Favorite
The Dentons have delivered some of Portland’s all-time eccentric food highs, maple pork cornflakes to a clam chowder sporting a smoked marrow bone. But at their downtown Bistro Agnes, it’s French comfort cooking, by the book and straighter than an asparagus spear. Call it French Normcore. There’s much to like: a friendly vibe, a blue-hued room that grows sexier as Read more...
Favorite
This lofty, light-filled French-inspired bistro in southeast keeps the menu succinct and simple with elegant small plates like pigeon rillettes, pork belly jardiniere, and potato and leek croquettes. Read more...
Favorite
Part bottle shop and part wine bar, Taste offers small plates like roasted-vegetable flatbread and house-made chicken-liver mousse alongside well-curated local and international wine flights. Read more...
Favorite
It’s OK, it’s happened, we’ve all done it: you have confused “standing in line” with “having a great brunch.” Verdigris, a dignified little white-walled room on NE Fremont Street, is here to sort out the category error. This is a place where you can—wait for it—make a reservation for brunch, for a party of any size. You can then enjoy Read more...
Favorite
At La Moule, St. Jack’s Francophile chef Aaron Barnett reintroduces Portland to mussels and fries with a globe-spanning take on Belgium’s national dish, plus a side of moody lighting and great cocktails. Its comfy black booths are sweet, dimly lit nooks for sharable, date-night mussels steamed in six flavorful broths, with a menu bookended by French-inspired bar fare, like a burger with a thick Read more...
Favorite
Little Bird has quietly rebooted as Portland’s most exciting “new” restaurant. The downtown bistro’s cooking feels vital and experimental, like a playful food lab unfolding on our plates. What’s changed? Co-owner Gabriel Rucker, the James Beard double-medaled lord of Le Pigeon, is in the house, following longtime chef Erik Van Kley’s spring departure. Rucker is remaking the menu in his Read more...
Favorite
Naomi Pomeroy runs with the meat-worshipping bad boys of the Portland food scene, muscles flexed, elbows flying, but with lace showing underneath. Beast is her stage for sumptuous multicourse meals choreographed and assembled in the middle of the room. Pomeroy ships a deeply seasonal parade of mushroom soups, maple-glazed pork bellies, and foie gras bonbons in six-course prix fixe dinners Read more...
Favorite
This eclectic French spot on NW 16th has sweet and savory crepes and great drink selections. Read more...
Favorite
Claude Musquin, the Gascon-born chef-owner of Le Bouchon, opened this unfussy French restaurant on the western edge of the Pearl District nearly ten years ago. And though the neighborhood has long gone glitz, Musquin still speaks the language of middlebrow bistro food. Solid renditions of cassoulet, bouillabaisse, and confit de canard find their familiar spots on the classic menu, along Read more...
