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Glastonbury’s newest upscale eatery is situated at The Tannery, a stylish residential complex of brick buildings that once housed a renowned leather-making company, Herman Roser, whose roots trace to the 1880s. Co-owner Bill Driggs also runs 2 Hopewell and Sayulita in South Glastonbury, and for The Beamhouse he envisioned a place that would reflect the building’s history of craftsmanship.
“It’s a unique space, and we wanted a unique restaurant,” Driggs says. “We put a lot of time into choosing every single ingredient, whether it’s beer and cocktails, the food or the decor.”
The place has a look. Wood is the main player, beginning with a remarkable creation in the foyer, an 8-foot-tall patchwork arrangement of sheared-off beam ends. There’s more reclaimed lumber in the dining room — the tables you eat on, the barnwood ceiling overhead, the hardwood floors.
A brick wall behind the bar boasts shelves of whiskey and taps for a half-dozen local beers. At the bar, an upscale crowd enjoys cocktails and copes with flatbread pizzas loaded high with fresh ingredients, like salads on grilled bread, and jerk-style chicken wings with a tangy chimichurri dipping sauce.
Entering diners pass a sign solemnly promising “Finely Crafted Fare.” To give you an idea of what this means at The Beamhouse, let’s consider a cocktail, “First Impressions,” created by bar meister Anthony DeVito. A witty play on a gin drink called “The Last Word,” it begins with The Botanist gin, from Islay (famed for its smoky-peaty Scotch), which along with the usual gin aromatics contains essences of two dozen handpicked wild Islay botanicals, from bog myrtle leaves to gorse flowers. DeVito adds yellow Chartreuse (sweeter than its better-known green cousin), and Amaro Nonino, an aged, grappa-based digestif, itself with a complex herbal makeup. Add freshly squeezed lemon and a dash of Angostura bitters, and the result is a cocktail rife with subtle aromas, one that will sort out those who really just want some gin and juice from those who will appreciate — and gladly pay a premium for — non-generic ingredients. Call it what you will; I call it a superb drink.
In the spirit of honoring local traditions, The Beamhouse has hired chef Nick Souza, from the fabled Golden Lamb Buttery in Brooklyn, to run the kitchen. Souza’s menu changes frequently, but I’m guessing that every iteration will include the most sinfully, opulently, lavishly (supply your own adverb here) enjoyable mac and cheese you’ll ever encounter.
Chewy bowtie farfalle — the kitchen’s default mode for cooking its housemade pasta is extremely al dente, a policy I endorse — enjoys a wildly rich alfredo; given a generous endowment of crabmeat, morselized and mingled with the cheesy, buttery, slowly coagulating sauce, it is studded with chunks of salty guanciale, with color and zip provided by fried leeks. A bowl of this concoction, some bread, a glass of wine, and you could call it a night right there.
For those who survive to order more, I’d recommend other small-plate options, like the flatbread pizza we had, its blackened crust paved with béchamel and piled with treats: caramelized onions, prosciutto, arugula, figs, goat cheese and a drizzle of sweet aged balsamic.
A starter of pork bellies, sliced thin, fried crispy, and given the benefit of a sweet sesame glaze, was completely addictive. There are food crazes you get tired of, and then there are the ones — like pork bellies — that you never do.
Entrees, for the most part, proved satisfying, preparations that are carefully assembled but also hearty. Steak tips — tender chunks of marinated flap steak given a velvety, smoky, winey demiglaze — were irresistible, with garlic-infused mashed potatoes and strips of grilled zucchini.
A bountiful seafood dish featured monkfish, cut in chunks and nestled among red bell peppers, tomatoes and a substantial portion of lobster — including a whole tail — in a creamy sherry sauce graced with dill, and accompanied by Swiss chard and onion-laden sweet-potato home fries.
My three visits disclosed several misses. The kitchen’s variation on duck a l’orange was overcooked, the slices of duck breast lost in a welter of mushrooms and butter-fried spaetzle. A bowl of spinach fettuccine was overwhelmed by basil pesto. A roasted cauliflower salad offered tiny bits of cauliflower playing hide and seek among the baby spinach. A second salad, featuring sliced pears and duck confit, arrived without the confit; it was subsequently supplied in a side dish by our apologetic server, but by then we had basically finished.
But this is a kitchen that, like any well-coached team, always bounces back. A hamburger was near-perfect — two hand-shaped patties covered with sautéed wild mushrooms, caramelized onions, spinach and cheese, on a butter-grilled homemade bun, alongside a pile of Cajun-spiced fries.
The excellent desserts included a cheesecake built atop a raft of dark gingerbread with an intense and savory taste, almost like pumpernickel. A lemon-almond pie came adorned with a cranberry chutney — I like the way the kitchen doesn’t feel the need to coddle you with sweetness — the whole thing showered with sliced almonds.
The Beamhouse serves up quality food and drink, and does so in a surrounding that at every turn is pleasing to the eye. “Some of the highest quality things that ever came out of Glastonbury came out of this building,” Bill Driggs notes. “We want to continue that. And once people come in, they’ll understand that we’re not just talking. We’re doing it.”
THE SPACE: Seating for 100 in a high-ceilinged, coolly stylish room with an industrial-artisanal vibe. Arriving diners pass a spirited tap room (it has its own menu) and get a glimpse of the kitchen and the pizza-master at work in front of the tiled pizza oven. Seasonal patio dining for 40 outside.
THE CROWD: Youngish, upscale and enthusiastic.
THE BAR: Seating for 20 at the poured-concrete bar. Wittily named cocktails include the Pedro Martinez (Bully Boy gin and Pedro Ximenez sherry). A generous Happy Hour (weekdays 3 to 5:30 p.m.) offers $5 beer, wine and cocktails, along with tasty snacks, for $6. The wine list — mostly California, with some French and Italian— sports 15 wines by the glass, from $8 to $13, and 50 bottles, $29-$295.
THE BILL: Small plates and flatbread pizzas, $9 to $19; large plates, $14 to $42; desserts, $8.
WHAT WE LIKED: Chicken wings, crab mac and cheese, fried gnocchi, pizza with figs and prosciutto, sliced pork belly, steak tips, monkfish with lobster, Beamhouse burger with sautéed mushrooms, cheesecake, lemon almond pie.
NOISE LEVEL: Quite loud when crowded.
Leathe Toggling Machine For Drying Leather IF YOU GO: All-day dining from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Sunday brunch, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; dinner 3 to 9 p.m. Taproom, daily 4 p.m. until closing time. Reservations not accepted. Wheelchair access through front door. Free parking in the (often crowded) lots outside.