8 | EDIBLE PORTLAND WINTER 2025 French-influenced techniques, honed under the tutelage of Marché's Stephanie Pearl Kimmel, are evident throughout the menu. "We wanted to have that feeling of elevation of a dinner meal, but at brunch," Platt explains. One such dish is the black ash cauliflower. "We take a whole head of cauliflower and cover it with a mixture of leek ash and black garlic, then roast it until tender," Platt says. It's served with a preserved lemon vinaigrette, fried chickpeas, and sunchoke tahini. Another customer favorite is the summer bean dish, Platt's take on salad Niçoise. It features crispy panisse (chickpea flour fritters), sautéed beans with herb gremolata, green tomato relish, and black garlic gel. Spring menus burst with morels, green garlic, and Miners lettuce. Winter meals lean on short ribs, root vegetables, and celebratory dishes like halibut with a caviar beurre blanc. They've built relationships with local producers like My Pharm in Junction City, which supplies them with quail and rabbit, and Olympia Provisions for pork products. A signature year-round dish is potatoes in the style of ham — a three-day process resulting in crispy-on-the-outside, unctuous-on-theinside morsel. Hansen’s wine list recently earned Lion & Owl the 2024 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. She primarily features interesting and affordable Oregon wines alongside French wines that people don’t normally see. "I try to have very foodfriendly wines, which means I'm a lover of a nice balance of acid to create the space for the food to shine with it,” Hansen says. “I no longer buy anything that I'm not willing to take home and drink. And I like to keep it affordable, so you can have two bottles instead of just one.” By the glass, diners can choose from three rosés, three whites, three bubbles, and three reds. Hansen offers the wine cellar to both the cocktail bar and the restaurant. Lemon & Olive — which offers creative non-alcoholic, and low-proof drinks — works hand-in-hand with Lion & Owl's kitchen to make the most of ingredients and ensure nothing goes to waste. For instance, tomato skins might get dehydrated and used in a glass rim seasoning or syrup. Looking to the future, Platt dreams of opening an even more intimate boutique restaurant focusing on woodfired cooking. They're also considering writing a cookbook. "Kirsten wants to make it a love story," Platt laughs, "based on our relationship and all the meals that got us to the restaurant." A cookbook celebrating their love and food seems like a fitting next chapter for this duo. e
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