Lucier restaurant review

Overall, Lucier is providing a very classy, classic and service-heavy experience in a stunning setting, complete with a great wine list, terrific food and all the little touches intact. While service (or perhaps over-service) is still a bit spotty, the Lucier experience is already one of the best, and is certainly a formal high-point in laid-back PDX.

Over three visits, I've been able to try most of the menu. It's not that hard, because everything including the apps and entrees can be ordered as a tasting portion. My first visit included ten courses . . . There is also a regular chef's tasting menu, with or without wine.

The food is as good as anywhere in town. The Crab Bisque is intense and reeks of the sea. The sea bass carpaccio with foie gras is a treat, too. A dish called "The Egg" serves of a soft-scrambled duck egg folded with creme fraiche and caviar -- very rich and decadent. The salmon and lamb entrees are spot on. Oysters on the half shell are enhanced with an emulsion of cucumber skin -- adds a terrific hint of bitterness that complements the sweet / salty oyster meat. The only dish I had out of balance was the Halibut Sous Vide, flavored by too much vanilla on the accompanying greens. The cheese cart is well chosen, and the cheese is brought up to room temperature for slicing and serving! Then, there's the Wagyu . . .

They are serving both the American Kobe Beef, related to Wagyu, and also the authentic stuff from Japan that has 50-60% fat content. For $25 per ounce, this stuff is the foie gras of the plains. I had some as carpaccio in one visit, and it was extremely soft, silky, sweet and literally melted in your mouth (more than half the fat in Wagyu is unsaturated, and can turn nearly liquid at room temp!). On another visit I had a 2-ounce portion seared for the steak entree. Simply the most tender, flavorful beef EVER. There's not a 40-day dry-aged US Prime steak that can touch this stuff.

The wine list is also notable. I'm told they are still getting in a lot of product purchased from various sources, but the list as-is is among the best in the Northwest, and should eclipse most when it is complete. They failed to incorporate wine storage into the restaurant, so the company owns a (rumored 1.5 million dollar) condo across the street to store the wine. It makes me worry a bit about the wine staff, who are gents clearly not accustomed to jogging much. I appreciated particularly the verticals of riesling from Austria's F.X. Pichler.

Service was the only hitch in the giddy up. There are a lot of people on the floor, and they all seem to want to chat. Understandably proud of their new restaurant, I wish I had been given more time to chat up my dining companions, instead. The brigade-style service sometimes has issues -- one dinner saw three waiters standing around with our entrees because the other waiters had not yet cleared the previous course, for example. But I suspect that with practice, they'll figure it out and it will become seamless.

A few side notes: The restrooms are gorgeous, and each slightly different. The deck out back is a great summer hangout. The lounge is exceptionally attractive, and you can get the entire menu in there, too. There's no bar in the bar -- the place where they mix drinks is hidden from view. Valet parking is provided, gratis. When you emerge from the restaurant after dinner, your car will already be there, and a valet will be holding the door open for you, having already wiped your dash clean and left a little goodie bag as well (on your first visit, anyway).

Overall, this was the kind of experience I usually get from big-name restaurants in Vegas or New York. Once everything comes together, it will certainly be among the finest of fine dining establishments in the Northwest, and could become a foodie landmark on the West Coast.

Dining In Vegas

I spent a week in Vegas recently to attend a three-day Spanish Wine Educators conference. I studied hard, and am now a certified Spanish Wine Educator. But equally as important, I had several excellent meals, including one that ranks as one of my best dinners ever. Here’s the scoop:


Mesa Grill

This is Food Network star Bobby Flay’s place, inside Caesars Palace. It’s upscale Southwest Fusion, or something. I’m not sure what to call it, but it was fantastic.

The restaurant is large, bright, and brimming with literally hundreds of diners. A spotless demonstration kitchen shows off a small army of white-coated cooks, and servers scurry everywhere. If the wait staff was just a bit over-friendly, it’s probably because everyone wants to talk about Bobby Flay and the restaurant.

