Beast [NEW]

[October 17th, 2007] 5425 NE 30th Ave., 841-6968. Dinner Wednesday–Sunday. $$$ Expensive.

Some people know how to fight, and Naomi Pomeroy is one of them. The former high-flying co-founder of ripe took a beating from the bank and the press when her empire crashed, but instead of fleeing or crying, “Poor me! Nobody understands my genius,” she kept on cooking. Now she has her own place again, a sexy little darling of a room that feels like a dinner party—even more so than Family Supper in its heyday—with Pomeroy and her crew working just feet away from two long communal tables. The space is so intimate that you contemplate popping up to help her dress the butter lettuce and radicchio salad with peppery tarragon vinaigrette. While Beast promises to be heavy on the meat—vegetarians are politely informed there will be no substitutions—the $45 prix fixe menu stars not big honking hunks of flesh, but as many as seven small courses: a dainty slab of chicken and duck liver mousse; a doll’s cup of squash soup with truffled pork cracklings. There are also plenty of offerings from what Pomeroy calls “the local farm scene,” including a cocoa coma-inducing plum-and-chocolate soufflé with dark caramel sauce and an ice cream made from noyaux, the bitter almond inside the pits of stone fruits. (NR)

Signature dish: The dishes change nightly, or whenever Pomeroy is in the mood. Woman’s prerogative!

Standouts: Many small, ambitious courses in the style of Thomas Keller’s French Laundry.

Regrets: Many small, ambitious courses in the style of Thomas Keller’s French Laundry.