New owners bring local flair to modern, eclectic plates

Salt cod fritters (with pickled onions and harissa mayo) and an Allagash beer cocktail (with Cruzan dark rum, Averna liqueur, fresh mint and cucumber).

Bespoke

266 College St., 203-562-4644, bespokenewhaven.com. Lunch: Mon.-Sat., noon-3:30 p.m. Dinner: Mon.-Thu., 5:30-9:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5:30-11 p.m.; Sun., 4:30-8:30 p.m.

The menu sections at Bespoke are labeled with imperatives: enjoy, satisfy, relish, amuse. They could just as easily be replaced with descriptors: surprise, exotic, local and now-for-something-completely-different.

Co-founders Lauren Kendzierski and executive chef Yousef Ghalaini took ownership of the elegant, multi-story downtown restaurant in December 2009 from restaurateurs Arturo and Suzette Franco-Camacho. The new team may not have changed the building or the name, but it brings a new flavor to Bespoke, one that combines Ghalaini’s Lebanese culinary roots with the pair’s commitment to local food.

On a windy May evening, the patio blocks out the noise and the elements, “a little haven in New Haven,” as Ghalaini puts it. Planters sprout from the walls and strings of paper lanterns dangle spheres of every size, like a sixth-grade solar system project, to give off soft light at dusk.

On the surface, things look unchanged. “Décor doesn’t make the atmosphere; it’s the attitude of the servers, the type of menu, the music, all these things really create a sense of place,” Kendzierski says.

Indeed. Our waiter makes fun of me for singing along to the music of Rusted Root, then asks if we want bottled or tap water. He turns, catches the busboy’s attention and taps his wrist with two fingers, like a catcher and a pitcher signaling and instantly the busboy is at our side, pouring tap water.

Bread arrives next, in dainty slices, infused with cheese (Parmesan or cheddar) — savory, moist and crunchy at the edges. We’re puzzled over the square dish of muddy purée. We play “Guess the Mystery Sauce” and decide it’s bean caviar. Ghalaini later reveals the ingredients: cranberry bean purée with cilantro, sherry vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and sumac.

Salt cod fritters ($10) arrive in a mini wooden box. The taste starts off like something familiar, but then the salt bursts with flavor in a way I forgot possible. Each of the 10 fritters crunches on contact, neither greasy nor fishy. We find another surprise in the mayo infused with harissa (a red hot pepper paste used in North African cooking), like an aioli with a more subtle, insistent heat. Every country has its own version; Ghalaini gets his recipe from Tunisia, because he finds it smokier than others. Pickled red onions and parsley sprigs covered in light dressing make for a cooling complement.

Al dente risotto in the rock shrimp risotto appetizer ($13) feels chewy. Though the shrimp is fresh and bouncy, truffle oil dominates the dish, leaving no room for a hint of the watercress or lemon as described on the menu. Local steamed clams ($24), sourced from Dolan Bros. Shellfish in Branford, arrive fresh.Shoestring potato fries rubbed red with spices garnish the pile of lovely beige and purple shells. The fries eventually dissolve in the fishy mixture of white-water mussels, clams and more blushing shrimp. Below it all, square gnocchi are limp and unyielding to the bite. They serve a purpose, though, helping absorb the lemongrass broth, which smacks of ocean and saline.

The grilled LaBella chicken entrée ($24) uses chickens that were raised at LaBella farm in upstate New York. The whole breast is served golden brown, arms and legs tucked in at the sides, puffed chest, like a beauty contestant posing for the judges. The meat is tender, not fatty, and the mustard whipped potatoes have my friends musing over ways to try this at home.

Five-spice New York duck breast ($25) marinates in a traditional Chinese blend of ginger, star anise and Szechuan pepper. We just wish there was more duck. The purée gives us another new experience: sunchoke, aka Jerusalem artichoke, which is a bit nutty, with the texture of water chestnuts. Salsify, a root vegetable from Belgium, is thrown in for good measure.

The salsify is one of the few things imported at Bespoke. The cheese board features Colchester’s Cato cheeses, while Connecticut-based Farmer’s Cow is used for all the milk and creams and Bespoke participates in the Farm to Chef program (run by the Connecticut Department of Agriculture) for its produce. Come summer, the herbs and edible flowers will be as local as you can get — grown on site in planters on the patio.

For dessert, three plump beignets ($7) roll along a silver charger plate, picking up streaks of espresso chocolate sauce as they go. Melting chocolate gelato is buffered a bit by a dark cookie crust below, like an ice cream cake.

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