We sampled a wide variety of dishes, and everything was good. Duck confit quesadillas with blue corn tortillas was an imaginative starter, with the shrimp tamale with corn and a spicy / sweet chili cream sauce was sublime. All the dishes were Southwestern or Mexican standards, but updated and dosed with some Flay-vor (I just made that up).

Since I was dining with Spaniards, ordering some beef was unavoidable. The menu promises 28-day, dry aged prime beef: A real treat! Prime beef is highly marbled, and exceptionally tender. Dry aged beef tends to become very beefy tasting, and begins to decompose just a bit, until it’s literally falling apart.

That’s why I was confused by the steak that actually arrived. It was firm, even toothsome, with a freshly-cut appearance and very little marbling. In fact, it was so lean that I’m convinced it was grass-fed beef. Those cows tend to have a harder time putting on fat, and it is virtually impossible to find a true “prime” grade grass-fed steak. My queries to the waiter were met with the answer that “it’s that way because our cooks choose only the finest steaks from the cow,” or essentially no answer at all. We at the steak anyway, because is was tasty and had a terrific spice rub, but it was not 28-day, dry-aged Prime beef.

Our wine selections were Oregon pinots, provided by your’s truly for my Spanish guests.

Minor gripes aside, however, Mesa Grill is a fine Vegas dining establishment with creative, savory fare and some celebrity cachet. After two meals there, I recommend it.


B & B Ristorante

Another celebrity chef joint! This one is part of the Mario Batali empire. He’s got books, shows, is one of the Iron Chefs of Iron Chef America (along with Flay) and he also has a string of restaurants. This one is located inside a new addition to the Venetian Hotel.

At first glance, this fairly small eatery is almost like a shopping mall storefront. In fact, it’s one of a series of restaurants along a shopping promenade inside the hotel / casino, with big windows that look out on the common areas; as you dine, you can watch the great unwashed casino crowd trundle by, along with occasional smart-dressed beautiful people who might actually be celebrities.

The menu was interesting, with an eclectic array of fairly high-end dishes that seemed in no way to give ground to hordes of burger-eaters just out side the doors. My starter of crispy trotter was as fine an example of braised pig hoof as I’ve ever eaten. A house-made stinging nettle pasta with braised lamb shoulder ragu was simply stellar. The pasta was fresh, silky, flawlessly cooked and nearly evaporated in my mouth. The meat was good, too.

The wine list is legit, and particularly deep in Piedmont, my favorite Italian wine region. I drank a ’97 Giacosa Barolo Falletto that was in perfect condition – a real treat, since I long ago consumed both cases of that wine that were once in my cellar.

You’ll pay for your pleasure at B & B, and it seems unlikely that Mario will ever put in an appearance (Flay reportedly spends real time at Mesa Grill). But for modern, high-end Italian fare with some flair and a very good Italian wine selection, this is a way-above-average choice.


Aureole

This gorgeous, classy restaurant was the site of one of the finest meals I’ve ever had, and excelled in every category: Setting, food, wine, and service. While nothing on the menu was challenging in its originality, it didn’t matter. What came to my table was impeccably prepared, and was provided with the most gracious service I have ever experienced. Aureole is a temple of essentially flawless, high-end, fine dining comfort food. It has my highest recommendation.

Special note must be made of the superb wine list. Comprised of more than 1,600 selections, the wine collection is stored in a multi-story glass tower at the edge of the dining room. “Wine angels” with harnesses are hauled up and down the tower to find particular bottles. The wine list is delivered to the table with a touch-screen tablet PC that allows the drinker to search and sort with amazing ease. My choice of a 1999 Arlaud Romanee St. Vivant was even reasonably priced for that Grand Cru (and delicious to boot).

I was dining alone at Aureole, and indicated my desire to pace the meal over a reasonable span of time – say, at least three hours; the request was easily accommodated. Fresh bacon-raisin bread and an amuse of lobster bisque kicked off the meal. Pasta and meat courses followed. During dinner, a small army of deferential waiters in very, very nice suits kept my glasses full, my table crumb-free, and whisked away the empty dishes within seconds of having taken the last bite.

