I was looking for a romantic venue to take my wife to for our anniversary. Generally, we go to El Gaucho for our special occasions. Once I tried ClarkLewis (industrial loft decor, bad food), for New Year's, which was a total disaster. So, my wife was suspicious of my latest step away from the Benson Hotel. But, Lucier is much different than ClarkLewis.
Lucier is a special restaurant, housed in a Frank Lloyd Wright meets NYC-style building, with excellent food, served courteously by fashionable and interesting people.
Meals come in multiple courses that you select (you select both the dishes and the number of courses). Portions are adjusted according to the number of courses that you order. To be frank, the decor and building are so enticing, that I was afraid that it was just a pretty book cover, with out any real story. But, the food was very interesting, and the pairings inventive.
The restaurant is expensive by Portland standards, but no more so than El Gaucho. It looked like the real expense was on the wine list, which we avoided.
Lucier does has a uniquely exotic beer list that goes beyond the solid, but typical Pacific Northwest Widmer products. I was very impressed by this detail, since it would have been easy to go with the standard: impressive wine list, with the beer menu as an afterthought. Try the Duchesse De Bourgogne beer. It is highly interesting.
At the end of 2 1/2 hours, we had enjoyed a beautiful setting, excellent service, and what felt like a very special event.
Pros: Service, food, beer list, setting, decor
Cons: expensive wine list
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