La Pigeon: Portland, Oregon

I recently had the pleasure of enjoying dinner at one of Portland’s most hyped restaurants, La Pigeon.  For a place that actually offers pigeon on the menu, it was quite nice.  It’s conveniently located on Burnside, on the east side of the river near a few other specialty shops and boutiques.  Its location gives it the convenience of being downtown without all the hustle and bustle associated with a purely downtown location.  This restaurant consistently rates a 4.5 or 5 out of 5 on many web review sites and in many magazines.  I wanted to check out why it has received so many reviews, and perhaps discover for myself why it is so widely known on the west coast as an excellent French restaurant.

Reservations were required and upon arrival we were seated quite quickly.  The atmosphere of the place is akin to something you would find on a side street in Paris, something uniquely and distinctly French, but not overbearing or pretentious.  The chef works in the same room as those who came to dine, as the space is refreshingly open and free of kitschy clutter.  Once we were seated an extensive and rather amazing wine list was presented to us.  There was a wine for everyone, every occasion, and at every price point.  Some of the vintages I hadn’t seen since my last trip to France, and even over there they were hard to come by.  We chose a nice Primativo and then ordered our starter: frog leg salad.

I’ve only once had the opportunity to try frog legs, and the restaurant I had them at was rather touristy and didn’t cook them in the traditional French manner.  La Pigeon pulled out all the stops and created a dish that was so wonderful, even the person I came with, having never sampled frog before, was left with a smile on her face.  The meat was perfectly cooked and paired with just the right vegetables and blend of spices and extracts to create a refreshingly delectable experience for our palettes.

For our main courses we ordered a ricotta tart and a pork dish with squash, pears, and pine nuts.  The tart was delicious, carefully constructed by hand and accompanied by a certain blend of spices that brought out the nutty flavor of the crust.  The pork was cooked perfectly as well, and the accompanying ingredients created an amazing blend of flavors that complimented each other so well yet held their own ground individually as I ate.  Both were excellent fall dishes and complimented a turn to colder weather and vegetables and flavors that are in season in early October.  I probably could have done better with my wine in terms of food and wine pairing, but it certainly didn’t take away from the amazingly positive dining experience that we shared.

As far as the great reviews go, this restaurant certainly deserves them.  It reminded me of Seattle’s Le Pichet, but had even more of an authentic French feel to it.  The price is a little high if you’re expecting to go out and enjoy a meal for less than about $25 per person, not including wine, but well worth every penny.  I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone traveling through Portland looking for fine French cuisine, or even any native Portlander for that matter.  And if you’re in the mood to try a dish made with pigeon, this is the place.