Hungry City - Feast in the East Village - NYTimes.com Liz Barclay for The New York Times Feast opened in the East Village in March. I did not expect the dish described as "bacon and egg" to appear in a tart shell the size of my palm. It was three mouthfuls at most, of pork belly in repose on creamy grits, with a puffy poached quail egg like a stranded cloud on top. Cute, I thought, and then I took a bite. Strike that: it was debauched, a welcome flicker of deviltry in an otherwise rather regimented restaurant. The concept behind Feast, which opened in the East Village in March, is to find a midpoint between the ever more esoteric tasting menus that have proliferated around New York and the humble satisfactions of a smorgasbord. Accordingly, there are three "feasts," each consisting of eight dishes (and dessert) revolving around a particular group of ingredients, "Iron Chef" style. These are delivered not in stately progression but four at once, on plates set at the center of the table like a private buffet. The prix fixe rates range from $46 to $52 a person (with a more elaborate "chef's feast" improvised nightly for $69), which can seem generous if you choose a good one and a bit of a grift if not. A few items are available à la carte, and substitutions can be made. But for the most part you must submit to the will of the chef, and trust. A recent feast with a pork motif yielded the most hits: that sly bacon-and-egg tart; sunny petals of squash blossoms furled around barbecued pulled pork; ruffles of Mangalitsa ham cushioned by potato gnocchi; and pork tenderloin adorned with chunks of apple, their sweetness drawn out by a root-beer glaze. The downer was fried rice with nubs of pork trotter, rendered sopping by a wilted cabbage-leaf wrap, a potentially clever joke (Catskills stuffed cabbage meets Chinatown) that fell flat. The chef, Chris Meenan, was chef de cuisine at Veritas. His background in haute new American cooking asserts itself in small, elevating details, like preserved lemon and gentle but persistent espelette pepper on a razor clam pizza, and a pistachio crumble over delicate fava bean agnolotti. One night, a crispy and still wonderfully gelatinous pig's ear came in triangles and a chiffonade in an arugula salad, the saltiness offset by the tart shock of a blackberry. But note the singular: only two blackberries appeared among the leaves, set studiously apart, one for me and one for my dining companion (we presumed). Was it greedy to wish for more? At times it seems that Mr. Meenan can't decide whether dishes should be precisely composed or sprawl. A shellfish-dominated feast included an overgrown canapé of an oyster po" boy, understuffed and too daintily dressed, alongside more free-form plates like salty, gaping cockles over brothy linguine and mussels in an approximation of pozole, earthy with cornmeal-fried hominy and Hatch chile. In summer, a meal devoted entirely to vegetables should be an easy A. Instead, the one I was served was an exercise in how to deprogram a vegetarian, with gazpacho like a shot of grape juice, a dismayingly sweet tomato tarte Tatin, oniony tabbouleh entombed in an artichoke and a prudish gratin of zucchini, squash and eggplant mired in ragù. There was some relief from burrata, scooped in endive and bracketed by tricolor heaps of beets, and grit cakes buried in corn and chanterelles, but the kitchen can do better. One dessert is allotted per feast. The pastry chef, Kristina Shum, makes the most of her moment, ladling berries into a gloriously crumbly shortcake slider and torching a citrus sabayon, which hides a lemon poundcake in its voluminous folds. She should be given more airtime. The space itself is warm and inviting, ideal for the large gatherings the restaurant hopes to entice. Its rustic references (hay pulleys repurposed as light fixtures, tarnished mirrors, dish-towel-like napkins) are appealing, albeit familiar. But in the back, a stuffed bobcat rears up from a shelf. It startled me, and gave me hope: perhaps there is a bit of wildness lurking here, waiting to be let out. Feast 102 Third Avenue (East 13th Street); (212) 529-8880; eatfeastnyc.com. RECOMMENDED Crispy pig's ear salad; bacon and egg; razor clam pizza; seared sea scallop; fava bean agnolotti; citrus sabayon; mixed berry shortcake. PRICES Tasting menus, $46 to $69; share plates, $12 to $26. OPEN Monday to Saturday for dinner; Monday to Friday for daytime coffee, pastries and lunch; Saturday and Sunday for brunch. RESERVATIONS Accepted for dinner. WHEELCHAIR ACCESS Ramp leads from sidewalk to dining room, and restroom has a handrail.