We took a cab to the restaurant and planned to get there early, since Expatriate, recently opened across the street by Pomeroy's husbandry, opened at 5. They were both in attendance and her husband made our drinks and chatted about the opening which was fun. I really wanted to ask Chef Pomeroy for a picture, but she seemed to want to avoid being seen so I refrained. Several times.
Overall, the drinks were good, but a bit sweet for me. We are largely influenced by Greg Best's no sugar style and it really carries over.
But on to dinner at Beast! It's a fixed menu, of course, and they hardly do substitutions. They will leave stuff off if you are allergic.
It's only communal tables and we sat at a table with a couple from Brooklyn who had also been to a wedding in Seattle and a foursome from North Carolina who were very Southern, but kind of charming in their Southern way.
Stacked on the shelves near our table were a bunch of cookbooks, which I really enjoyed looking at.
This was the first course: chilled zucchini soup, dungeness crab salad & pepper jelly, basil oil served with Domaine Ostertag Heissenberg Riesling 2009, Alsace, France.
This was a really delightful dish and, ultimately, my favorite of the night. The soup was so delicious and the dungeness had a sweet delicate contrast. This made me think I should try to do some chilled veg soups. Not that I am comparing myself to Chef Pomeroy, just that they are so tasty.
Course two: charcuterie plate Clockwise from the top at 12 center: foie-gras bon bon (which they recommend you eat last) with sauternes gelee, chicken liver mousse with leaf lard cracker, steak tartare with quail egg on toast, hazelnut and orange boudin noir, house cured duck breast prosciutto, tails and trotters rillettes. With Albert Boxler Sylvaner Vielles Vignes 2010, Alsace, France.
Okay, so this was a pretty close second for my favorite dish. So many tasty tasty things to eat. The fois gras bon bon was tasty, the steak tartare divine. I enjoyed the flavor of the chicken liver mousse and the delicacy of the boudin noir.
Palate cleanser: passionfruit sorbet.
Cattail Creek seared lamb chop with smoked cannellini beans and olive oil fried bread crumbs, frisee and summer herb salad, and sliced heirloom tomato. Served with Domaine Leon Barral Faugeres 2010, Languedoc, France.
It was about this time that I really regretted such a late lunch.
The lamb was good, but not amazing. The beans were good, the braised ham hock too smoky/porky and a bot overwhelming. The pork did taste familiar though and I think it was Chinese, but I never could figure it out. The tomato was tasty.
Josh called this the deconstructed nicoise: Hericot verts and poached purple potatoes, albacore tuna confit, nicoise olives, soft boiled egg, sungold tomato vinaigrette. With Domaine Maestracci E Prove Rose 2012, Isle of Corsica, France.
This dish was absolutely beautiful. The Brooklyn idiot to Josh's left said it was too bright, too saturated. I found it a bit dry; the vinaigrette was a bit too think for me. The egg was perfect on this though.
Selection of cheese from Steve at Cheese Bar, desert king fid, candied walnuts, local honey, olive oil and black pepper crackers. With Domaine Pepiere Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie Clisson 2010, Loire Valley, France.
The blue was too strong, even for me. The rest were good.
The kitchen is completely open since it's part of the room really. I watched them take the souffles out of the oven. Look how tall they are!
The souffle fell a bit by the time it came to the table.
Summer raspberry souffle, Viridian Farm shiso ice cream, and raspberry coulis. Served with Cesar Florida Moscatel Especial NV, Chipiona, Spain.
You press the ice cream into your souffle and pour in the coulis.
I do as they tell me.
This was pretty tasty.
Cookies for the road! To go with my decaf french press coffee.
Quite tasty.
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