The crowd was also notable. Rather than the bus-tour side show viewed from the strip mall setting of B & B, Aureole was crowded with well-dressed people who knew what they wanted, and were willing to pay for it. With all due respect to the young man on a date at the next table who ordered an amazing dessert wine with his chicken entrée most diners seemed to relish the wine list as much as I did. (“The sweeter the better,” the fellow requested. After the Sommelier attempted to redirect the misguided lad and was rebuffed, the wine was quickly provided and poured. I’m sure his date thought he was quite the wine expert.) I even had one brief glimpse of a minor celebrity with a show in Vegas that week.

The only hitch in the giddy-up was during the cheese course. Promised three blue cheeses, I was delivered two blues and a Morbier, which has a streak of blue-ish vegetable ash down the middle. It may look like a blue streak, but it’s not blue cheese. The staff literally went into paroxysms of apology, which was a bit overboard. The offending junior waiter held his head low for the remainder of my stay. I ate the cheese.

The cheese incident led to a kitchen visit to greet the chef, about which I cannot complain. The kitchen appeared to be approximately three acres in size, and gleamed with a cleanliness that would impress even Gordon Ramsey on a made-for-TV rampage.

After the coffee, cheeses with sauterne, cognac and everything else, I waddled out of the restaurant having spent more than 4 hours enjoying the meal. That’s dining, folks. Make no mistake: the weight I gained from dinner was offset by my much-lighter wallet. But next time I’m in Vegas, I’m going back to do it again. I strongly suggest you do the same.

Salud Part Deux: The Live Auction!

My previous post was about the Salud! Wine Auction big-board event. The next night was the formal Live Auction. All the participating wineries poured for the crowd, and then there was a banquet and live and silent auctions.

I'm pretty sure this is the only day of the year some of these folks put on a tie. Heck, it was the first time in many years that I wore a tux! (Photo from left to right: Harry Nedry of Chehalem, Terry Casteel of Bethel Heights, and Adam Campbell of Elk Cover. This was a serious dress-up event!)

The wines were terrific, obviously. Better still was the fact that the auction raised a huge amount of money -- a total of $775,625! That's not chump change.

The success of the auction raises one question: Why doesn't the rest of the industry do something like this? If they do, I have not heard of it yet. (Photo from right to left: Steven Westby of Witness Tree with Dick Shea and Dierdre Shea - dressed to kill and pouring wine at the oral auction event of the Salud! Wine Auction.)

When various immigration reform bills were threatening to create a labor shortage in California vineyards, there was certainly a stink raised about potential harm to the crop. But paying for health care? Only Oregon has such a successful program for this obvious need.

Thus I think congratulations are due to the participating wineries, the very generous bidders, and to the team that works their keisters off preparing this event every year.

All told, the OPNC and clients donated more than $7,000 to the auction, and have some mighty fine wines to show for it. My thanks to all of our clients who participated. (Photo from left to right: Jim Anderson and go-to guy Jeffrey of Patricia Green Cellars.)

For the record, the participating wineries were: Adelsheim, Amalie Robert, Antica Terra, Arbor Brook, Archery Summit, Argyle, Beaux Frères, Bergström, Bethel Heights, Broadley, Chehalem, Cristom, Dobbes, Domaine Drouhin Oregon, Domaine Serene, Elk Cove, Erath, Four Graces, Gypsy Dancer, Hamacher, Ken Wright Cellars, King Estate, Lange Estate, Patricia Green Cellars, Patton Valley, Penner-Ash, Ponzi, R. Stuart & Co., Raptor Ridge, Rex Hill, Scott Paul, Shea Wine Cellars, Silvan Ridge, Soléna, Soter, St. Innocent, Stoller, Torii Mor, Westrey, WillaKenzie, Willamette Valley Vineyards and Witness Tree. (I cribbed the list from Wine Business Monthly).

