"Ask us who makes the best French food in Portland, and we’ll say Le Pigeon every time. At this Lower Burnside restaurant, traditional French technique transforms hyper-seasonal ingredients and integrates unexpected flavors like apricots and shaved truffles on Chinese-style shrimp toast and huitlacoche syrup drizzled on sweet corn panna cotta in ways that feel thoroughly modern. The $140, seven-course tasting menu (with a vegetarian option) is served in a rustic sage green space that has bare brick walls and a tiny open kitchen with pots and pans hanging above it. If you’re celebrating an engagement or new job, this intimate restaurant that’s beloved by splurging locals and culinary tourists will always be the right call." - krista garcia