L’ Orange

"Portland French restaurant L’Orange serves easy elegance without treading toward stuffy, which makes it the ideal stop for a special night out. While the menu rotates to reflect the seasons, look out for dishes like a chicken liver mousse tartlet, Parisian gnocchi, and slow-braised pork jowl. End the night with a cheese plate, a scoop of ice cream, or the classic L’Orange cake with cardamom icing. The grandma-chic dining room only enhances the experience, especially in colder months." - Brooke Jackson-Glidden, Katrina Yentch, Rebecca Roland

"No cocktails, just wine; that’s the shtick behind this stylish bistroesque winery restaurant in Southeast Portland. After years of collaboration on different projects, Jeff Vejr’s wine program and chef Joel Stocks’s French Riviera-inspired fare is the perfect marriage of the pair’s talents. Expect glass pours and bottles from Vejr’s Oregon winery Golden Cluster, as well as European options that dovetail nicely with Mediterranean- and French-influenced dishes like Zatarain’s-spiced mussels and clams and savory crepes." - Zoe Baillargeon, Alex Frane

"At this modern French restaurant, servers flit from room to room on the top floor of a converted 115-year-old house delivering glasses of melon de Bourgogne and frilly rosettes of tête de moine cheese accompanied by honeyed hazelnuts. The restaurant’s stately-yet-homey rooms are the domain of chef Joel Stocks, formerly of fine dining destination Holdfast. Silky chicken liver mousse tartlets topped with raspberry saffron jam are baked in limited quantities, but make for a lovely sweet-savory open to the meal. The focal points of main dishes — light and airy pâte à choux-based Parisian gnocchi and proteins like duck confit and sturgeon — remain the same, but ingredients change on the plates seasonally, highlighting produce like chanterelles and caramelized fennel." - Eater Staff

"Look for the orange door at this wine-focused French-ish restaurant near Ladd’s Addition and head upstairs to the dining room that’s a little homey, a little funky, and thoroughly Portland in its lack of pretension. You’ll find couples sharing seafood-stuffed crepes and pan-roasted sturgeon and regulars who stop in for a glass of biodynamic wine and a look at the frequently changing menu. Mainstays are the chicken liver mousse tartlet that often sells out before prime time and the tête de moine cheese shaved with a special implement and formed into a rosette, served with honeyed hazelnuts and sprinkled with fennel pollen that’s equally good as a starter or dessert. There are some surprising molecular gastronomy touches (see: sauces dehydrated and formed into cracker-like shards) and a Harry Potter-themed bathroom complete with owl wallpaper, that no one seems to talk about, which just adds to the vibe." - Krista Garcia

"Joel [Stocks] does fantastic food — he’s amazing at what he does, and a super kind individual." - Thom Hilton