Bidding At Salud!

If it's November, then it's time for the Saud! Auction! This is a big, fun event that raises money for a great cause, and gives a bunch of us in the wine business a chance to dress up and go out.

Friday evening was spent at the annual Salud Auction Big-Board event. It's held each year at Domaine Drouhin. More than forty wineries make four cases each of special pinot, and then hold a giant tasting and auction. Folks bid on the wine -- in this case, probably five hundred people bidding on 168 total cases of special Salud! bottlings.

The proceeds of the auction go towards programs to benefit Oregon's seasonal vineyard workers. The auction has been going on for many years now, and raises a ton of money.

This year, I put together a group of clients and together we donated more than $6,000to the effort! One couple, Dave and Ann Adams came out from Minneapolis just to bid on wine with me! (That's them in the picture).

Our bidding strategy was to look for "bargains" -- that is, cases of wine for under $1,000. It wasn't easy, as many wines took in more than that. Stuff like Beaux Freres and others were bid up to more than $1,700 per case. But in the end, we succeeded in getting a few things, including Salud! cases from: Amalie Robert, Dobbes Family Estates, Witness Tree, and Lange. The wines will be divvied up among all of the clients who contributed -- and they get a tax deduction, too!

The other fun part of the event was tasting all the wines and seeing all my winemaker pals. The other photo is a picture of Patty Green, pouring her Salud! Cuvee for the crowds.

Saturday night we are all going to a formal dinner and oral auction. I'm going to wear a TUXEDO! it will be the first time since about '88. Perhaps I'll post photos of that, too . .

Ken Wright is In the House!

It's that time of year -- when our huge pile of Ken Wright pinot noir gets delivered. This is all '06 vintage wine that was purchased in December, 2006 as futures. It's all sold except perhaps for a mixed case for Bob's cellar.

We also tasted through a bunch of the wines. After five hours of decanting, the wines are showing intense fruit, great length and overall excellent balance. We tasted them alongside a half-dozen other top releases and, as usual, Ken's stuff was in a league of its own.

Caution! They are really too young to drink. That said, the Abbot Claim and Savoya were the most approachable after about 7 hours in a decanter. If I were to drink another bottle, I'd decant it for a full day first.

Riedel Oregon Pinot Noir Glass - Critical Accessory or Pure Crap?

When I first heard of the new Riedel Oregon Pinot Noir Glass, I was of two minds. "This will help cement Oregon's claim to a unique terroir and single us out as a pinot noir with distinctive character," I thought to myself, already imagining being quoted saying so.

My next thought, of course, was: "This is a crap. Now, because of the hype, I'll have to buy a bunch of new wine glasses."

Let me be clear here: I love Riedel glasses, and am a true believer. The size and shape of the glass you drink your wine from makes a critical difference in how the wine tastes -- period. That part is beyond debate.

But do we really need a glass specifically for Oregon pinot noir? I was skeptical. So, I assembled my Ad Hoc Tasting Panel (defined as whoever shows up) and we tried five Oregon pinots in three different glasses each: A ten ounce wine bar glass; a 25 oz Riedel Pinot Noir / Burgundy glass (the standard to date) and the Riedel Oregon Pinot Noir Glass. The panel included two winemakers and a host of experienced palates.

Here's the short-version of the results: The glasses are the best stem for Oregon pinot noir I've ever used. The new stem enhances both the aroma and the palate of Oregon pinot noir to such a degree that I'm buying dozens and dozens of the new glass for use in my wine bar as well as for use at home. It's that good.

The flared top requires that you tilt either the glass or your head to such a position that the wine hits the back of the palate first. The wide rim also sends the wine cascading down the sides of your tongue. The result is an enhanced fruit impression and much less emphasis on structure. The wines simply taste more open-knit and fruit-forward.

The tried-and-true Riedel Burgundy stem, by contrast, forces the taster to nearly pucker up to receive the wine, and directs the wine onto the front of the tongue and straight down the middle. The tongue ends up cupping the wine. This clearly puts an emphasis on darker fruit flavors and enhances the impact of any tannins.

