Being Beehive

If Beehive were a person instead of “a West Pearl Eatery + Bar,” as the website says, she would be that unbelievably hip acquaintance of yours who always looks perfectly chic, who dances ballet for exercise and who uses mason jars in her décor without a hint of irony. She probably makes her own bitters and has gorgeous, naturally red hair, too. You kind of want to be her, if just for a little while.

Well, you can. Maybe you can pull up a stool at the white granite bar inside this dapper, elegant little restaurant and feel like a regular when you order your perfect Dark and Stormy and the waiter brings out warm gourgeres for you to nibble.

You take in the minimalist décor with the white plaster deer head over the kitchen window and the roll of brown butcher paper listing the happy hour specials. You sip the cauliflower and pesto soup you’ve just been served in a 4-ounce mason jar on a vintage jadite plate. You bite into the perfectly balanced ham, gouda and crisp apple salad. (No one will look askance if you dip your gourgere in your soup; trust me, it’s heaven.)

There’s something about the food here that feels homespun yet refined at the same time. The scallops with Texas Rio Star grapefruit and greens isn’t a complicated dish, yet you feel more sophisticated while eating it. And the heirloom pork ragu is transcendent both as classic Sunday fare and seasonal foodie paradise.

From the deviled eggs and house-made pickles to the well-curated wine selection, from the vintage flatware to the beetle-kill tables, everything about Beehive straddles that invisible line between homemade and urbane.

Stop here for brunch on the weekend and you can decide which guise you’ll try on for the day while sipping gigantic mugs of excellent coffee. Will you try the standard: eggs, potatoes and a cornmeal biscuit with homemade strawberry jam? Or will you be a little more exotic: Scandinavian eggs with smoked salmon, capers and horseradish sauce—along with a gorgeous pile of golden gaufrettes (French-style, waffle-cut potato chips)? Either way, you won’t be disappointed.

They even take the children seriously here, with a kids’ menu that manages to balance young taste buds with the expectation that even little ones want something delicious.

This is exactly the sort of place that takes trendy things and makes them seem erudite and enduring, rather than a passing fad. It’s the sort of place that gives the term “hipster” back its cred.

It’s the sort of place that amazing friend of yours who can pull off skinny jeans and beret would go for a social hour nibble and cocktail. You should totally invite her and be the friend who introduced her to her favorite new restaurant.

Beehive

2018 10th St., Boulder

303.786.8585,

beehivegoodness.com

Bottom Line: Worth the price to eat this well and feel this cool.