I ate at Mr. Rucker's resto last June. It was the best dining experience I've had in Portland. Previous bests for me have included Bluehour, Higgins and Wildwood- Wildwood back in '99 when Cory Schreiber was still manning the stoves.
At Le Pigeon I ate braised lamb tongue with peas & morels, cold-smoked foie gras with egg yolk "crumbs", bone marrow boudin blanc with mashed carrots (my fave), and foie gras profiteroles: these were the highlights. I chatted it up with sous chef Erik and Mr. Rucker signed my menu. I very much want to get back to puddletown and pay a visit to Rucker's new bistro 'Little Bird'. Below a snippet from Oregonlive on this year's James Beard rising star chef award. Enjoy!
Yours,
Chef Derek
Gabriel Rucker gets to pop the champagne after winning the James Beard Foundation's Rising Star Chef of the Year on his fourth try.
Le Pigeon and Little Bird chef Gabriel Rucker was named the James Beard Foundation's 2011 Rising Star Chef of the Year.
It was the fourth consecutive nomination for Rucker, who turned 30 late last month, meaning this was his last year of eligibility for the national award.
Rucker thanked his parents for letting him take the time to figure out what he wanted to do and "for not pushing me into college," as well as his wife and customers at Little Bird and Le Pigeon.
Rucker is the first Oregon chef to win the rising star award, according to the foundation.
Other nominees included Aaron London of Ubuntu in the Napa Valley, Thomas McNaughton of San Fransisco's flour + water, Christina Tosi of New York City's Momofuku Milk Bar and Sue Zemanick of New Orleans' Gautreau's.
-- Michael Russell
This post in Grub Street is a year old but I just came across it. I think some of you three TEN main enthusiasts just might find it as entertaining as I did. Enjoy!
Yours, chef Derek
'At a raucous, funny, and profane New York Wine & Food Festival panel Friday night, David Chang and Anthony Bourdain scorched the earth of the food world. Dubbed "I Call Bullshit!" their wide-ranging discussion singled out several foods and food trends for scorn, targeted several chefs, named very few things they liked (Wylie Dufresne, Jeremy Fox, the ethnic restaurants of Queens, and Grub Street among them), drank a lot of beer onstage, and, overall, called for a more creative spirit in New York cooking. (Europe is years ahead of New York, charged Chang.) We've distilled their rage into ten separate beefs.'
CAUTION: eff words ahead
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