The Chef

Gabriel Rucker / Le Pigeon Restaurant
Portland, Oregon

Chef Gabe Rucker’s name is popping up a lot lately. In 2007, Food & Wine named Gabe one of the country’s Best New Chefs; Portland Monthly named him their Chef of The Year, and The Oregonian dubbed him the year’s Rising Star Chef. In 2008 the James Beard Foundation honored him as one of their Rising Star Chefs.

What led Gabe to these distinguished who’s-who lists of culinary standouts was an unlikely and sometimes rocky road. At 18, Gabe ‘began’ his career by dropping out of Santa Rosa Junior College’s culinary program.  Instead of a formal culinary education he opted for the alternative ‘hands-on’ approach. In many restaurant kitchens, working with numerous chefs, he developed his own culinary style.

Gabe arrived in Oregon in 2003 and landed a job at the highly regarded Paley’s Place in Portland, where he would stay for the next two years. After soaking up as much as he could, Gabe moved on and up to become the sous chef at The Gotham Building Tavern. There he began combining straightforward American standards with classic French technique to resounding approval.

In June 2006 Gabe opened Le Pigeon, and his notoriety hit warp-speed.  Three years later foodies still line up early for one of the restaurant’s coveted tables and Gabe’s rustic France-meets-Spain-meets-California-meets-Oregon cuisine.