Food

Step Inside the Magical World of Beatnik

Saffron Cocktails and 50-Ounce Tomahawks in West Town

By Sarah Freeman ·
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Photo: Francis Son

Tonight, you travel to Morocco, Bali and Egypt. 

But mostly you go to dinner.

At Beatnik, the globetrotting new restaurant that's now open in West Town. It's got floor-to-ceiling plants in a glass-encased courtyard. It's got saffron cocktails and Egyptian doors. It looks like this.

"Eclectic" doesn't really begin to describe the sensory overloaded space. Persian rugs, a carved facade from a home in Bali, Chicago streetlights, a collection of chandeliers salvaged from the ballroom of the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Yeah, that kind of vibe.   

It's under those twinkling chandeliers where you'll dine on beet hummus with fried chickpeas and curry meatballs in green pea puree. Or you could always just have a 40-ounce tomahawk steak dropped into the middle of your table.

And yes, the cocktail list is filled with colorful and exotic concoctions. Sip on the tequila and guava Equatorial Gatherings or the saffron-and-aguardiente-laced Color of the Crocus. Or maybe take a seasonal slushie out to that courtyard.

Options aren't an issue, is basically what we're saying.

Sarah Freeman

Sarah Freeman is often accused of hiding secrets in her hair. She can make any cocktail, as long as that cocktail is a rye Old Fashioned, and has never met a saison she didn’t like.

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