With its superb attention to sound control, Lucy's Table wins for hearing-friendliness: When you can talk to your mates while savoring a roasted-beet-and-pear salad as good as the one served up the street, you score. Lucy's isn't the coolest Portland bistro, but the food is solid and changes with the season. A simply baked strip of sturgeon in early August trades off another month with lavender blackened ahi tuna over saffron risotto and sautéed Swiss chard. There's room on the menu for a vegetarian meatloaf stuffed with tofu, wild mushrooms and veggies, crusted with Parmesan panko crumbs and housemade ketchup. The desserts at times twist toward the innovative: A d'Anjou pear galette is turned out with black-pepper honey. A shoehorned bar and friendly smiles greet entrances and exits, and you can almost always get a seat at 7 pm when crowded out of other busy Northwest places. And there's valet parking Wednesday through Saturday. (AA)
WWeek 2015