. The other was panne cotta with beignets in a huckleberry sauce. I ordered both, and a cup of coffee. Austin lit up at the dessert. It was as delicious to him as I thought it would be, even with the foie gras mousse. He enjoyed that (and surely didn’t have any idea what foie gras was). My panne cotta was AMAZING. The beignets, with a granulated sugar coating, and perfectly textured inside, were a beautiful complement to the panne cotta, all tied together with ample huckleberry sauce.
We stalled with more coffee until Rachel and Drew arrived, which further served to make Austin’s birthday night. Drew and I had one drink and then followed it up with Tecates, finally ending our three-hour stay at Beaker and Flask with my 21 year old designated driver chauffeuring us home.
I enjoyed this visit to Beaker and Flask even more than the first one. Of course, I had wonderful company and made a new Greek friend.
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