Bar Becky Verified listing

The idea was, initially, a test run: Chef Ross Pangilinan of Remix would relinquish the reins to his first restaurant outside of Orange County in order to let “Hell’s Kitchen” runner-up Chef Johnathan Benvenuti use the space as a popup under the brand Bar Becky—and should it prove fruitful, it would become a permanently rebranding of the space.

That permanent rebranding has officially happened, with Bar Becky having its first formal service this Friday, April 5—and should Benvenuti’s future menus be as thoroughly playful as his inaugural one, Bar Becky is sure to be a place that is not only needed in East Long Beach but beyond deserving of it.

His food is directly informed by said context, harkening to a genuinely authentic nostalgia that doesn’t read either contrived or cheap.

And this hit at several moments—as in when there was this very subtle hint of surprisingly supplementary sourness to Benvenuti’s excellently executed pappardelle plate: Reminiscent of some beef stroganoff gone Italian, the beautifully photo-perfect, punctilious ribbons of pappardelle are melded with bits of succulent beef cheek and sour cream and mushroom and tomato. Each somehow stand out—but the subtlety is that back-in-the-mind ode to a humble plate of stroganoff which, for almost every American kid, reeks with nostalgia.

Photos and written by Brian Addison.

For Brian Addison's full profile on Bar Becky, click here.