brasserie beck

ah, it's been a long, long time, my friend. "busy with work" is my excuse for neglecting my kalat-o-scope duties, but in actuality, i've been "busy with life" (read busy drinking and eating at beck's).

beck's, or more formally known as brasserie beck, is the new sister restaurant from chef robert wiedmaier, chef at the fancy french-belgian restaurant in dc, marcel's, which we have not (yet) had the priviledge to dine at. it's a more casual (though business casual) belgian restaurant on 11th & K streets NW.

i won't go into great detail about decor (though you can read a quick bite about it here and here), but i will mention there are clocks everywhere. clocks that are all different, yet none of them seem to have the correct time. perhaps this is supposed to emphasize that you are there enjoy yourself, and not think about the pressing and maybe stressful things going on in your life. (let's just say this clock ploy has roped cavin and i to beck's about 5-6 times in their first 12 days of being open, completely losing track of time.)

when one thinks of belgian cuisine, moules and frites immediately come to mind, and of course, beck's has them ($17) in three flavors: white wine & garlic & parsley, curry apple, and fennel & sausage. while we haven't yet tried the fennel & sausage (though that will be on our soon-to-eat list, as we are trying to eat the entire menu before we leave for vacation, though, i don't know if it will happen), the traditional mussels (white wine) were very plump, and served in a large, shallow le creuset dish, with the lid removed as it was placed in front of us, allowing us to revel in the aromatic essence of the mussels (fumè), wine and garlic. the frites were served with three flavored mayos for dipping: regular, tomato, and curry (by far the best of the three). the curry apple moules were presented similarly (as are all the moules), but they were lacking in any curry/apple flavor, unless you dip your bread into the juices that accumulate at the bottom of the le creuset (which i highly recommend, regardless of which flavor you order).

i've been thinking about the frites for the past two weeks, especially since i've started making my own french fries, and while the frites at beck's are good, i still think i enjoy the truffled frites at poste better. (maybe there's something about the truffle oil on the frites that does it for me, though, reading an article in the nytimes about truffles and truffle oil makes me wonder if the truffle oil is really worth seeking out).

there are other stand-outs on the menu, like the braised pork and rice beans, the tomato shrimp avocado salad, the gratin of brussel sprouts, and crispy fried skate served with spinach and dill, and the choucroute en croute (weidmaier's twist: choucroute wrapped in puff pastry).

but to be quite honest, we aren't always there for the food; it's the beer we're after. bill, the beer specialist, is a belgian beer fanatic and is very committed to have a rotating cache of beers available. we've tasted all the beers on tap (even the new ones that keep rotating) as well as the bottled beers. i should mention that every beer has its own glass to be served in, which is fantastic, because it showcases the beer in all its glory. some of the beer they have: saison dupont, delirium apple, kasteel blonde, bacchus, scaldis, de konick, houblon chouffe, wittekerke, and all kinds of gueuze, probably my new favorite type of beer, which tends to be on the sour side.

and every time bill sees us, he knows we are always up for trying something new, so he pours us glasses of things we might like, or extra bottles of an easter (or noel) beer he has around, or a taste of the new beer that he's just changed the tap to. it's great to know that the people working there are really into what they are doing, and since we go there regularly now, it's also great to be greeted by familiar faces.

so if you ever go, you'll probably find us sitting at the bar in one of the stools in the above picture, as we never sit in the dining room and always patronize fitz and todd, two of the bartenders at beck's.

brasserie beck
1101 k street nw
washington, dc 20005
202.408.1717