Revamped Fenouil "Glamourous," "Gracious," "Gorgeous"

It's been a dramatic winter for the Pearl District's Fenouil: The pricey French restaurant faced the tighter pockets of the recession and saw the exit of its head chef Pascal Chureau (now at the recently-opened Allium Bistro). But with the one-two punch of savvy hires in pastry chef extraordinaire Kristen Murray and former Carlyle chef Jake Martin, Fenouil has returned from the brink — in equally dramatic fashion.

Roger Porter's Oregonian review is practically a lesson in how-to rave about a restaurant using brilliant metaphor and alliteration: Salads "scintillate," Swiss chard in a duck entree "lends a breath of forest," and dishes have a "painterly quality... as if they were composed in a geometrical and orderly way by Mondrian." In other words, Martin and Murray have brought Fenouil back with a vengeance.
· Restaurant review: Revitalized Fenouil [Oregonian]
· Fenouil [Official site]
· All Previous Fenouil Coverage [Eater PDX]

Image of Fenouil courtesy syrahgirl via Tripadvisor