Second Chances

I am a big believer in second chances. This applies to my life overall – we won’t go into that right now - but definitely to restaurants as well. Every place can have a bad night. Every place has at least one dish that is less than stellar. So, I generally don’t write a place off after a single visit. However, once a place has disappointed me twice, it is dead to me. This is not baseball, people (thank god, if restaurants were as undependable as the Sox, you’d have to commit me!), there aren’t three strikes!

Alas, a potentially-talented hopeful got its second chance last night – and failed – again. When I’d heard a few months ago that the folks from the Washington Square Tavern were opening a second outpost a little further down Beacon, I was thrilled. Washington Square Tavern is one of my favorite spots in the city. It’s small and dark inside and the décor is minimal, but elegant in a way you would not expect from the local pub. They serve great wine and consistently great food. I love it there.

Sadly, I can not say the same for the Beacon Street Tavern. Its one major advantage, no question, is a fantastic patio out front. Al fresco dining is a rarity in Brookline and the people watching, especially on a game night, is outstanding. From there, it kind of slides downhill. The bar area is large, but it is framed on one side by these two weird, giant velvet couch-banquets where people are dining. The bar inevitably gets busy and you’re bumping into the tables, annoying the diners and dodging the waitresses. The main dining area attempts to recreate the cool, sedate, upscale look of WST, but it’s just too big to carry it off. The room feels empty, not cozy – plus there’s this odd secondary bar in the back. I just don’t know what the point of that is?

But at the end of the day, who cares, right? Isn’t all about the food? If only the food could save the Beacon Street Tavern. The first time I went, my food was entirely passable. Given that was a few weeks back, I don’t remember the details of it perfectly, but I do know that I ordered a salad and the fish tacos. The salad was good, if standard fare, the tacos themselves were tasty enough – spicy, with well-cooked white fish. However, the sides seemed to have some right out of a box of Old El Paso. At the end of the meal, I chastised myself a bit for ordering a somewhat weird dish. The WST had never failed me with upscale, bistro dishes like pan-seared fish and grilled pork chops. I left feeling that it was me, the menu-item-picker, who had failed.

Ok, so not a great start. But I was willing to give it another go. Last night, we had a guest in from out of town who was hoping to grab a quick dinner with us, as well as some other friends and family that live in Cambridge. With Brookline being a good spot in the middle, we opted to try the Beacon Street Tavern again. First off, parking was a nightmare. This was no fault of the Tavern, but was certainly not a plus for the location. After three full loops around Beacon, we found a spot and made it to the restaurant. It was relatively empty and we got a table right away.

Our table was serviced quickly with bread and water and drink orders. The bread was coated with toasted sesame seeds and came with a nice garlicky hummus, which was a great sesame-tahini flavor combo. From there on in, service ground to a halt. Our waitress was very sweet and pleasant, but didn’t seem to be communicating well with the kitchen, which ended up in a screwed up order of oysters not once, but twice (a funny menu item for this place to begin with). Both times they corrected the order, but it left you wondering what would happen on a busy night. Then came the waiting for the dinner. And the waiting. Waiting. It must have been a good 25 minutes before we were served our entrees. Those reading the blog with rapt attention will remember that I said the place was all but deserted. I am ninety percent sure the kitchen staff was all watching the ball game (it was the Yankees, after all). There was also the biggest crash of plates and silverware I’ve ever seen in a restaurant. A good twenty pieces must have hit the floor.

Finally, the waitress emerged and my dinner was before me; the BST’s second chance awaited. I gave the place my best possible effort by ordering the pan-seared bass with haricots verts and a hash brown patty. A dish that I KNEW would have kicked ass at the WST. At the BST, it more or less just kicked the bucket. The fish itself was good – well-cooked and moist – but it was served in what was described on the menu as a tomato coulis – a substance that ended up being an overly-sweet, almost marinara-like sauce, just without the tasty Italian spices. The fish was layered on a mound of thin green beans that were drenched in butter and another huge flat surface that I, at first, took to be another piece of fish – it ended up being the hash brown, so overcooked that it was the same blackish color of the bass’ skin. I ate about two bites. My fellow diner ordered a side of sweet potato fries, which were outstanding.

So, I won’t be giving the Beacon Street Tavern another chance. It has had its two and there are plenty of other places out there that serve terrific food - I just hope one of them is still the Washington Street Tavern. I’ve not been back there since my two visits to the BST and I can’t help but wonder, does the BST fall short because it is the neglected second child? Or have both establishments withered while attention is now being split between the two? I hope the latter is not true.

I’d give the Beacon Street Tavern, at 1032 Beacon Street in Brookline, a C. Skip it and pay its lovely sister a visit, just up the road.