It’s impossible to say what L’Echelle would have become if Naomi Pomeroy had lived to see it open. But at least in the broad strokes, this Southeast Portland bistro — casual, candlelit, effortlessly elegant — looks a lot like what the celebrated chef was planning before her 2024 death .

“It’s too foundational of a loss to even parse what would have been different,” said Luke Dirks, Pomeroy’s business partner, in an interview last week. “But the core of what it is and what it was intended to be has held.”

It took six months for Dirks to convince Mika Paredes, Pomeroy’s close friend and longtime lieutenant at Northeast Portland’s Beast, to become L’Echelle’s chef. It was a perfect choice. Paredes’ menu is filled with playful riffs on bistro classics, from œufs mayo to steak au poivre, th

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