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[GOOSE TAMER] For years, the only way to experience chef Naomi Pomeroy's
remarkable culinary prowess was to throw down $75 and spend nearly
three hours plowing through a six-course prix-fixe meal, probably while
sitting across the communal table from a schmoopy couple celebrating
their anniversary. That's still what you'll get at Beast, and everything
from the first course—always soup, such as a deceptively light
potato-and-leek velouté dressed up with smoked steelhead roe—to the
dessert you will finish, no matter how glutted you feel, will be
excellent. But you might also spend much of the evening peering out of
Beast's dim dining room to the unmarked, black-walled bar across the
street. That's Expatriate. The menu there might not include one of
Portland's most indulgent charcuterie platters, and you certainly won't
eat pig prepared in a half-dozen different ways, but nor will you find
yourself nursing a bizarre jealousy for the prep cooks in Beast's open
kitchen, who chatter and laugh as they ready your pretty plates, looking
like they're having far more fun than the poker-faced servers. REBECCA
JACOBSON.
Pro tip: Beast's servers are amenable to splitting the wine pairing. It's $35 for six half-glasses, which you can divide among two or even three people.
The Directory: Our 100 Favorite Restaurants in Portland
By Neighborhood: Southeast | North/Northeast | Westside | Suburbs
2014 Restaurant of the Year: Kachka
Top Five: Old Salt, Ataula, American Local, Expatriate
Counter Service Spots: Latin | Asian | Italian | Sandwiches | Burgers
Wine Bars | Beer Lists | Veg-Friendly | Gluten-free | Elsewhere in Oregon
WWeek 2015