Narrow and dim, buzzing with Lambrusco and sours and charcuterie in cuts smooth and silky, slivered and smoky, is B Side. It just might be the coolest restaurant we have in Northern Virginia.
Seating is snug, the drink menus are long, but the food list is a tight 20 dishes. Plates are shareable, with a Wagyu spider steak, a little-seen cut, threaded with fat and just chewy enough to know it’s steak, served presliced with a smoked chimichurri sauce running parallel to the beef. Shaved and salty like a ham, pork collar is embellished with shaved fennel, jammy and fruity fennel mostarda, limber pea shoots and crushed pistachios. It’s an artful dish from a rarely celebrated portion of the pig, proving exactly why a restaurant joined with a butcher shop makes for interesting eating. Meatless plates are just as fun, with chickpea fries that have no reason to be this good. The squared-off logs look more like fish sticks with the outside flaky-fried and the inside cushy, and the rest of the ensemble plays off the theme: pea labneh, pea shoots and actual peas, too. It’s a good time at B Side.
MISC: Also order a burger, half-smoke, beef fat fries, and smoked pimento cheese.
B Side
Modern American | $$
8298 Glass Alley, Fairfax
