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Beach House Restaurant
141 Merwin Ave.
Milford
West End Ave.
203-877-9300

By JAN ELLEN SPIEGEL

The Hartford Courant

Published: 9/8/05

A funny thing happened when the owners of the Beach House Restaurant in Milford went looking for the best steaks they could find: they wound up going pretty much all natural and, to a large degree, organic for the entire menu.

But the Beach House still sees itself as a "classic American steakhouse," says general manager Doug Colter, a onetime chef who is now with the Hamden investment group that also owns Colonial Times restaurant.

The Beach House has a standard line of steaks - an 18-ounce Kansas City strip, a 24-ounce porterhouse, a 10-ounce filet mignon or New York strip - but they're from Brandts Beef in California, which does them all-natural, hormone-free, all-American blood lines, fed no meat by-products.

"It seemed incongruous to just have that be the only natural item on the menu, so we built the rest of the menu around natural ingredients," he says.

That includes ocean-raised farmed salmon from Ireland, scallops from a small Stonington operation, shellfish for the raw bar from boutique suppliers. Other fish is caught wild. The chicken is all natural and fresh, never frozen, from a Pennsylvania company. The pastas are homemade, as is everything else in the restaurant.

"There's nothing here that's store-bought or manufactured. All sauces, all stocks, all desserts are made here, except ice cream," Colter says, crediting the work of chef Joseph Rios and pastry chef Andrea Holyst.

Most of Rios' dishes are not gussied up with too many sauces or spices. Grilling is done on an infrared grill visible to diners in the large open kitchen. There's the occasional classic Bearnaise or Bordelaise sauce for steaks. Or a spicy rub. Natural gravy on the chicken. A touch of vinaigrette on the scallops or Asian glace on tuna.

The Beach House, which opened in April, has a long heritage in Milford. It was a trolley station, just across from the Sound in the Woodmont section, before it was turned into a restaurant called Tom's Villa Rosa. Tom was a member of the Poli family, owners of Loews Poli theaters. The Beach House follows a succession of restaurants after the Villa Rosa closed about 35 years ago.

The Beach House has an 80-seat dining room, a 20-seat dining room and a bar which seats about 70, and is built around artifacts from historic buildings salvaged by one of its investors. Among them, historic lights from a home in Hartford and a New York City hotel, glass from a bank in New Haven and an enormous bar - 45 feet long - from a hotel in Atlanta.

The barroom also contains massive open wine racks that hold 2,800 bottles. The Beach House wine list is about 700 strong with a range of $25 per bottle to $900 for a 1990 Chateau Margaux - but most are under $40.

The list presentation is organized to help diners who are not wine experts. It's separated by style of wine and location. Each wine has a page reference number where you can read about that class or nationality of wine in general, see replicas of labels, and learn about each selection.

Colter says he designed the list using top-selling and rated wines with special emphasis on small producers, and such up-and-coming regions as Chile, Argentina and South Africa. There are featured wines each week, which can be tasted for no charge.

"People fear spending $30, $60 on something they can't even pronounce."

Details:

Desserts include gateau au chocolate, a flourless chocolate torte made with Vahlrona chocolate, served with creme anglaise and raspberry coulis. A creme brulee of the day includes such flavors as fresh mint, macadamia, espresso, coconut and mango. And Andrea's cheesecake features a macadamia crust with coconut topping.

Hard liquors: There is an assortment of premium cognacs, scotches, bourbon, ports and sherrys.

Bar menu: Lighter and less expensive fare includes a steak sandwich, burger, small salmon filet, homemade french fries and fried oysters.

Hours: Mon.-Wed., 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Thu.-Sat., 11:30 a.m.-midnight Sun., 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Bar stays open until last call. Happy hour: Tue.-Fri., 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Extras:

Bestsellers Porter House Steak, Fish of the Day Cuisine Family/Kids, Steak House Meals Served Parking Available in lot. Payment Method American Express, Visa, MasterCard Price Range Expensive Reservations Strongly recommended, especially on weekends. Services Catering, Private Parties Spirits Full Bar Website http://www.beachhousemilford.com/ Wheelchair Access Entrance & restrooms are accessible.