Within striking distance of Oregon’s Willamette River and right on bustling Burnside Street, which connects some of the liveliest neighborhoods in Portland, Canard achieves a delicate balance of fine and casual dining. Its French-accented menu doesn’t take itself too seriously, and its Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence–winning wine program is impressive yet accessible.
Chef Gabriel Rucker and wine professional Andy Fortgang opened Canard in 2018, next to their flagship restaurant Le Pigeon, a tasting-menu destination serving dishes like sturgeon “pastrami” with pickles, ground cherries and a swirl of a Swiss cheese and caviar sauce.
In contrast, Rucker and Fortgang opened Canard to serve “French bar food” in a relaxed, bistro-style space: Delicate floral wallpaper lines the restaurant’s walls, and counter seats let guests peer into the open kitchen. If you’re wandering out of the city center, a second Canard location sits on the southern outskirts of Portland in Oregon City, Ore., along the route to the Willamette Valley wine region.
“French Bar Food”
Canard’s central ethos is to make standard bistro fare less tradition-bound, creating a French and American culinary mashup. Take chef Dana Francisco’s spin on the classic oeufs mayonnaise, which gets the Pacific Northwest treatment: Francisco serves these eggs in a pool of smoked maple syrup, topping them with bacon crumbles, roasted garlic and juicy spoonfuls of trout roe.
While you can expect standards like oysters and steak frites, some cheekiness is evident in dishes like ratatouille shepherd’s pie or foie gras dumplings with peaches and a tomato dashi. There’s also the “duck stack,” a take on biscuits and gravy featuring pancakes slathered in duck gravy and topped with Tabasco onions and a duck egg (add foie gras for $20). One staple is the $6 steam burger, which is just a few bites big, oozing with American cheese and topped simply with cooked onions, pickles and mustard.
Big Burgundies and Tall Boys
With a focus on smaller wineries, the Canard wine list leans French, of course, with more than 500 labels selected by wine director Ben Roan. There is an emphasis on Burgundy (particularly reds from the Côtes de Nuits), with bottlings made by domaines such as Chandon de Briailles, Benjamin Leroux and Arlaud. Southern France, the Rhône Valley and Champagne are also accounted for, with well-known names like Beaucastel and Selosse. Throughout the list, Roan spotlights specific wineries in regions across the globe—from Evínate in Spain to Littorai on the Sonoma Coast—introducing their story and winemaking techniques to diners.
Beyond vin, Canard’s beverage program includes cocktails like the whiskey-based Room with a Vieux. The beer selections include Hamm’s from Minnesota and options made by regional breweries like Pfriem and Fort George. For the end of the meal, Roan offers a lineup of Italian amari, plus brandies from Clear Creek Distillery in Hood River, Ore.
Canard is open seven days a week from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., with a happy hour (that’s when the burgers go down to $4) until 5 p.m.
