Bistro Agnes was a French restaurant in Portland, Oregon, United States.[1][2][3] Owned by chefs Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton, the restaurant opened in January 2018 and garnered a positive reception. The Oregonian and Portland Mercury included Bistro Agnes in lists of the city's best new restaurants, and Condé Nast Traveler included it in a list of Portland's 21 best. After temporarily closing during the COVID-19 pandemic, in January 2022, the owners confirmed the closure would be permanent.[4]
Bistro Agnes operated at the intersection of Southwest 12th Avenue and Alder Street in downtown Portland's West End,[5] and was described as a "classic Paris bistro"[6] and a "French comfort food" eatery.[7] The interior had blue walls, brass railings, mirrors, and vintage French posters.[8] Eater Portland's Tim Forster called the restaurant a "French-style brasserie with classics like cassoulet and chicken liver mousse, and some American crossovers such as a cheeseburger with Bordelais sauce".[9]
The menu included French cuisine such as mussels marinière,[10] ratatouille,[6] a cassoulet with slow-cooked duck, roasted pork belly, toulouse sausage, coq au vin with wild mushrooms,[11] foie gras, and steak frites.[5] The restaurant has also served foie gras French toast,[12] onion soup with melted gruyère cheese, short-rib bourguignon,[13] smoked salmon carpaccio, steak tartare,[14] and a butter lettuce salad with a dijon vinaigrette.[15] The drink menu included absinthe cocktails and Old World wine.[16]
Greg and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton, who were previously chefs at Portland steakhouse Ox, opened Bistro Agnes on January 18, 2018, following a few soft-opening dinners.[17][18] Bistro Agnes operates in the space that was previously occupied by the restaurant Grüner.[5] Bistro Agnes, which was named after Greg's grandmother,[19] has been described as a "spin-off" of Ox,[20] and replaced the couple's short-lived small-plates restaurant SuperBite.[21][22]
According to Daniel P. Smith of FSR magazine, "To reinvent SuperBite as Bistro Agnes, the Dentons toned down the restaurant's existing blue walls, removed a five-seat chef counter, expanded the kitchen to accommodate a walk-in fridge, added track lighting in the dining room, and lowered the height of booths to provide better viewpoints into the restaurant."[23]
In April 2019, Bistro Agnes began serving brunch and lunch.[24][25] The restaurant was affiliated with ChefStable as of 2019.[26] Chase Dopson was a chef at Bistro Agnes.[27][28]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dentons decided to close the restaurant for an extended period rather than invest tens of thousands of dollars to meet safety regulations. The business continued to owe $6,000 per month in rent during this time,[5] and the owners had hoped to reopen in 2021.[29]
In January 2022, the Dentons announced Bistro Agnes would not reopen,[30][31] saying: "The last two years have been challenging for many restaurants and small businesses, and in this case, we just don't see a path forward without drastically changing the concept to something that is not the restaurant that we built and love. We have turned over the keys to a new set of owners, and as much as it saddens us to no longer be in that space, we are very excited for it to thrive again."[5]
The cocktail bar Kask, which had operated alongside Grüner, was also sold.[5] Dolly Olive moved into the space Bistro Agnes had occupied.[32][33]
In 2018, Michael Russell included Bistro Agnes in The Oregonian's lists of Portland's 10 best new restaurants and downtown Portland's 40 best restaurants.[15][16] He also ranked the restaurant number 31 in the newspaper's 2019 list of the city's 40 best restaurants.[34] Writing for The Globe and Mail, Alyssa Schwartz said, "Bistro Agnes is so classically Parisian it almost comes full circle back to edgy."[35] Layla Schlack of Wine Enthusiast recommended Bistro Agnes "for beautifully prepared renditions of French cuisine".[36] Andrea Damewood included the bistro's French onion soup in the Portland Mercury's list of "2018's best bites from Portland's best new restaurants".[37]
Hannah Wallace included Bistro Agnes in Condé Nast Traveler's 2018 list of the 21 best restaurants in Portland.[38] She said the restaurant had "classic French comfort food executed with precision" and a "friendly, stylish French bistro" vibe. Wallace said Bistro Agnes offered "Parisian sophistication in PDX" with "affable and attentive" service and "awesome" wines.[39] In 2019, Pete Cottell of Willamette Week recommend the restaurant for "family-style French fare with a modern-American twist".[40] Bistro Agnes ranked fourth in Portland Business Journal's 2020 survey of readers' favorite restaurants.[41]
Bistro Agnes was ranked fourth in the Business Journals 2020 survey of readers' favorite restaurants.
Lokasi Pengunjung: 18.219.25.226