La Bete

Evan and I stopped in here for drinks and some small plate dishes. At first blush this high end restaurant was very cool. It was set up with the most open kitchen that I had seen before. You could sit up at the counter and watch the chefs cook your meal almost completely in front of you. The bar, where we sat, was a little behind the kitchen area so you could look down across the whole line and see everything that was going on. All in all this restaurant had a nice ambiance with a modern look and a very friendly staff. We sat down and ordered some drinks and I got a very well made martini.

Let's talk about the food. Since it was late, we only ordered a two items. First we got the salt and pepper chicken wings. The wings were tasty and well fried, nice and crispy and just enough grease. The unfortunate piece was that the wings did not have much meat on them so the flavor was really in the bones. At a restaurant like this it was a little odd to suck the bones of chicken wings. The other dish we ordered were the pork rinds. Evan said that these were recommended so I had high hopes. The reality was that the pickled onions were the best part of the dish. I admit that this was the first time I ever tried pork rinds but they tasted like nothing. I really didn't understand what I was eating, I had never eaten something that was a complete blank slate. I am unsure if I will ever eat pork rinds again but I was disappointed with this experience.

Overall, La Bete was a really nice place with some decent food. While eating and talking we saw many different dishes that I would be interested to try and Evan said he had eaten meals before that were wonderful. I plan to go back to this restaurant and try a full meal next time we are in town. Then I will be able to give it a full review.

Rating: 5/10