Review of Tek-Nique, Bedford, NH

You can tell when a place has a soul.  When you look around, you feel the effort and love someone put into it.  You get a sense that there is a real vision behind it, that nothing is an after-thought, that it came from someone's heart.  That's how Chris and I felt when we walked into Tek-Nique for the first time last Saturday.

The location housed several different restaurant establishments over the years, most recently being the home of Karen's Kitchen, a "home cooking" type place that did it's best business with the breakfast crowd. We'd been there for breakfast several times.  The draw for us was that it was close to our home, but each time we had breakfast there, we would leave with the feeling that they "almost" got it right and that maybe it would be better next time.  Unfortunately, it never got better.  The ideas were good (they once had a deep-fried mac and cheese "benedict" topped with bacon, poached eggs and more cheese sauce...  perfect for those post-cocktail mornings), but the dishes never really delivered what you hoped for.  That funny, let-down feeling now makes sense considering what happened last year.  His heart just wasn't in it.  I'm not judging the guy, but suffice it to say, I was worried that the next restaurant would be plagued by bad juju.

Tek-Nique's Facebook page

That fear quickly dissipated when we walked in for our 6 pm reservation.  Tek-Nique looked amazing!  Definitely a great first impression.  In fact, you would never know it was the same place inside.  It was essentially gutted and recreated, which is exactly what we were hoping for.  When you first walk in and through the breezeway, you are in front of the reception area, with the super-cool bar to the right and the main seating areas to the left.  The lighting was great, dim but not dark.  Everyone working that night looked great with their black uniforms.

We were seated immediately and our server, Heather, was really attentive and professional.  She showed off her iPod that the servers use to wirelessly transmit orders to the kitchen.  Unfortunately she was having a problem with hers, but things happen.  It didn't prevent her from getting our order 100% correct and even going a step further by splitting up the two dishes Chris and I planned to share onto separate plates.  She had some recommendations for us, but we were pretty set on trying certain things.

We were really hungry and really curious, so we ordered a lot of food.  Chris started off with a beer, and I ordered the Ketel One Cosmo.  Both came quickly and my drink was really good, ice cold, perfectly mixed.  For our appetizers, we ordered three -- Applewood Smoked Salmon Cakes, Tuna Two Ways and Marrow Risotto.  The prices were very reasonable, averaging about $8 per appetizer.

The tuna was lightly seared and rare, sliced and served over a cabbage and carrot slaw, along side a little ramekin of tuna tartare.  The tartare was fabulous, perfectly seasoned, fresh and flavorful.  I was sort of wishing there was another way of eating it besides just with a fork - little rice crackers or something maybe - but the flavor was excellent so it was a fleeting thought.  The seared tuna over the slaw was good but lacked salt (and I don't like a lot of salt), and the slaw could have used a bit more dressing.  I thought maybe the slaw was scooped from the top of the bowl in the kitchen and perhaps wasn't tossed enough before serving.  The salmon cakes appeared to be served with the same carrot and cabbage slaw as the tuna, except this time it had a bit more dressing to it which really perked it up nicely.  According to the menu, the salmon cakes come with some mustard aioli, but there was very little of it on the plate.  It would have been nice to be able to dip the salmon into the aioli.  Maybe the aioli was tossed with the slaw?  Either way, it was still very good.  The marrow risotto was presented in a nest of fried shredded potatoes reminding me of ossobuco, and was topped with micro greens.  Again, the risotto was just a bit under-seasoned, and it was also slightly undercooked, leaving some little bits of uncooked rice between our teeth.  However, it was very rich and creamy and with just a bit more time on the fire would have been perfect.  Chris really wanted more marrow in it (how often do you get bone marrow risotto?), but I thought it was good as it was.

While we were enjoying our appetizers, we were both a little irritated by one thing -- the door.  We were seated on the other side of the wall from the breezeway.  Every few minutes, one of those doors would slam hard.  When we walked in, the door slammed right away and we thought it was maybe the pressure changing in the breezeway between the two doors.  Tek-Nique needs to fix this right away!  It does really detract from the otherwise very nice atmosphere.  This restaurant deserves to have nothing pulling people away from the enjoyable experience they worked so hard to create.

