Bacon for each year of marriage

We had a lovely anniversary. We got to sit at the bar and were less than three feet from the chef preparing our food. It was dinner and a show. Totally amazing.

For appetizers, we shared:
Truffle gnocchi with sweet corn, leeks and crawfish
Tongue bacon with pickled egg salad

Ken was more excited for the tongue, I was excited for the gnocchi. Both were excellent, but Ken preferred the delicate creaminess of the gnocchi where I ended up loving the sweet-salty-vinegar combo of the tongue bacon and eggs.

For dinner:
Ken got the duck breast that was perfectly cooked and sitting on a bed of pureed (butternut?) squash and topped with wild mushrooms and a brown butter/pancetta vinaigrette that was nutty and bacon-y in flavor. Delicious. Everything paired very well and they had parsley and a squeeze of fresh lemon to lift the wild mushrooms and give everything some life.

I got the monkfish, its first day on the menu. I watched him make it.... two big hunks of monkfish that he seasoned and placed in a very, very hot pan with a touch of oil. Then he put a giant mound of butter in the pan and used a serving spoon to ladle the "foaming hot butter over the cold protein" for 30 seconds to a minute. A lot of continuous work. Braising it in butter for flavor. Excellent. Then he finished it off in the oven and served it over a seared pork belly and roasted cipollini onions. Wow. Both dinners were excellent, perfectly seasoned and executed.

And for drinks:
We ate our dinners with a 1/2 liter of wine. They have an extensive wine list and serve around 10 by the glass, 1/2 liter, full bottle (0.75 liter) or full liter. We had them pick one that paired well with our dinners. I don't know what it was, but it was excellent. Lots of tannin, full-bodied and with legs like a rockette.

Not that we needed more food, but my bacon trilogy was not yet complete. It was time for dessert.
Ken got a Polish porter (a beer) along with the grape cheesecake served with house-made graham crackers, its first day on the menu. Ken loved the beer, the graham crackers were killer but the cheesecake was ok. Flavor was right but the texture was too soft. They said they're going to work on making it more dense. Both chefs asked Ken what he thought of it. You could tell they were still working out the kinks with the dish.

I got their honey, bacon and apricot cornbread served with maple ice cream. It was delicious. Sweet honey and salty bacon. Warm sauce and cold ice cream. Smooth cream and crunchy cornbread. An explosion of contrasts.

And so our anniversary dinner came to an end, but it won as my favorite anniversary dinner (food-wise). Le Pigeon now ranks with Park Kitchen as my favorite restaurant in Portland. Apparently others think so too, because LP was featured in a New York Times article this morning about Portland food and drink (another mentioned was Pok Pok, where we went for thai food when Chuck and Dana came to visit).

Here's the article and an exerpt on the restaurant:
DINING & WINE September 26, 2007
In Portland, a Golden Age of Dining and Drinking
By ERIC ASIMOV
Chefs flock to a city where food is the star, produce is stellar and real estate is cheap.

exerpt on LP:

Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon, a kind of new-wave bistro, learned the basics of making stocks and working the grill during two years at Paley’s after he arrived here from his hometown, Napa, Calif. He passed through a few other kitchens, then last year he was given an opportunity to take over one of his own. He transformed a little storefront restaurant into Le Pigeon, an informal, slightly manic spot with seasonally changing, nonconformist dishes like braised pork belly with creamed corn and butter-poached prawns, sweetbreads with pickled watermelon, and just about anything that can possibly involve tongue. His signature dessert is apricot cornbread with bacon, topped with maple ice cream.

“I used to think of Portland as a stepping stone, but I fell in love with the city,” said Mr. Rucker, who’s all of 26. “Rather than going somewhere with a really established food scene, I felt as a young chef that I could really have a lot of possibilities.” Like many of Portland’s top chefs, he has established firm relationships with the local farmers. “I can call and have loads of chanterelles or huckleberries delivered right to my door,” he said. “When you have people as passionate about growing a watermelon as I am to use it, it’s great.”

They even published the recipe for the cornbread dessert:
Recipe: Cornbread Cake Published: September 26, 2007
Adapted from Gabriel Rucker, Le Pigeon, Portland, Ore.
Time: 1 hour

Butter for greasing pan
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, more for dusting pan
3 slices bacon, diced small
1 1/4 cups cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) thinly sliced dried apricots
Maple ice cream (see recipe).

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch-square baking pan; set aside. In a large skillet, fry bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels; reserve.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Whisk to blend, then mound and make a well in the center. Pour in eggs, buttermilk and milk; stir with a fork until lightly combined.
3. Add honey, molasses, apricots and bacon bits. Mix again until evenly combined. Pour into pan and bake until it has risen and center is firm and dry when a toothpick is inserted, about 35 minutes. Allow to cool, then cut into small squares and serve with a dollop of maple ice cream on top. Yield: One 8-inch square cake (12 servings).

Maple Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise and scraped
5 large egg yolks, lightly beaten.

1. Fill a large bowl with ice water; set aside. In small saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Add sugar, remove from heat and stir in syrup, vanilla bean and scrapings. Whisk about 1/4 cup cream mixture into egg yolks, then whisk yolks back into remainder of cream. Strain into clean pan.
2. Return pan to medium-low heat and stir until custard is thick enough to coat back of a wooden spoon. Pour into a heatproof bowl and set in ice water until completely cooled. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Yield: 2 cups.