Course 1 of 7: Salad of beets, tomatoes and cucumber

Restaurant Beck is quite unique — and one the most unusual things about it is its address. Sure, we have good restaurants all over the state of Oregon — from Eugene to Cannon Beach, even the best Japanese restaurant is in Beaverton, not Portland. But to have one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs cooking in Depoe Bay (population approximately 1,400) is really a strange thing to contemplate.

But, it’s true. Chef Justin Wills is turning out some amazing food in a tiny town (which is situated between Newport and Lincoln City) and people are willing to make the trek to see eat it for themselves. If you don’t believe me, check out the accolades he has received (most recently a James Beard nomination).

So, when my husband and I made our journey to the coast last weekend, he surprised me with reservations at this lovely little spot.

A destination restaurant in Depoe Bay? It’s true!

From the second we sat down at our table, I was in love:

Absolutely gorgeous!

From that view, we moved on to these views, courtesy of the 7-course Chef’s Tasting Menu:

The only one I’m going to really describe is the first course (also pictured at the beginning of this post) because it involved a fascinating ingredient — one I had been wanting to try for years: the Australian finger lime.

The interior pulp looks like citrus “pearls.” These can be squeezed out of the finger lime and when they are, they resemble caviar.

Here’s the dish with the pulp of the finger lime squeezed out:

It tasted like a blend of lemon, lime and grapefruit — it was awesome!

Now, without further ado, the next six courses:

Course 2 of 7: Foie Gras torchon with watermelon, oat crumble and radishes

Course 3 of 7: Tempura pole beans & anchovies with sous-vided egg, glazed bacon and bacon powder — yes, bacon powder!

Course 4 of 7: Tuna with fried potatoes, bacon and sorrel

Course 5 of 7: Crispy pork belly with greens and sweet corn ice cream

Course 6 of 7: Steak with caraway spaetzle. My least favorite dish, which I almost didn’t include because the steak was severely overcooked and the presentation was unimpressive. But it wouldn’t be right to leave it out. *Also I should note that on this night, the chef wasn’t in the kitchen, so I’m blaming the sous chef for this one. Really…a medium-well steak? Really?*

Course 7 of 7: Almond cake with flowers, Chantilly and honey ice cream

All in all, an excellent meal accompanied by some fabulous wines and, of course, my favorite person in the whole world. Afterwards, we stepped onto the deck to get one last whiff of ocean air before heading home to the city.

View of the ocean at Whale Cove Inn