Chef Jeffrey Stout partners with design team Arcsine to bring fresh flavors to Silicon Valley’s restaurant scene.
Michelin-starred chef Jeffrey Stout has once again brought his talents to the area with a new restaurant now open in Campbell. BE.STEAK.A is an Italian-influenced steakhouse, named after bistecca alla Fiorentina, a popular Tuscan dish. The eatery’s menu centers around a well-balanced mix of fresh pastas by chef Patrick Capurro, salads, seafood and, yes, classic steakhouse dishes with a twist, homing in on “something rooted in history and technique that is both simple and complex,” says the executive chef.
An elegant ambiance complements the elevated menu of exquisite dishes at BE.STEAK.A.
Stout, who also runs the popular Orchard City Kitchen in Campbell, didn’t want to open a typical steakhouse but, instead, an inspired one. “I felt I could do a steakhouse better and different than what I had done in the past,” he says. “This was the challenge. Times change, yet steakhouses do not. There is a formula for classic steakhouses, which I did not want to follow.” Menu dishes like burnt-orange salad with roasted sunchokes, ricotta, cucumbers, endive, Cerignola olives and mint; garganelli pasta with cauliflower puree, caulina, salsa verde, capers, sea grapes and marcona almonds; and The Delmonico served with den miso, chives and steak Diane sauce push the envelope without straying too far.
Equally important as BE.STEAK.A’s dishes is the eye-catching design. Arcsine, an Oakland-based design firm, worked hand-in-hand with Stout to create thoughtfully designed interiors that would aptly complement the cuisine. Inspired by the Mediterranean coastline and the restaurant’s fresh menu, Arcsine implemented a kitchen-view window, contemporary arches and cutouts to create an open, flowing feel throughout. Walnut-stained features pair beautifully with a sleek color palette: neutral whites and creams, blues, charcoal gray and burnt orange. “The restaurant is bright, not in the sense of lighting, but more of an effervescence, the way you would use that word to describe a person’s personality,” Stout says. “Everywhere you look, there is something to see. Everywhere you look, there is a story. Everything you touch, there is something to savor.”
“The restaurant is a balance of both old and new,” explains Stout, who made sure to include plenty of vegetarian dishes like agedashi tofu and even mushroom pot pie on the menu. “I wanted BE.STEAK.A to be a place where you could taste more, eat less.” 1887 S. Bascom Ave., Campbell
Photography by: PHOTOS BY PATRICIA CHANG/COURTESY OF BE.STEAK.A
