Beacon speakeasy opens in Long Beach
At Beacon, you can build-your-own dirty martini, with olive and pepperoncini brine. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
Shaken, not stirred ... That's all you got? Well how about a vodka martini with pepperoncini brine and a float of chili oil and cracked black pepper. That's just one of the many combinations on offer at this new speakeasy cocktail bar in Long Beach's bustling West End.
Beacon is located above Jetty Bar & Grill on Beech Street in a space that used to hold private parties. It's not a full-on speakeasy with an elaborate password routine, but there's definitely clandestine vibes here. The entrance is tucked away and around the corner from the nightclub. There's supposed to be a light that shines when the upstairs bar is open, although that wasn't noticeable during a recent visit. You walk through a mural-lined corridor and up the stairs, and then you're arrived at the low-lit but high-energy space, without any further todo. The crowd of minglers feels like many of the people who were previously going to Jetty, but grew up a bit.
A fixture of the Long Beach bar community, Alexandra Howley, is heading up the drinks program. Howley was brought over from another bar-focused bistro, Felicia, to work with the Jetty ownership team, John Rugolsky, Chris Fiumara, John Gallagher and Darren Siff.
She says they're trying to attract the 30-plus crowd, which isn't necessarily very well represented on the West End of Long Beach.
"We wanted to give something that feels a little more like an immersive experience, and caters to people who are over the sticky floors and the booming DJ," she said. "It's a 30 and up lounge, focusing on craft cocktails and martinis. A martini bar, I would say."
There are 14 cocktails on the menu, and most of them tilt toward sweet, simple and crushable, although there are a couple boozy additions like the Light Lunch with roasted peanut infused bourbon, blackberry, raspberry and angostura ($17). But the highlight is the section of Dirty's, aka the build-your-own martini bar.
Choose from three options, a vodka, gin or an olive-oil fat washed vodka, and then decide whether you want olive brine, pepperoncini brine or half and half. There are four levels of dirtiness you can choose, ranging from clean (with just a hint of brine) to filthy. There's four types of olives, three of which are stuffed with various cheeses. And then you can add cracked black pepper, chili oil drops, a lemon expression or a pickled pepper.
The dirty martini bar is a gloriously tempting situation, with many potential pitfalls. How many customizations is too much, tipping it over from delicious to disgusting? If you hit upon a magical combination, will it be so good you have too many? Luckily our server guided us through the process and made recommendations, including getting half olive brine half pepperoncini brine, which gave you a hint of tangy pickled pepper juice without being too much. We had the filthy pepperoncini martini with chili oil and a goat cheese olive ($18).
The food here is also better than it needs to be. The small menu is a mix of bistro classics and bar foods, and a plate of diver scallops with fondant potatoes was perfectly executed, although on the pricier side at $39. Don't sleep on a curiously named dish, the tartar dippers ($23), which turned out to be a cylinder of ripe avocado and yellowtail tartare, with logs of crispy rice to snag it up.
Beacon, 832 W. Beech St., Long Beach, 516-442-1338, instagram.com/beaconlbny. Open 5-9 p.m. kitchen, bar open until around 11 Wednesday through Sunday, 5-10 p.m. kitchen, bar open until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.
