Famed Portland Chef Sarah Pliner Dies

Sarah Pliner, one of Portland’s best chefs, and one of the founders of Aviary Restaurant was killed in a bicycle accident yesterday.

The news this morning via local food writer Michael Zusman’s Facebook, was like a gut punch.

I met Sarah several times over the years, but can’t claim to have had deep insights into her personality. But over the years I’ve heard many good things from people who loved her. However, I can speak to her food. In my opinion, she was one of the finest chefs ever to grace the Portland food scene. When she and her fellow chefs Jasper Shen – now at XLB, and Kat Whitehead of Salt & Straw opened Aviary, it shot to the top of every Portland food critic’s list of best restaurants. When it closed in 2020, those who loved the restaurant were stunned by the loss. I still wax rhapsodically about dishes I’ve had at Aviary. I think the best tribute I can give her is to talk about some of the meals I’ve had at the restaurant, so I’ll quote a small part of my review to give you an idea of the cooking she was capable of.

The food they serve is executed with a rare degree of excellence. It is not merely to be consumed; it’s meant to be thought about, tasted with eyes closed, lingered over, and discussed with a good friend. This is modern dining, and the perfect way to do fusion; each cuisine enhancing the other without getting in the way. Dishes show the juxtaposition between the way Aviary can move between simplicity, and complexity bordering on molecular gastronomy without resorting to gimmickry.

A salad of warm snap peas and barley is a gastronomic puzzle, a clever brain tease on how to eat the dish. A large crunchy barley disk astride a brilliant salad hides the surprises beneath. Tender snap peas and un-hulled cooked barley line the plate with delicate hon shimejis Asian mushrooms and lily bulbs. Marble-sized spheres, one containing orange juice and rose-water, the other yogurt, act as little yolks of flavor. Pop them with a fork to change the texture and taste, mixing as you go. Switch to another dish and back a few minutes later, and you’ll find the flavors have bloomed. I was transported to a rose garden.

The brioche-crusted halibut stands out from anything similar in town. Three light brown and white stuffed spheres of halibut with just enough fat to feel sushi-like, stand alluringly in a vibrant green pool of butter-poached cucumber and dark green shiso. Each is topped with a tiny orange bump of sea urchin and a dot of paste made from umeboshi fruit as an accent. Smooth yet pungent greens with wasabi, toasty sesame oil and a hailstorm of sesame seeds sit to the side. If you take a bite from the edge of the halibut it tastes like fish sticks, but swirl one in the sauce and pop it whole into your mouth and a parade of flavors will be revealed, a synergy of rich fish, soft popping sea urchin, cooling cucumber and the complex umami of umeboshi and shiso.

A plate of seared octopus salad looks like a kitchen mistake… but the salad is a masterpiece, showcasing not only the technique but the art of construct and balance.

I loved Sarah Pliner for her cooking, pushing Portland food in a different direction, and her commitment to a quality far beyond the Portland norm. I was so looking forward to her next restaurant. My condolences to her friends, fellow chefs, and family.

From Michael Zusman,