Bistro Agnes Is A Francophile’s Restaurant Found In Portland
by Heather Cassell
It was April. I shook off the raindrops from my umbrella as I entered the restaurant. I wasn’t in Paris, but I might as well have been. I was about to experience the magic of class French cuisine in the Pacific Northwest.
I was instantly charmed as the hostess greeted me inviting me into the warmth of Bistro Agnes in Downtown Portland’s West End neighborhood and relieved me of my accouterments kissed by Portland, Oregon’s rain.
I didn’t make a reservation. I was betting on a seat being a single diner.
French Passion
Since opening in January, the restaurant opened by James Beard award-winning chefs, restaurateurs, and husband and wife team Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton quickly became a favorite in Portland’s crowded restaurant scene again.
James Beard was a Portland native who rose to the top of the culinary world that honored his namesake with the king of foodie awards.
The couple met in the kitchen at Terra Restaurant in Napa Valley. They fell in love over their passion for traditional French food at French bistros in the legendary California wine region. However, they claimed their foodie Oscar for Ox, their Argentine-inspired restaurant also located in Portland, which goes without saying it’s also a reservation required culinary destination.
They transformed their former SuperBite restaurant into their French passion naming it after Greg’s grandmother Agnes. Agnes’ picture graces the cover of the cocktail menu while everything else inside the restaurant speaks French and at the same time Pacific Northwest. The dark teal walls and ceiling in the bar provide a warm barrier against the large panel windows and naked white bulbs encased in glass shades that reflect off of the stark white beams, pillars, and walls in the main dining room that is separated by a brass railing leading up from the sunken bar and entryway. The light brown wood and leather seats soften the stark minimalist décor of the walls punctuated by the Jules Chéret lithograph, strategically placed mirrors, and blue and white decorative tile flooring in the dining area that give a little wink and nod to French whimsy.
The Experience
I instantly scored a seat at the end of the bar where I could watch the mixologists craft any one of the cocktails from the 10-page spirit’s menu that didn’t include the special selection from the separate absinthe sheet and diners entering the restaurant.
Absinthe isn’t my choice of drink. Instead, I perused the wine list appreciating the variety of French wines that touched a longing for my then-pending return to Paris to start my evening. The restaurant also offers a decent beer list. Hello, this is Portland.
I settled on the 2013 Cabernet Franc from Domaine de la Chanteleuserie, “Cuvée Beauvais,” Bourgueil in the Loire Valley in France.
The bartender was kind, pouring the red liquid generously into my glass. One sip and I smiled in appreciation. The wine danced on my tongue sparkling engaging and igniting my taste buds with its light and silky-smooth touch. It was sophisticated and seductive tickling and warming me on the cold rainy night all at the same time – simply delicious.
It was light enough to compliment my selection of the French onion soup, the Onion Soup Gratinée with cave-aged gruyere and thyme croutons. Unfortunately, the cheese overpowered the wine, so I set it aside to indulge in the cheesy delight that swam in the warm robust broth steaming with herbaceous flavor complementing the gruyere gobs of melted cheese. There can never be enough cheese can there? I was hard-pressed to say, “Yes,” as it was enough that it teetered on a delicate edge of my palate. In the end, I gave in to the cheese attempting to scrape as much of it as I could from the bowl before pushing it away to return to my wine and make room for my main course.
Oh, the choices! So many good things from the traditional French menu it was a challenge to choose just one dish. Truffles were my deciding factor. The lure of the fungus, usually attributed to Italy, but France has its own truffles, always wins me over when I can’t decide. I settled on the simple pan-roasted chicken breast on a bed of truffled macaroni in a jus bath topped off with Parmigiano Reggiano and an herb salad.
It was intoxicating with the truffle wafting up from my plate and the chicken was so tender and juicy beneath the lightly crisp skin and the herbs. The flavors of the truffle macaroni in the jus with the chicken were perfection. It was one of the top five best chicken dishes I’ve ever eaten.
If that’s what the Dentons can do with chicken, I know I’ll have to return for the beef short rib bourguignon, the filet mignon au poivre, the coq au vin, and the petrale sole meuniere.
There’s a reason Bistro Agnes hit a nerve in Portland making it challenging to get a table. The food is magical with its melody of flavors and the atmosphere and service is warm and welcoming from the beginning to the end.
It’s definitely worth planning ahead and making a reservation.
THE DIRTY DISH
Bistro Agnes, 527 Southwest 12th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97205. 503-222-0979. bistroagnes.com.
TYPE OF RESTAURANT: Husband and Wife-Owned, Fine Dining, Traditional French
RATING: 4 = black
(0 inedible – 5 simply scrumptious)
AMBIANCE: Charming, warm, and subtly whimsical
SCENE: Casual sophistication, upscale
SERVICE: Leisurely timed despite the busy atmosphere
NOISE LEVEL: You definitely know you are in a popular restaurant with diners’ conversations creating a white noise, but you never feel like you have to raise your voice too much in order to carry on a conversation at your own table.
RECOMMENDED DISHES: The pan-roasted chicken breast on a bed of truffled macaroni and French onion soup, but I have it on good authority (New York Times) that the beef short rib bourguignon is a star dish. The menu will make your mouth water.
SIP: French wines. What is there not to like? However, it’s clear with the 10-page cocktail menu and the absinthe drip that they are serious about their spirits and being Portland, it would be blasphemy not to offer a decent craft beer list. Basically, pick your poison.
CHECK, PLEASE: $$$$ = Over $60
(price of dinner/lunch/breakfast/brunch for an individual meal not including tip)
THE EAT: The traditional French food in a pleasant atmosphere with good service. Very simple, but magical and wonderful at the same time.
WORTH THE NIGHT OUT?: My taste buds are salivating to dine here again
To book your Portland, Oregon vacation, contact Heather Cassell at Girls That Roam Travel in association with Travel Advisors of Los Gatos at 415-517-7239 or .
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