We tried the glass also with a young, structured Burgundy with similar results: the Burgundy tasted more open-knit, too.

Will it work for mature wine with a fully developed bouquet? Or will this stem enhance those mature aromas so much as to make it overwhelming? I'll be testing that theory this weekend . . .

A few words of description:
It's a bit wider at the waist than Riedel's Burgundy stem, and narrows to a smaller opening near the top before flaring out at the rim. It appears quite similar (but smaller) to Riedel's Burgundy Grand Cru stem from their very expensive Sommelier series -- but this new glass is currently available only in the Riedel Restaurant Series. Its a solid 25 ounces, and will hold a full bottle of wine if you fill it to the brim.

Oregon vs. British Columbia: Pinot Noir Smackdown

If I say “Pacific Northwest” you’re likely to think “Oregon and Washington.” But there is more to the region than just those two states – we share a common landscape and climate with British Columbia, too!

In fact, the Okanagan Valley in central B.C. is technically a desert, and enjoys plenty of sunshine, twenty-hour days in mid-summer, and enough heat units to ripen syrah and pinot noir!

In the past, the region has suffered from some of the same problems all emerging wine regions suffer – excessive yields, low ripeness, misuse of oak, modest attempts at sanitation, etc.

But over the past ten years, the Okanagan industry has advanced to the point of producing excellent wines – particularly aromatic whites, pinot noir and syrah. My visit to the Whistler Wine Festival last fall made this abundantly clear. So, I resolved to host a wine tasting.

First, I called The Northwest Palate Magazine and wrangled an assignment to write about the rise of British Columbia wines. Then, I contacted my posse in Canada – a group of wine educators, sommeliers and restaurateurs – and enlisted them in the cause. Eventually we all agreed to meet for a B.C. versus Oregon pinot noir tasting on neutral ground in Seattle.

Eight wine professionals tasted through twenty five randomized pinots, about one-third from B.C. and the balance from Oregon. We discussed the wines as we tasted, and each participant tried to guess the country of origin. The results were illuminating.

First, it is clear that B.C. pinot noir has come a long, long way. The wines are well made, clean and varietal, and worthy of notice.

Secondly, there were some flavor differences, too. The B.C. wines tended towards tart red fruit flavors – wild strawberry and cranberry dominated – while the Oregon wines were black-fruited: black cherry and black currant.

Finally, style differences were noted. The B.C. wines had more apparent acidity, in general, and somewhat more tannin than is now common in Oregon wines. My first thought was that it was climate driven – the Okanagan can’t be as warm as Oregon, right? And cool-climate grapes tend to have harsher tannins and higher acidity. But the alcohol levels of the wines are exactly the same – in other words, the grapes up north are getting just as ripe as the fruit in Oregon.

Thus the additional tannin and acidity may be a style difference – or a winemaking technique difference. In either case, it’s noticeable in the bottle.

That said, many tasters picked several of the best B.C. wines as being from Oregon, and vice-versa! Considering that the tasters from each country have well-tuned palates for their own products, this was a surprise ending for all.

The other surprise was which Oregon wines I liked best, and which I did not. The ’05 Bergstrom Cumberland Reserve performed badly, and was my least-favorite wine among 25, even though it was easily the most expensive. My two Oregon favorites? The ’05 Hershey’s Red from Ankeny Vineyards ($18) and - the best of the tasting by unanimous consent – the ’05 Bethel Heights Amity-Eola Hills Cuvee ($25). Go figure! From Canada, I really liked the ’04 Kettle Valley Reserve ($27) and the ’04 Cedar Creek Platinum Reserve ($36)

In summary, it’s clear that pinot noir from the warmer parts of the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada are getting better all the time. The best can compete with very good wines from Oregon (though they lack the sheer concentration and body of Oregon’s very best). When it comes to Pacific Northwest wines, it’s worth looking beyond the borders of Oregon and Washington for top-notch wines.