Vancouver's best-kept restaurant secrets

Directly from the Restaurant Bea Press Release:

Restaurant Bea serves up refined seasonal comfort food in a cozy,casual space.

Chef Tom Black and front-of-house partner Kate Perry offer popular Chef’s table, charming private room and an expanded bar.

(Seattle, WA) – Chef Tom Black (Fuller’s, The Barking Frog) and business partner Kate Perry have transformed the former June restaurant on 34th Avenue in Seattle’s Madrona neighborhood into Restaurant Bea, offering an informal, nightly dining option for area residents and creative dishes that makes Bea destination-worthy for the food-obsessed. With an expansion of the bar and interior redesign, the new space includes a chef’s table for diners who not only want to be in the thick of the kitchen action, but who happily place themselves into the talented hands of Chef Black, relying on his whims to provide them a fabulous meal. The chef’s table is $55 per person (plus tax and gratuity) and seats 2 to 4. Reservations are required. Guests looking for a private dining experience will love the intimate Little Bea, a separate dining space that can seat 8-18, where Chef Tom prepares a three-course prix-fixe menu for guests also at $55 per person (plus tax and gratuity). Restaurant Bea’s Happy Hour is from 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, where dishes are $5; special wine pours are $5; well drinks (created by Craig Schoen, formerly of Spur) are also $5, with one or two nightly specialty crafted cocktails for $7. Restaurant Bea is located at 1423 34th Avenue, Seattle 98122, 206-812-2901, www.restaurantbea.com. Hours are 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

The menu at Restaurant Bea is inspired by “what’s seasonal and tastes the best,” says Black. “I believe that less is more on the plate, I really want the ingredients to shine through on their own.” Current starters include Bea’s tots with green goddess dip; Sweetbreads top frisee with bacon vinaigrette, capers and a honey gastrique and an Arugula and duck salad with honey-shallot dressing, house-cured duck breast, pickled celery and aged sheep’s milk. The main dishes include Rabbit and pappardelle with spring peas; Neah Bay halibut fillet with pearl cous cous, fava beans and parmesan sauce; and Bea’s meatloaf with house-ground veal and chuck, bacon-wrapped, potato puree, caramelized baby carrots and Bea’s catsup.

The affordable and accessible wine list has many Washington and Oregon selections, as well as a list of European reds and whites. Handcrafted cocktails are inventive and fresh, including The Madrona: vodka, amontillado sherry, cardamom, saffron, lemon and sparkling wine; Bea’s Knees: gin, honey, lemon juice and Urfa Biber tincture; and East of Manhattan: rye, Cynar, sweet vermouth, cherry grioche syrup and bitters.

Desserts, created by pastry chef Jennifer Formaz, offer a sweet finish and refreshed take on much-loved classics. Delightful selections include Caramel cake with honey ice cream and ginger crumble; Chocolate meringue cake with marshmallow ice cream and mandiquat syrup; Sour cherry clafouti with spring fruit compote and sweet cream ice cream; and Butterscotch pot de crème with Chantilly cream and cookie.

Brunch service will start Saturday, May 19th, and will be served on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3p.m. Bea’s polished comfort food will weave through the menu with dishes such as Brioche bread pudding with poached eggs; Seafood crepes with Sauce Normande and fried potatoes; Crab cakes Benedict; Lamb burger with onion jam and sunchoke chips; and a Rabbit pot pie with a side salad.