How apropos that a restaurant that has chic customers swarming around it like, well, like bees around a hive, is actually named The Beehive. And the place is always buzzing, with well-dressed, disposable-income types jostling for position inside a tightly packed dining room that offers an ideal setup for people-watching. Because the space is long and narrow, no one gets in the door without calling attention to himself, and the folks waiting for a table -- the Beehive doesn't take reservations -- sit on display at the windows, their every move captured in the flickering reflection of the lights. Meanwhile, diners lucky enough to have found a seat are enjoying the attentions of Tim Elenteny, who runs the front of the house, while his wife and partner, Janice Henning, cooks up such New American-meets-Old-World dishes as a sour-cherry-kissed roast quail or a Moroccan-influenced duck confit. An order of the stunning
panna cotta for dessert ends an evening just right. For both gazing and grazing, this place is a real honey.