Gabe Rucker Is Little Bird Bistro's New Chef

With items like lobster-stuffed chicken and carrot popovers on the menu, Portland favorite Little Bird Bistro has evolved into a slightly experimental European affair through the years. Today founding chef owner Gabriel Rucker, who also chef-owns Le Pigeon, announces that he'll be the one to step back into the kitchen following executive chef Erik Van Kley, who is moving on. Rucker's plan is quite simply to bring the restaurant back to its classic French roots albeit with the seasonal Pacific Northwest ingredients we all expect.

Given the cult-status of Rucker's Le Pigeon burger, you're going to want to pay attention to this: the bistro is offering a new style of burger made with two, Brie-topped St. Helens Beef ground chuck patties, iceberg lettuce slaw, housemade "dijonnaise," pickle ketchup, and bread 'n' butter pickles on a Ken’s Artisan Bakery bun.  And industry alert: if you go in between 10 p.m. and midnight, you can get the burger and a craft beer for $5 or duck confit with smoked foie gras vinaigrette and a glass of Burgundy for the same price.

A sample new dinner menu follows:

Little Bird Dinner Menu