Gabriel rucker
Two-time James Beard Award winning Chef Gabriel Rucker is Executive Chef and Co-owner of Le Pigeon and Little Bird Bistro and Canard in Portland, Oregon. His edgy, highly original, and recipe-free masterpieces, evocative of French bistro signatures and classic American fare, have gained him both regional and national acclaim. When school no longer peaked his interest, Rucker moved to the kitchen where his natural talent took flight. 2003 landed him a coveted job at Paley’s Place and, after two years in the esteemed kitchen, he moved on to the Gotham Building Tavern as sous chef. In June of 2006, Rucker opened Le Pigeon and became an overnight success. In 2011, Rucker and his business partner Andrew Fortgang opened Little Bird Bistro, a Downtown Portland bistro that went on to win Oregonian’s 2012 Restaurant of the Year. In 2018, Rucker and Fortgang opened Canard next door to Le Pigeon, an all day cafe serving breakfast, lunch, brunch on the weekends and in the evening, serving up a broad wine program and wild French bar food. Canard quickly became one of the most buzzed about openings nationwide. Rucker and his team released their first cookbook, Le Pigeon: Cooking at the Dirty Bird (Ten Speed Press), in September 2013. Forwarded by Chef Tom Colicchio, the cookbook is a serious yet playful collection of 150 recipes celebrating Rucker's high-low extremes in cooking, combining the wild and the refined in a unique and progressive style, receiving national acclaim from media and chefs alike, including Andrew Zimmern’s Top Cookbooks of 2013, Food Republic’s Top 20 Cookbooks, one of Financial Times’ Books of the Year, Food Network Favorite Fall Books, praised in UK Independent, Wall Street Journal, Eater, and The Week, and was a finalist for the 2014 IACP Cookbook award. Rucker is one of Portland’s most respected and decorated chefs, earning many accolades, including two James Beard Awards for Rising Star Chef in 2011 and Best Chef Northwest in 2013, as well as a nomination for Outstanding Chef 2016, 2017, and 2018. He was named a Food & Wine Best New Chef 2007, one of Portland Monthly’s Chefs of the Year, and the was the recipient of StarChefs Mentor Award in 2018. Le Pigeon, Little Bird and Canard have become some of Portland’s most critically acclaimed restaurants, earning many accolades including The Oregonian’s Restaurant of the Year in 2008 for Le Pigeon 2012 for Little Bird , and 2018 for Canard . The restaurants have been featured in Travel + Leisure, The Guardian , Details Magazine , Wall Street Journal , Wine Spectator, San Francisco Chronicle, GQ, USA Today, NBC New York , and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. In 2018, his newest restaurant Canard was named one of the 18 Best New Restaurants of 2018 by Eater and Portland Monthly’s Restaurant of the Year.