Le Pigeon
French restaurant · Buckman ·
French-inspired tasting menus with inventive Northwest twists
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22708864/GabeNickCage_credit_David_Reamer.jpg "Le Pigeon by David Reamer")
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69570979/PIG_Nicolas_Cage_02_courtesyNEON_copy.0.jpg "Le Pigeon by Courtesy of Neon")
French-inspired tasting menus with inventive Northwest twists
"When Gabe Rucker opened his fine French restaurant in 2006, Portland had never seen its like: an experimental, casual-meets-fine-dining spot that became famous for its burger, grilled squab, and foie gras profiteroles. Nearly two decades on, Le Pigeon remains a high point of Portland dining with an ever-changing tasting menu (7-course meat-focused and a vegetarian option) and excellent wine lists; if the tasting menu is too steep you can visit Rucker’s Canard next door for high-low classics like garlic fries, steam burgers, foie gras dumplings, and crispy broccoli." - Hannah Wallace
"Gabe Rucker’s Le Pigeon has had no small influence in defining what constitutes Portland dining: playful and creative, boundary-pushing and nonchalant. A past dinner included watermelon ham with oolong-pickled quail egg, braised goat sopes with aji amarillo-pickled cucumbers and nectarines, and hamachi in a creamy dressing with cantaloupe popping boba; while the menu changes frequently, every non-vegetarian meal ends with Rucker’s foie gras profiteroles, the best ice cream sandwich a human could consume. The restaurant offers both meaty and vegetarian five-course menus each night starting at $140, with nonalcoholic and alcoholic beverage pairings as well as optional add-ons like foie gras. Reservations are available via Resy." - Brooke Jackson-Glidden
"Gabriel Rucker’s free-wheeling French fare has earned multiple James Beard Awards and a loyal local following; while reservations can book up, they generally only 'tend to book up a few weeks ahead,' making it attainable with some planning." - Dianne de Guzman
"In his years at Le Pigeon, chef-owner Gabriel Rucker often molds the casual or unexpected into a fine dining format, from fried chicken to coconut shrimp. More than 15 years after its opening, Le Pigeon is as inventive as ever, thanks in part to the recent appointment of former Canard chef de cuisine Dana Francisco to head chef. A tasting menu might involve courses like beef carpaccio invigorated with habanada peppers and crowned with thinly shaved matsutakes, or sturgeon pastrami circled with a Swiss cheese and caviar sauce. While Rucker has consistently revamped his tasting menus over the years, the finale — a foie gras profiterole — remains a testament to Rucker’s cheeky culinary style. Vegetarian tasting menus are available." - Katherine Chew Hamilton
"Le Pigeon’s Gabriel Rucker is one of the earliest to have seen the Buckman neighborhood’s promising signs for success, whose fine dining establishment has been a fixture of its east Burnside block since 2006 — and a cornerstone of Portland’s restaurant scene. Flipping the French bistro concept on its head, the award-winning team assembles mesmerizing arrangements of Pacific Northwest ingredients prepared with classic French cooking techniques. On the chef’s tasting menu (which also comes vegetarian), anything goes; a lamb shoulder might be plated with bread pudding drizzled with pomegranate bordelaise, while sturgeon can be turned into a pastrami surrounded by pickled ground cherries and a Swiss cheese-caviar sauce. Co-owner and sommelier Andy Fortgang’s composition of reserve wine pairings makes this a special occasion meal worth going all out for." - Katrina Yentch