Eating Around / Le Pigeon

Chef Gabriel Rucker at Le Pigeon.

Had a wonderful meal at Le Pigeon last night. Chef Gabriel Rucker was cooking and we sat at the bar giving us a birds eye view of preparations.  Le Pigeon is perhaps my favorite restaurant in Portland.

 I had the Pigeon starter which was served on a plate of cold blood sausage puree, with cipollini and shaved asparagus, sprinkled with egg yolk.   It was rich a rich sauce and the pigeon breast was perfectly cooked medium rare.  I quaffed down a good class of Coteaux du Languedoc -- Podio Alto -- Domaine du Poujol -- '09.  For her starter, P had the Crab and Artichoke Toast with arugula and fried artichokes.  She had a glass of Greek white wine, Roditis/Malagouzia - Petra - Kir-Yianni Estate - ‘12 Amyndeon.  The crab toast was a bit uninspired, but the batter fried artichokes were amazing.  We shared an entree of Corned Lamb Shoulder served on a bed of potato with cabbage cream, huckleberries and horseradish.  I'd never heard of corned lamb but could immediately imagine it.  I asked Gabriel about it.  He said, "I had an idea. I'm not the first to make it and won't be the last."  Like corned beef, the meat is brined for four days and then cooked sous vide for most of a day. To plate the dish they chopped a hunk of the corned lamb and sauteed it in a pan to heat it up. They sliced it, stacked it on top of the potatoes, sprinkled with huckleberries and shredded lots of fresh horseradish on top. The lamb was surprisingly ham like.  It was a really unique dish, the kind of thing I expect at Pigeon.  For dessert we shared a carafe of Stumptown coffee and a Crème Brûlée which also came with a Vietnamese coffee pot de crème with whipped cream, amaretti crumbs.  I have no idea what made it Vietnamese, but it was excellent.

Gabriel Rucker has been nominated for, and has won, numerous awards from the James Beard Foundation, including: Rising Star Chef of the Year 2011, and the 2013 Best Chef in the Northwest.  Thanks for another great meal.

Eating Around / Little Bird Bistro (Petit Oiseau)

Caribou rack over the entrance to the kitchen at Little Bird Bistro.

Little Bird Bistro is the sister restaurant to Gabriel Rucker's Le Pigeon run by head Chef Eric Van Kley.  We had an enjoyable meal there last evening with family and friend.  The menu is French Bistro with a decidely Portland style.  Everything we had was very tasty - some dishes better than others.  The selection of bottled wines is lacking on the low end.

Daily chalk board specials.

Started with a bottle of Chablis (1er. Cru Mont de Milieu, Jean-Pierre Grossot, ‘05) which I thought was good though not exceptional.  I shared a dozen raw oysters; Kusshi's from British Colombia and Netarts harvested on the Oregon coast.  The Kusshi's are more delicate, firmer in texture, and carry a bit less oceany flavor than the Netarts.  Both were excellent.  Others in the party had the Goat Cheese Gnocchi, with roasted lamb neck, peppers, and mint - and they enjoyed it immensely.    Gnocchi is always a favorite.


For the second round of small plates I ordered the sweet breads and we also ordered the Marrow Bones with Chorizo, and Calamari, oregano, pickled chilies and black flat-bread.  Everyone enjoyed the marrow bones immensely.  The black flat bread was dyed black with squid ink! The sweet breads were described on the menu as follows: Crispy Veal Sweetbreads, carrot purée, roasted carrots, curried crème fraîche - they had a kind of peppery coleslaw on top that was a bit strong for the delicate sweet breads. The curried creme fraiche was something I never would have thought of myself - very good.  By then we'd switched to a red Rhone, Crozes Hermitage, Domaine des Martinelles, ‘09.  This one was, I thought, better than the Chablis.  Rich texture, deep berry flavors and peppery.

For an entree I ordered the Pan Roasted Duck Breast, deviled duck heart & egg salad, paprika toast, dijon vin.  When I kill a game bird or duck, the hearts and livers are always eaten the same day.  Thinking back, I do not recall getting the heart on my plate.  The duck was perfectly cooked, but the dish was rather plain and not terribly exciting.  Someone at our table ordered the Sherry-Glazed Pork Shoulder,roasted corn, fingerlings, manchego, padrón peppers which may have been the best entree we tasted.  Someone else had the Cassoulet of duck leg, pork belly, sausage & white beans which everybody liked.  C and P shared Fennel Sausage, fallen soufflé, parmesan, pepper jam which was good, but not really memorable.

G came directly from work and still had his flight uniform on.

If I had to compare to other meals I've eaten in the past few years in Portland, I think I go back to  Pigeon before I returned to Petit Oiseau.  I somehow prefer the atmosphere and space at Pigeon.   The Pigeon menu was just as interesting there and, in my memory, the food was perhaps better prepared.

Eating a meal like this is a luxury few can afford and we count ourselves very lucky indeed to be able to do so once in a while.  From a practical point of view, I do it for the chance to get a taste of foods I can not, or have not, tried to cook at home.  But really it's just plain fun to share a special meal with family and friends.