To be sure there are more wondeful restaurants in Portland now than ever. I have seen many come and go over the years and I have eaten at more than my share of Michelin Stared restaurants around the world.
So I know when I stepped into Lucier, this was something different for Portland. Long lost are the suit and tie restaurants of decades past, and as a jeans loving man I appreciate that. But it is nice to have someplace where you can get dressed up to the nines and not be seated right next to someone straight off the golf course once and a while. Lucier imparts that higher level, something special. The staff is impecable and the service has not left us wanting in our 3 visits. The food is very good we have tried quite a few different things on the menu, each time choosing to pick our own 5 courses. I would have to say some of the best items are the duck, the sweet pea rissoto, all the fish has been superb especially the hand harvested scallops, The cheese cart has been our last course each time, so I can not speak for the sweets, but the cheese cart is perfection, the best selection I have seen in the U.S. (and my father lives in Switzerland I know cheese). Now I do have a gripe. The glass pours are marked up to robbery levels, when the glass exceedes the retail price of the bottle there is a problem. The wine list has some great values though and the wine staff is good at recomending a wine to meet your needs. Though I would have to say the list is just too big, it is nice to have all those wines at hand but really its ego to make such a list. And if you have a special wine from home the $20 corkcage will get it in IF they do not have it on the list, but they go by vintage and not just the label. All in all I think there is not a restaurant in Portland that has, so far, the consistent level of service, food and atmosphere that Lucier currently has. Now if Portland will support it has yet to be seen, personally I very much hope that they do!
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