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[CULINARY BALZAC] The best seats at Cocotte are at the bar. The French-doored, French-inspired bistro is a little fussy on first glance, but when you're sitting between the busy service window and a bartender mixing light conversation pieces like the French Intervention—which tempers floral chartreuse and Lillet Blanc with smoky mezcal—you realize the joint is something both more rarefied and more casual. It's like a Balzac novel that's both chatty and precise in its phrasing, a literary flavor that isn't hurt when the bartender embarks on a knowledgeable treatise about the neighborhood's streetcar past. The eatery's menu adjusts itself with that same slow evolution of history; as seasons change, a dish's julienned summer veggies might give way to eggplant—which happened in perhaps the most surprising and wonderful bite I've had this year, a $12 escargot dish swimming in a garlic-basil pistou. The sometimes overpowering earthiness of snail was transported into almost unbearable richness, kept light and crisp by leeks and a little pile of fennel slivers. The obligatory bistro burger is an unapologetic hot mess on a ciabatta roll, a boudin blanc sausage patty topped with yet more pork in the form of housemade bacon, livened up by tomato jam and chevre. MATTHEW KORFHAGE.
Check the chalkboard on the way in for occasional wine-and-drink combo deals.
The Directory: Our 100 Favorite Restaurants in Portland
By Neighborhood: Southeast | North/Northeast | Westside | Suburbs
2014 Restaurant of the Year: Kachka
Top Five: Old Salt, Ataula, American Local, Expatriate
Counter Service Spots: Latin | Asian | Italian | Sandwiches | Burgers
Wine Bars | Beer Lists | Veg-Friendly | Gluten-free | Elsewhere in Oregon
WWeek 2015