After the appetizers, I wanted to try another cocktail, so I ordered a martini made with vodka and fresh cantaloupe juice and garnished with a little skewered melon ball.  Our server, Heather, had recommended it, and it was awesome.  LOVED it.

We also ordered a salad and soup which we intended to share, that came to us from the kitchen divided into individual plates and bowls, and that was a really nice touch.  The salad was an arugula salad with Great Hill blue cheese from a local farm in MA, with strawberries and candied almonds, drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette reduction.  The salad was a no-brainer, as the whole balsamic-blue cheese-strawberries combination is one of my favorite flavor profiles, and they did it very well.  The soup however, Roasted Red Pepper with Sambuca Cream, was a huge surprise for both Chris and me.  Chris suggested we order it, as he wanted to try a soup and it was the only one on the menu.  Neither of us are fans of Sambuca... black licorice is a difficult flavor to enjoy.  But my, oh, my, what a nice experience!  The puréed red pepper soup was very well-prepared, nicely seasoned and smooth.  On top of the soup was a dollop of whipped, slightly sweet cream flavored lightly with the Sambuca.  The licorice flavor was not overpowering, it was just right.  As the cool, rich cream slowly melted into the hot soup, it was quite magical.  I love it when a Chef can take something I dislike and make me love it.  Great job on that one!

At this time, the restaurant got very full (every table was full, the bar was full and people were waiting), and because it was date night and I really loved that cosmopolitan I had when we first got there, I ordered another one.  I figured I could just sip it, as our entrees were taking a bit longer to arrive given the restaurant being completely full.  It came quickly, but when I took my first sip I was taken aback.  It was super strong, too strong for me, and different than the first one.  When our server brought our entrées, I mentioned to her that I couldn't drink it and she brought me another one right away.  She said that they now had two bartenders and one of them has a heavier pour.  No big deal!  The second one was much better.

Tek-Nique's Facebook Page

Our entrées arrived after a slightly longer wait.  Chris ordered Pan Roasted Jumbo Sea Scallops with ratatouille, basil, parmesan, and beurre blanc for $22.  I got Three Cheese Ravioli with spring vegetables, pea tendrils and butter sauce for $14.  All the pasta is house-made.  The raviolis were delicate  and silky.  The emulsified butter sauce tasted delicious and complimented the raviolis well.  The seasoning was just right.  The spring vegetables consisted of haricot verts, shelled peas, pea pods and tiny asparagus.  But the thing I was most excited for and the reason I ordered the dish, the pea tendrils, were sadly missing.  I would have LOVED the pea tendrils, and I don't know why they didn't make it on the plate.  Maybe they were out, who knows.  I didn't ask about it, but I may have chosen something different had I known they weren't going to be there.  I also felt that the delicateness of such well-made pasta was a little overpowered by the butter sauce.  The sauce itself was great and worked well with the ravioli and green vegetables, but there was a bit too much on the plate, which made it heavier than I wanted.  Less of the sauce would have lightened the dish up considerably.

Chris' sea scallops and ratatouille were the stars of the evening.  He couldn't wait for the ratatouille (and not just because we love that movie, and also not because the scene where Anton Ego tries the ratatouille for the first time and is instantly transported back to his childhood is one of the greatest scenes ever).  It was delicious and cooked perfectly.  The sea scallops were sublimely fresh, and although they were ever-so-slightly overcooked, they had a great crusty sear on the top which made up for it.  Topping the whole dish was crispy fried basil -- perfection.

Finally, even as stuffed as we were, we decided to share a dessert.  We went with chocolate mousse accompanied by four little homemade beignets.  The mousse was good, light and not too sweet.  But I hate to say it, the beignets were raw.  One of the four was close to being done, but the rest were really just the warm batter and not cooked.  We think the oil may have been too hot as they were very brown on the outside.  Oh well, certainly nothing that would stop us from trying it again another time, as I bet next time it will be perfect.

Over all, Chris and I had a great experience, definitely date night-worthy and more.  We can't wait to go back.  This restaurant hadn't even been open a week, so any little "issues" we experienced were surely just kinks that they are working out.  I am so excited to see this restaurant in Bedford.  It's a wonderful and intimate little place that won't disappoint.  Someone finally got it right!