
4 minute read
Review
from MT 06/01/22
FOOD
Bellflower has an eclectic menu with an emphasis on seafood.
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By Jane Slaughter
If a restaurant with prices in
the $ 0s can fill the room regularly on Monday nights, that’s a sign that it’s do ing something right. It seems psilan tians think so, and I agree.
The nearly two-years-old Bell ower has an eclectic menu with an emphasis on seafood. Out of 15 items on a recent list — it changes frequently — eight were from the watery deeps.
Despite the prices the vibe is un pretentious and friendly. It’s one plain square room with a bar and paintings by local artist Jason Wright, plus a patio, an open kitchen, and an entrance area where patrons pick up sandwiches, also emphasizing seafood, from 11 to 4.
To describe Bell ower’s food, I looked in a thesaurus for another way to say “love.” The closest I found was that I was “delighted” by chef Dan Klenotic’s dishes. One exception was perhaps just a disagreement between him and me on whether certain items go together.
That exception was Bu alo skate cheeks. Bu alo sauce is too assertive for just about any fish, hiding its avor. But the sauce was certainly authentic and vinegary, the cheese sauce was so good I brought home my leftovers, and the dilly potato salad made me want to change my mom’s recipe.
Another starter was simply greens with a charred-lemon-green-garlic vinaigrette, with lots of pecorino, no need for any other vegetables. At the opposite end of the how-filling-do-youwant-your-starter spectrum, an out standing vegan dish of red beans and rice was infused with both heat and the mellowness of coconut milk.
Among four entr es we tried, my favorite was shrimp etou e. It’s made with cream, which is not standard, but who can deny cream’s magic proper ties? Combining it with smoked ham was genius on Klenotic’s part the result is both mellow and sharp.
Three big pork chops came with a complicated beef-tofu mapo sauce — yes, beef on pork, but it worked. The chops were crusty, with enjoyable bits of fat. A whole black sea bass looked perhaps too crusty and fried, but its crunchy coat did not overwhelm the delicate fish. It’s probably a good thing that you have to go carefully to avoid the tiny bones prevents wolfing.
Clams and gumbo is a big seller, according to co-owner Mark Maynard. (The third partner is Jesse Kranyak, who also owns psi’s Wurst Bar.) The sweet and juicy Manila clams are on the side, and the spicy sausage gumbo incorporates clam stock.
For dessert we had a fantastic cr me br l e that was, oddly, called “burnt custard” on the menu. Which term would make you more likely to order? In any case, the crisp and smoky crust was exactly what a cr me br l e is sup posed to wear.
Bell ower’s high prices are mitigated by the fact that portions are quite large. The skate cheeks are positioned as a starter but you get five of them, plus a big mound of potato salad. Rice and beans are similarly hefty. A starter could serve as an entr e, and sharing entr es is fine.
Wine prices are noticeably low, $7$10 per glass, many bottles under $40. Sommelier Jenn Lucier seeks “known varietals from unknown regions,” May nard said, and they are “aggressively priced because we want people to drink wine.” I enjoyed a vinho verde and a tangy French ermentino, new to me, and also the Perennial Spark cocktail, with cava, hibiscus tea, and ginger and apricot liqueurs. It came in layers in a cone-shaped glass the avor changed as the pink sank from top to bottom.
There’s also a list of six absinthes and some familiar and unfamiliar beers, plus three “teetotaler” drinks with Seedlip distilled non-alcohol spirits. A new British company, Seedlip o ers spirits like Garden 10 “A oral blend of peas & hay...with a complex herbal base character of Spearmint, Rosemary & Thyme.” I have no doubt the Bell ower mixologists make it good.
The sta works with a dozen local farms, whose o erings determine the rapidly changing menu, posted to Facebook and Instagram daily. They have their own smoker and two bakers whose specialty is milk bread. They’re bringing back a rye for the sandwich bar and a bread to complement their mu aletta. The sandwich board reads like New Orleans fried oysters, fried shrimp, fried oysters and shrimp, chicken boudin, just $10-$1 . Cold cuts include soppressata, mortadella, and capiccola.
I’m seldom in psi, but I got the feeling that Bell ower, named after the Michigan native, is already a proudly beloved local institution.
TOM PERKINS
Bellflower
209 Pearl St., Ypsilanti bellflowerypsi.com
Handicap accessible 11 a.m.-4 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and FridaySaturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursday Starters $9-$25; entrées $19-$54, average $31-$32
