2010 was a biggie for restaurant openings in Seattle. Nosh Pit looks back on the year with a survey of new standout foods we couldn’t stop talking about.

One of the most exciting openings this year happened in the former Chez Gaudy space on Capitol Hill’s Bellevue Way. The beastly baby of Seattle restaurant veterans Tyler Moritz and Aleks Dimitrijevic, La Bête won fans from the start with its hearty brunches and evening fare- that was sometimes rustic, sometimes refined, but pretty darn delicious in general.

And while some reviewers could not get over the crunchy pork rinds, it was the beef cheeks served atop farro, chard, and porcinis that won over Seattle Met’s Kathryn Robinson. She writes, of the dish: “I found it lovely, executed with precision, until my fork uncovered dark orbs that I figured for olives but turned out to be grapes, at which point it went stunning…”