Dining review: A test of Flask & Beaker is inconclusive. Next assignment? Further study.

With apologies to real scientists who write lab reports based on experiments using actual scientific method.

Lab Report: An analysis of the merits of a new restaurant on the campus of a major scientific research university.

Introduction: The experiment was conducted at Flask & Beaker, the restaurant in the new StateView hotel, a Marriott Autograph Collection property on the Centennial Campus of NC State University. The experiment was conducted by lab partners Greg Cox and his dining companion (who wishes to remain anonymous, but for the purpose of this report has consented to be referred to as Lamb Chop) in early March 2018, over the course of two meals. Visual aids accompanying the report are provided by News & Observer staff photographer Juli Leonard.

Objective: An assumption was made that the restaurant would be frequented primarily by visiting professors and other guests at the hotel. The objective of this study was to determine whether the restaurant’s attributes merit broader consideration by locals as a viable dining option.

Materials: Numerous decor elements throughout the dining room and hotel lobby showcase the university’s contributions to science and, in a broader context, society. These include sleek overhead light panels wrapped in North Carolina textiles, a wall covered in scores of numbers representing patents granted to the university, and mechanical garage doors that open onto a patio overlooking Lake Raleigh. Laboratory beakers are repurposed as vases for the succulent plants on each table, and as a delivery vessel for wines served by the glass.

The menu is cleverly printed on stock made to look like graph paper with marginal chemical notations and scientific illustrations. Food is divided into categories such as Majors (entrees), Minors (salads), Electives (appetizers) and All Nighters (sandwiches), and pays tribute to the state’s agricultural industry with an emphasis on local sourcing.

Procedure: A total of 12 dishes were sampled. Broken down by category, these included four appetizers and salads; five entrees, sandwiches and sides, and three desserts. A liquid assay was performed on the beverage selection using standard evaluation techniques. Service was evaluated based on parameters of hospitable attitude, pacing, familiarity with the menu and attentiveness.

Data analysis: House specialty cocktails (listed under the heading of Experimental Chemistry on the menu) celebrate North Carolina’s burgeoning distillery industry. Drinks such as the Bull City Rickey (Conniption American Dry gin, fresh mint, lime, cucumber) are competently made but on the pricey side, with most going for $13-$14.

The success rate of dishes was distributed across a standard bell curve, with the majority of items being solidly executed if not memorable. These included Texas Pete zucchini chips that could have been crisper and spicier; grilled grouper, properly cooked and served with a colorful medley of cauliflower and green and purple broccoli and mushy rice that marred an otherwise fine presentation; a “maple glazed flat iron pork steak” that turned out to be a center cut chop, just slightly overcooked; and an otherwise respectable “apple tart” let down by a soft crumb topping.

The “tart” was misnamed; it was actually a wedge of pie. But it was a more successful dessert than the bread pudding, however, which was dry to the point of being crumbly. And the less said about the dense, heavy sweet potato gnocchi in a congealed “asiago cream,” the better.

At the opposite end of the bell curve, crab cakes were toothsome with sizable lumps of crabmeat beneath a crisp brown exterior. A Spanish seafood stew called zarzuela seemed out of place on the menu at first blush, but an abundance of North Carolina shellfish in the flavorful tomato broth provided convincing evidence that the dish deserved a spot on the menu.

The half-pound StateView burger, with roasted red peppers, maple bacon and melted provolone on a brioche bun, was also a winner, as were the fries that accompanied it. And the Howling Cow ice cream, churned at the university’s dairy processing lab, is so good it’s easy to understand why it attracts long lines at the N.C. State Fair every year.

Service is friendly and laid-back — sometimes to a fault. Attentiveness, pacing and overall attitude can be as variable as the x in an algebraic equation. Lapses are often minor enough that they can be overlooked — but not when the melting point of ice cream is well on its way to being passed by the time it gets to the table.

Conclusion: Restaurant manager Thomas Evans and veteran chef J.P. Murcia (who helped open the now-closed Latin Quarters in North Raleigh, and started the KocinA food truck in 2013) say they are aware of the need to correct Flask and Beaker’s new restaurant miscalculations. They’re working to recalibrate, starting with the introduction of an almost entirely new menu in early April.

Wisely, they’ve decided to keep the burger, fries and ice cream. But most of the other dishes that were examined in this study will no longer be offered.

In their place, new elements in the equation will include the likes of Hatteras clam chowder, pickle-brined fried chicken sandwich, BBQ North Carolina shrimp and a 28-day aged rib-eye. A Southern-style vegetarian spaghetti entree with field peas, walnuts, kale pesto and local cheese is part of a new stronger selection of vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Clearly, once the formula has been revised to reflect these new parameters, Flask and Beaker will merit further study.

This story was originally published March 29, 2018 at 11:15 AM with the headline "Dining review: A test of Flask & Beaker is inconclusive. Next assignment? Further study.."