The Pirogue Grille in Bismarck, North Dakota

It’s easy to miss the Pirogue Grille if you’re not looking for it – but you should be looking. It is one of the very best restaurants in Bismarck, with an interesting and ever-changing menu, offering nouvelle cuisine in amounts to satisfy a healthy appetite.

The Pirogue Grille is one of Bismarck’s newest non-chain restaurant, having opened just over a year ago in the downtown area. Located at 121 N. 4th Street, it is tucked between a jewelry store and a men’s clothing store, and its fairly modest exterior gives little indication of the delights inside. But the word is spreading, from person to person. If you want a really fine dinner, an evening to remember for a long time, go to the Grille.

With the word “Pirogue” in the title, I, like many others, was predisposed to think it must offer Cajun food, spicy and blackened everything. But that is not at all the case. Opening as it did during the Lewis and Clark bicentennial, the “Pirogue” in the name refers to one of their boats. If you should chance to read anything about their journey, you will read about the pirogue that took them upriver so well. The Pirogue Grille offers food from a variety of different cuisines, using fresh ingredients, appropriate spices, and some of the meats that Lewis and Clark might have sampled, and it has something for all but the pickiest of eaters.

The Pirogue Grille serves only dinner, and is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. When you enter the door from the street, you enter a calm and quiet place, with subdued lighting, and are greeted by a friendly hostess who will take your coat and hang it up for you. There is a comfortable seating area should you need to wait for a table, or you can wait at the bar at the far end of the dining room. The room is done with brick walls, thick carpets, and a fireplace in the wall nearest the door. There are booths and tables, sized from small to large. There is also a private dining room, called the Journey Room (think Lewis and Clark again) for meetings, private parties, or any special occasion.

One of the things that sets the Pirogue Grille apart from many other restaurants is the quiet atmosphere. It isn’t like being in a church or a library; diners are comfortable and enjoy their conversations. But there is no loud radio or piped-in music, nothing to annoy or distract from the dining experience. The restaurant is designed to please not just the palate, but also the eyes and the ears. Their goal is for patrons to enjoy a great meal in a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere, to linger over coffee or drinks and conversation, and to feel just a little disappointed when it is time to leave and go home, and they succeed in this admirably.

Because the offerings change frequently, it is hard to provide a menu, or prices, in a review. In addition to the basket of freshly baked breads of different types, there are appetizers, soups, and salads to begin your meal; these may be the Walleye Trio of Tastes, with Walleye Cake, Smoked Walleye, and Prosciutto-wrapped Walleye; homemade Venison Sausage with whole grain mustard; Walleye Chowder or Beer and Wild Rice Soup; or The Pirogue Grille’s take on Caesar salad or a grilled pheasant salad. Entrees include fish, fowl, and red meat, and could include Reggiano-Parmigiano Crusted Walleye, Grilled Kurobata Pork Chop (the pork equivalent of Kobe beef), or Sauteed Bison Medallions with Bordelaise Sauce. Most beef dishes are made with North Dakota beef; the bison and venison also obtained locally. The Walleye come from Minnesota, but the King Salmon is flown in from Alaska. All the entrees come with a “starch” and fresh seasonal vegetables. The “starch” may be potato, but it is just as likely to be a barley pilaf, couscous, or a cornmeal polenta. The prices range from $7 to $10 for appetizers, soups, and salads, and from $18 to $25 for entrees.

To go with your dinner, the Pirogue Grille has a well-stocked wine cellar, and your server will be knowledgeable about what will best suit the entree you have chosen. The restaurant also has a full drink menu, along with signature drinks like the Pirogue Martini. The dessert menu will be read to you by your server, because it changes on an almost daily basis. One thing you can count on is variety in the flavors and textures of the desserts, and that all of them will be excellent.

The last time I ate there, I had a cup of wild rice soup, while my companion chose a salad with crab meat and an Asian-flavored dressing. My entree was pork medallions in a plum wine reduction, served with a barley pilaf and steamed squash slices; my companion had a lamb stew over cornmeal “mush,” she had no separate vegetables as there were vegetables in the stew. She had a gin and tonic with dinner; I had a glass of a delightful Chardonnay. For dessert, we had an amazingly delicious flourless chocolate torte with raspberry coulis and white chocolate ganache, and coffee. I had the decaf coffee, and it was just as fresh and aromatic as the regular coffee, which seems to be a rare find these days. We did linger over the coffee and dessert, and watched the restaurant fill up, while the servers moved efficiently and gracefully around, never intrusive but always there with water, coffee, or bread, or to top up the wine glasses at tables that had ordered a bottle. All the employees, from the hostess to the busboys, treated us like old friends or family, and I have rarely been so comfortable or relaxed in a restaurant. It was like being cocooned and pampered, with low light, dampened noise, and exquisite service and food.

If I could give the Pirogue Grille 6 stars out of 5, I would. And I highly recommend it to anyone who lives in or visits the Bismarck area.