Daphne took me to Beckta on Saturday night. Oh what a spectacular meal. Our evening began after a short walk to the restaurant in a little house on the outskirts of downtown Ottawa. I had seen the Opening Soon episode about Beckta so I knew somewhat to expect in terms of appearance. It looks to me a lot like Cru, only the walls are blue, and it is a little bigger. Casual elegance would be the way I'd describe it. The room is not overly formal, but still quite nice.
Dinner began with a little amuse from the kitchen. A halibut brandade with a saffron aoli. Just a tiny little deep fried ball of fish and potato and the aoli. I would have eaten a platter of them. To drink we both had a kir made with a passionfruit puree, a nice start on what to me, but not the girl from Georgia, was a very hot evening. Along with it were two kinds of butter. One a standard whipped butter. The other our server described as caramelized butter. In her review of Beckta, Joanna Kates called it the heroin of spreads. I think her description is more accurate. It was a rich nuttiness to it that is absolute addictive along with the very good breads. Instead of ordering off the menu we went ahead with the blind tasting menu for the evening. Five courses were promised, along with wines to match.
The first course was a plate of tuna and an oyster that I would have expected from a restaurant in Vancouver not Ottawa. A little pile of tuna tartar with avocado and passionfruit and tobiko. A kumamoto oyster with a grapefruit ice. And a pile of slices of raw big eye tuna just all on its glorious own. Thee tartar was impressive. The avocado only adding to the richness of the tuna with the tobiko and passionfruit seeds adding a bit of a crunch. The oyster as expected was very nice and came with a little seaweed salad. Very Japanese. And the tuna. Meaty and rich. It would not have been out of place in a very good sushi restaurant. To drink we had a glass of the Viognier "Nord Sud" Vin de Pays d'Oc, Laurent Miquel 2004. A very fruity vigonier. Apple and citrus. It went deliciously with the fish.
Next our server brought us a sweet wine made from chenin blanc grapes. The Coteaux du Layon, Domaine des Baumard 2002, sparking us to speculate what the next course would be. Would it be something spicy? When the plate arrived we both quietly muttered "of course." It was foie gras two ways. One a chunk that had been seared and caramelized and served with little caramelized pearl onions. The foie gras was crisp on the outside and meltingly soft on the interior. This was pure decadence and Daphne's favourite dish of the night. The second way was a terrine of foie gras, pistachio and pig cheek. The flavour of the pork was overwhelming, backed by the richness of the foie gras. The sweet wine sliced nicely through the richness of the two dishes and reinforced why we had chosen to have the restaurant pair the wines instead of trying to navigate the lengthy list.
When our server brought our next wine, it was not as obvious as to what we would be eating. It was the Bourgogne Rouge "Renommée" Domaine Remoissenet 1997. A very flexible wine. The nose was quite fruity, but when the glass was swirled it became quite earthy. The dish that arrived was a combination of earth and sea. A single seared scallop with maitake mushrooms and garlic scapes was the sea. The land was a piece of pork belly that had been braised, smoked and the I think roasted to crisp up the outside on these lentils that had been allowed to sprout. On the base of the plate was a lemon and truffle sauce. The scallop was seared perfectly. Practically raw under the crisp surface. The nutty flavoured mushrooms and crisp garlic scape went well. But it was the pork belly that stole the show. For me it was the dish of the night. The crisp outside and rich meaty inside. I could not as for more. This was incredible. Daphne said it had an almost illicit quality. When our server cleared the plate and I commented about how much I loved the dish she said "Yes, it is a staff favourite."
After the pork belly came a reprieve. Had our server came and poured a big California red wine, I think I would have called mercy. Instead she brought us champagne flutes with a little scoop of creamsicle gelato and lavender over which she poured a sparkling water creating a little float. It was a welcome relief after the richness of the pork belly and a more original palate cleanser than a scoop of sorbet.
The final savoury course started with a red wine blend from the Rhone valley. a glass of Côtes-du-Rhône, Domaine Lafond Roc-Epine 2003. A lighter red, thank god. I was not up to anything that would have accompanied a big new world red wine. Daphne nailed the dish after tasting the wine. A roasted leg of lamb. Along with a little smashed potato tart, rapini, some sort of mushroom and a lavender jus. The lamb was cooked very rare and jus was incredible. Leaning over the plate you were hit with the smell of roasted meat and lavender. Outstanding. the potato had been cooked such that it had a delicious crispy exterior and a wonderfully potato flavour. Though not as rich as the pork belly dish, that was probably a good thing.
We opted not to do the cheese course. Though I'm sure it would have been lovely I don't think I would have been able to finish dessert. Well, that's probably not true. I probably would have finished it, but I would have felt gross.
Dessert was what our server described as something called Steve's Gone Bananas Again. Steve, I can only assume being Steve Vardy, the chef. It had a torched banana and a scoop of chocolate gelato, along with a little square that had several elements including a crunchy sort of base. A sort of banana bread layer, a soft banana pudding layer and then a sort of lady finger top, all dusted with cocoa powder. Extraordinary. Like a dozen things going on in your mouth all at once. Paired with this was a 10-year-old tawny port by Quinta do Noval.
But the meal didn't end there. Just when we thought it was over they brought out a final little amuse from the kitchen. A little square of lemon syrup cake and a Chinese soup spoon filled with chocolate mousse and a single blueberry and slice of strawberry. A neat way to finish an incredible meal. Walking home we were both giddy with the meal and wines we had just had. Despite what some of you may think, I don't eat like this very often and this was a very special meal, up there with my dinner at Susur years ago. I was impressed by the food, the service and the room. The little details most of all. The caramelized butter. The little amuse bouches they sent out. The palate cleanser. While I was impressed by the clean clear seasonal flavours at Chez Panisse, the dinner at Beckta easily outclassed it. The sophistication of the food was exponentially higher. What surprised me most were the Asian influences. I expect them in Vancouver, but were unexpected in Ottawa. The wines were also all impressive. Stephen Beckta, the restaurant's owner was a hot shot sommelier in New York before moving to Ottawa to open his own place and it shows. The list is massive and the wines we were served with dinner were without exception outstanding. I'll remember this meal for quite some time. The pork belly probably even longer.
Beckta. 226 Nepean St. Ottawa. 613-238-7063.
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