Opening Night at the Beast and the Facilitation of Instant Community

20070927. Tonight my business partner Noah and I went to the opening of Beast, which is the latest creation of our talented friend Naomi Pomeroy. The food was sublime, and the atmosphere was so charged with positive energy that it truly felt as if Naomi was cooking for us in her kitchen at home.

I am no food critic, so I won’t attempt to do justice to the culinary experience I had at Beast. I’ll link to a food review site if I can find one. I’ll just say it was great. I could taste the mindfulness and the love Naomi and the rest of the staff put into the food. I was delighted by the creative taste sensations I experienced, and am grateful to have been there on Beast’s first night.

From a theoretical perspective, the community atmosphere Naomi’s design choices created in the restaurant were inspiring to me. There are two long tables surrounded by chairs, the kitchen is entirely exposed and mere feet from the tables. The dining experience is, as a result, very intimate.

Noah and I sat right next to a delightful couple named Mischa and Holly, whom we had never met before. Sitting right next to strangers at a restaurant was a new experience for me. I am used to sitting at my own table, and do not usually interact much with other patrons. It is not because I am anti-social, but rather because it seems like each table is an island, and it would be rude to insert yourself into the conversation of another.

When you are seated at the same table with strangers, on the other hand, the dynamic changes entirely. The insular bubble of the individual table is pierced, and it becomes rude NOT to interact with the people seated next to you. As the meal progressed, we began to interact with our unexpected dinner companions on the common ground of the delicious food we were all experiencing. The conversation began to deepen as we grew more comfortable interacting, until it felt as though we were dining with two old friends. It was another manifestation of the idea that meaningful human interaction can be facilitated by intentional and conscientious design, and it made me think about new ways to create foundations for community building in the properties I develop.

Although this was my first experience with communal dining in a non-buffet style restaurant, Noah has reminded me that this idea is not new. It is integral to Naomi’s signature style of cooking, and it has been experimented with for many generations before Naomi’s contributions. It is as if her cooking is a meditation on the importance of community, and the ability for sharing a meal together to provide a catalyst for meaningful interaction between non-familiar people. For this, I am grateful to her, and look forward to learning more from the example she sets.

PS. I don’t see famous people very frequently, so, I thought it was very cool that we were sitting at the same table as Gus Van Sant. He was like five feet away, and seemed like a very pleasant fellow. I’m a pretty big fan of his work, but I honestly wouldn’t have noticed he was there if Noah hadn’t told me. I was still kind of skeptical it was him, but my skepticism abated at the end of the evening when he was complimenting Naomi and she referred to him as “Gus.”

All in all, it was quite a remarkable evening.