Serving up cuisine inspired by the Mediterranean and Levant regions, a new Whitefish restaurant has a personality that fits the Flathead Valley’s population, notes its owner. 

“For me, it's a style of food I really enjoy. There's a very fresh, vegetable-forward sensibility to it,” said Beldi’s owner Adam Becker. “People are here for recreating and all the activities that we have in our backyard and it seemed to make sense to have a style of food where you leave feeling good and healthy.”

Beldi opened its doors at 306 Second Street last month. The atmosphere of the restaurant is open and natural-feeling with soft yellow walls and butcher block-type tabletops. A local gallery provides artwork and the room is conducive to sliding tables together to share a meal with friends.

Becker utilizes food from local farms, Flathead Fish and Seafood, along with RANGE, a Montana-based cattle company specializing in American wagyu beef. He said he will never get anything as fresh and as good as what he can source locally.

“We’re not reinventing the wheel,” Becker said of the seasonal menu. “When things are good, we use them. When it’s time to change, we change.”

Lighter fare includes dishes like falafel, croquettes and chicken shawarma at a price point in the mid to high teens. Current entrees range from $31 to $38 and include bavette, which is wagyu beef served with potatoes and broccolini, and stufato — a stew with beans, tomato and fennel.

Beldi serves beer and wine. It is open from Tuesday to Saturday for dinner only. 

Instead of a grand opening, Becker hosted an evening with friends and family.

“We did about 40 guests. We really wanted to see the room packed,” Becker said. “We did a seven or eight-course family-style tasting menu.”

He said that, so far, Beldi has been well-received and the customers are “digging something different.”

BECKER GREW up in Philadelphia and went looking for a part-time job when he was 14 years old.

Noteworthy chef Fritz Blank hired him as a dishwasher but within weeks took him on as an apprentice and Becker found himself cooking in the kitchen.

After that first experience, Becker worked as a pastry chef at Le Bec-Fin, a French restaurant in Philadelphia, before heading to New York to study at the Culinary Institute of America.

He moved to San Francisco and worked with a renowned chocolatier, returned to New York to work at a restaurant in Manhattan, then went back to San Francisco where he ran the pastry program at Spruce, a Michelin Star-winning restaurant.

Later, he worked as the pastry chef for another restaurant, helped with a catering business, and when a California cannabis business asked Becker to create private lines of cannabis-infused candies, he found himself back in the world of chocolate.

He moved to Whitefish about four years ago and worked with Andy Blanton at the Cafe Kandahar while also working as a culinary consultant.

“I saw (306 Second Street) on the market and reached out to the building owner,” Becker said. “We came to terms and I took over the lease and what we now know as Beldi was born.”

The restaurant is entertaining the idea of hosting a happy hour this winter.

“It’ll be similar flavors and techniques to our menu … and some specials,” he said. “We’re hoping to do that as the mountain opens up. Take the chill off and warm up somewhere.”

Becker said Beldi is a great size for get-togethers and he is looking forward to hosting both company and private holiday parties this season. Additionally, he is thinking of serving up special evenings to Beldi diners by arranging culinary collaborations with several of his out-of-state connections.

“My background has been heavily white table cloth, fine dining,” said Becker. “We're trying to loosen that up but we’re also trying to create the element of surprise in the dishes — some different textures, some different flavors and just really having fun with it.”

Beldi is open Tuesday through Saturday from 5-9 p.m. For more information visit: www.beldiwf.com

    The front door of Beldi on Second Street, Whitefish. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    The light-filled, fresh interior of Beldi, a new restaurant at 306 Second Street in Whitefish. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    The interior of Beldi, a new restaurant at 306 Second Street in Whitefish. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)