Roe, Portland OR

Paper Moon – Thyme infused Aperol and Cava and Chardonnay Drouhin Vaudon, Chablis FR 2011

Bread with Butter – cocoa, beet, fennel salts

Kombu Broth with enoki mushroom and chives

Ora Salmon – super fatty salmon, char roe, cedar oil, sudachi lime, taruzake-soy emulsion, fresh wasabi

Octopus – tartare of cider braised octopus, hackleback caviar, smoked Hamachi veil, crème Fraiche, pumpernickel

Ama Ebi-Scallop – pacific diver scallop crudo, olio nuovo, white soy ponzu emulsion, shiso, shaved frozen foie gras torchon

Snow Crab – carpaccio, kombu poached uni, jalapeno, shallot, blood orange, bacon bouillon emulsion

Blue Prawn – Poached, prawn head dashi, yuzu, smoked steelhead roe, maitake mushroom, cuttlefish noodles

Butterfish – seared porcini dusted butterfish, parmesan dashi, truffle ponzu, black trumpet mushroom, porcini espuma

Surf & Turf – poached scallop, pork belly, carrot, cipollini, celery root, carrot dressed wakame, yuzu kosho, shrimp cracklings

Olive oil / Rosemary – Buttermilk panna cotta, olive oil rosemary crumb cake, meyer lemon curd, pistachio streusel

Chocolate – dehydrated mousse, coffee ganache, whiskey caramel, marshmallow gelato

Dark Chocolate ganache

Returning to Portland and wanting to thank my host for her hospitality during my stay my penultimate dinner of the trip was a visit to Chef Trent Pierce’s restaurant-within-a-restaurant, Roe. Not particularly well known to travelers or locals, the small space located in the back of a ramen spot named Wafu, the concept behind Roe simply seemed too good to miss, a bargain prix fixe comprised of only locally caught/sourced/foraged fish and produce with techniques both Asian, French, and Modernist all on display – it was a meal with every chance to shine…and so it did.

Keeping in mind the restaurant’s location but substantially delayed by (rare) Portland traffic and thus arriving late my first impressions of Roe came from the front of house – each and every person from the man on the phone to the hostess to our waiters incredibly friendly and accommodating – and ushered to our table nearly 30 minutes after our reservation everything from then on flowed marvelously; wine pairings for my friend and a cocktail plus a glass of Chardonnay for myself working brilliantly with the elegant, fresh, and complex cuisine – each bite from the creamy quenelle of butter with various salts to the final bites of dark chocolate impressive in its own way.

Served in four courses with one additional item added on allowing us to sample ~75% of the night’s menu it is not often that I find myself unable to pinpoint a dish that was ‘best,’ but aside from the fact that my friend did not prefer the saline chips of olive served as garnish to her dessert there was not a single flaw or extraneous flavor in any of our nine plates; perhaps none finer in exemplifying Pierce’s skill than the ama ebi – fresh to the point of literally bursting on mastication with an intense sweetness carried by the creamy liver and ending with a citrus top note on the palate. Similarly, the snow crab, blue prawn, and octopus dishes all wowed with the use of citrus to balance and meld various proteins into a single plate while the quality of the Ora wowed even before it was plated; by far the best quality salmon I’ve ever tasted.

Progressing from raw to lightly cooked and onward to heavier preparations much like Le Bernardin or L2o both main courses would prove equally competent as those before them and using delicate butterfish as a backdrop to hefty earthen aromatics while somehow rendering pork belly ‘light’ through the use of acids and bitters before moving to desserts I stand convinced at this time that the cuisine at Roe is every bit on par with both of the aforementioned Michelin Stars and while the location may not be quite as refined as either it is only a matter of time before people start to take notice that, like much of Portland’s dining scene, Roe is an experience every bit as impressive as those in the ‘big city,’ but at one half the cost.