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| - I was prepared to give this restaurant 5 full stars but service quality lacked a little for this fun, finer dining establishment and a $250 bill.
Beauty and Essex initially has you intrigued by it's memorable entrance. You initially think its a store front full of vintage guitars, swanky watches and other pieces of jewelry and art you see through the looking glass but on the left side of the store front is a big blue door. Look for that, it's the restaurants entrance.
Once inside, your ears are filled with music including Will Smith's sensual serenade "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It." You immediately know you're in for a good time, who doesn't love a good 90's throwback? We checked in at the host stand for our reservation and were promptly seated. We passed a large bar full of patrons sitting and standing drinking fun colored libations in vintage style glasses, sharing conversations and enjoying their sips. We were seated in the back, which to my conclusion is the nosiest room. Tucked in at a two top table wedged in-between two other two tops and larger parties of 10, 15 and 8 we were seated. I will say I was not happy with this table as I could barely hear my partner and we were talking at an extremely loud level all night. "I think the salmon looks great" " Yeah, the steak looks great." "No, I said the food is great." "What?" If you are looking for a romantic table for two or planning on bringing your elderly grandparents, I would suggest another place. This restaurant is for cool kids, food connoisseurs and those of us with excellent hearing.
We were greeted pretty quickly by our server and placed a cocktail order. Once that happened, we waited... and waited... and waited.
A solid fifteen minutes later our server came back around apologizing, took our food order and then within two minutes quickly brought back those cocktails we had ordered. I have to say, the mixologist knows what they are doing, and I commend their craft. The Woodsman drink tastes like Autumn in a cup, or in comparison a burly man chopping wood maybe. Notes of allspice, muddled pear and Bourbon make this an easy to sip man made cocktail. I also ordered the Garnet Gimlet and despite this being a virgin cocktail it did not disappoint. The muddled strawberry and mint were fresh and the bruleed lemon was a nice garnish.
The mood seemed to be set for an irritable dining experience after initial delays with our service but then the first of our food arrived, the yellowtail sashimi. You know that experience you have when you take a bite of food and time suddenly slows down and the room becomes quite while you slowly savor a dish? That's what this plate is. An experience. The yellowtail is cut into perfectly thin strips and is as fresh as a fisherman's market can be. Topped with pickled jalapeno that gives you a bit of a crunchy texture and served with an apple ponzu sauce you want to drink. The tartness of the apples plays so well on this sweet delicate fish. This was my favorite dish and for good reason.
We also ordered the Chile Relleno Empanadas, Grilled Cheese Smoked Bacon & Tomato Soup Dumplings, Short Rib Mac & Cheese, the dry-aged sirloin and topped our dining experience off with the black bottomed butterscotch pot de creme.
The grilled cheese and tomato soup dumplings is my other choice for favorite dishes. The perfect bite of nostalgia brought together on one spoon. The Sirloin was also delicious, cooked to a perfect medium, fully covered in black peppercorns and served with a clove of roasted garlic. The steak is accompanied with three sauces, the spicy red chimichurri being my favorite.
Chris Santos and his team take you on a round the world journey at Beauty and Essex and the food here is truly memorable. I would recommend this place for locals and tourists a like, larger parties and smaller friends gatherings but I don't think it's a place to take your grandmother unless she is cooler than you.
All in all Beauty and Essex was a great meal and I hope to return for better service.
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