Beast

Beast was a restaurant in Portland, Oregon, founded in 2007 by chef Naomi Pomeroy, business partner Micah Camden, and sous chef Mika Paredes. The restaurant developed a distinctive format around a small, approximately 600-square-foot dining room containing two communal tables. Rather than operating as a conventional à la carte restaurant, Beast centered its service on prix fixe meals, creating a shared dining experience in which guests ate a set menu prepared around the kitchen's available ingredients and culinary direction. The restaurant also served brunch. Its cooking combined French technique with ingredients and culinary influences associated with the Pacific Northwest. The intimate room, fixed-menu structure, and communal seating made Beast part of Portland's influential independent restaurant scene during the city's wider emergence as a destination for chef-driven dining. The restaurant's profile was reinforced by local critical recognition: Beast and Le Pigeon were jointly named Restaurants of the Year by The Oregonian in 2008, and Beast later won the Best Prix Fixe Menu category in Willamette Week's 2016 Best of Portland readers' poll. Beast was closely identified with Pomeroy, whose work at the restaurant earned her the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Northwest in 2014. The award helped establish her as one of the most prominent chefs associated with Portland's modern food culture. As of 2012, Pomeroy was negotiating a possible lease to relocate the restaurant, although the available reference material does not establish that the move was completed. Beast closed in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing the restaurant's operating life to an end. The former space was subsequently converted into a market called Ripe Cooperative. Despite its closure, Beast continued to be remembered as one of the restaurants that helped shape Portland's dining identity; Portland Monthly included it in a 2025 retrospective list of 25 restaurants that made Portland.

Beast opened in Portland, Oregon, in 2007 under chef Naomi Pomeroy, business partner Micah Camden, and sous chef Mika Paredes. Its concept differed from a conventional restaurant: the dining room was approximately 600 square feet and contained two communal tables, while the kitchen organized service around prix fixe meals rather than an extensive à la carte menu. Beast also offered brunch. The restaurant served food rooted in French technique and Pacific Northwest ingredients and culinary traditions. Its compact communal format encouraged a shared experience and helped distinguish it within Portland's independent restaurant community. In 2008, The Oregonian named Beast and Le Pigeon co-Restaurants of the Year. Pomeroy's leadership gave the restaurant a strong public identity, and her work at Beast later earned the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Northwest in 2014. By 2012, Pomeroy was negotiating a lease to relocate Beast, but the available reference material does not confirm that a relocation occurred. The restaurant continued to receive local recognition, including the Best Prix Fixe Menu award in Willamette Week's 2016 Best of Portland readers' poll. Beast closed in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The former restaurant space was subsequently converted into Ripe Cooperative, a market. Beast was later included in Portland Monthly's 2025 retrospective list of restaurants considered influential in shaping Portland's food culture.

• 2025

  Included in a Portland restaurant retrospective

  [1]Beast (restaurant)en.wikipedia.org

  Portland Monthly includes Beast in a list of 25 restaurants described as having helped shape Portland.

• 2020

  Restaurant closes

  [1]Beast (restaurant)en.wikipedia.org

  Beast shuts down in March during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 2016

  Best Prix Fixe Menu

  [1]Beast (restaurant)en.wikipedia.org

  Beast wins the Best Prix Fixe Menu category in Willamette Week's Best of Portland readers' poll.

• 2014

  James Beard recognition for Naomi Pomeroy

  [1]Beast (restaurant)en.wikipedia.org

  Pomeroy receives the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Northwest for work associated with Beast.

• 2012

  Relocation discussions

  [1]Beast (restaurant)en.wikipedia.org

  Naomi Pomeroy is reported to be negotiating a lease to move the restaurant, although the reference does not confirm that the relocation took place.

• 2008

  Named a co-Restaurant of the Year

  [1]Beast (restaurant)en.wikipedia.org

  The Oregonian names Beast and Le Pigeon co-Restaurants of the Year.

• 2007

  Beast opens in Portland

  [1]Beast (restaurant)en.wikipedia.org

  Naomi Pomeroy, Micah Camden, and Mika Paredes open Beast as a small communal restaurant serving prix fixe meals and brunch.

An intimate, chef-driven Portland restaurant built around communal seating, fixed-price menus, and French-influenced Pacific Northwest cooking.

• Restaurant service · 2007

  Prix fixe dinners

  Beast's principal dinner format was a set-price, chef-led menu served in an intimate dining room with communal tables. The format emphasized a sequence of prepared courses rather than individual à la carte ordering and was central to the restaurant's identity.

• Restaurant service · 2007

  Brunch

  In addition to its prix fixe dinner service, Beast offered brunch. The available reference material does not specify the complete brunch menu or its operating schedule.

• 2020

  Closure during the COVID-19 pandemicOther

  Background

  The restaurant industry faced severe disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Beast closed in March 2020.

  Action taken

  Beast ended restaurant operations.

  Aftermath

  The former restaurant space was converted into a market called Ripe Cooperative.

  Source

1. 1Beast (restaurant)en.wikipedia.org