I got to go to Kann! Kann! I was (and still am) so excited. After securing reservations 2 months ago, I went for a late Saturday dinner and it did not disappoint. Easily the buzziest restaurant in Portland in years (and probably all time) and one of the buzziest in the country, all for good reason. This was easily one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. The care that went into the whole enterprise was evident, and the flavors and execution were excellent. For those who don’t know, this new Haitian inspired restaurant from James Beard Award winning chef Gregory Gourdet features a live fire hearth cooking concept with an open kitchen. We had seats at the chef’s table overlooking the kitchen, which I definitely recommend. The staff was very courteous and attentive, the vibe was nice, bright and open. Even though it’s a new restaurant they had their flow down. It was a smooth running machine and the food came out quick. The menu features starters, sides and mains. We were advised to order 2 off each, which was a fair amount of food for me and my friend who are both big eaters. Sadly we did not have room for dessert. Also, total foodie rookie mistake, I only got pics of the starters, sorry! The dishes kept coming out quickly and me and my friend were engaged in conversation.

For starters we got the roasted squash and plantain salad and the Griyo twice cooked pork. Both were incredible. The salad had squash, plantain, pear, pomegranate, kale and a cashew dressing. Very unique mix of flavors, light, tangy and delicious. The pork dish I believe is the national dish of Haiti. The meat was incredible, perfectly seasoned and cooked and served with plantains, avocado and pikliz (pickled cabbage/veggie condiment). Good portions on both. For sides we ordered peanut creamed greens and a black mushroom rice. The sides were good without blowing me away. For a main I ordered the chicken, which was brined and roasted and served with epis, the ubiquitous seasoning base (sauce) used in Haitian food. The consistency and texture reminded me of chimichurri. It was so delicious, I could eat that on everything. The chicken was perfectly roasted. My friend got the octopus dish, which was the one disappointment here. I love octopus when done well, but here it was flat and the texture left something to be desired. Also the portion was tiny, more like a starter. Our server told us that the chicken and beef rib were the large mains. Sure enough the chicken portion was large. It seems odd to have such a discrepancy between main dishes though. I was having a bit of envy that we also didn’t order the smoked beef rib dish, which looked so incredible. At $102 though, it was double the price of the other entrees, though it certainly looked worth it. I had a cocktail which was tasty and my friend had a mocktail that was well made. They put a lot of work into their drink list, both the alcoholic one and the zero-proof one. Our bill was reasonable, $170 split between the two of us. I was thinking it would be more expensive. Still a “special occasion” spot for someone like me, it wasn’t out of reach or prohibitively expensive. Overall, a very pleasing and happy experience. Would highly recommend to anyone, just make sure to hop on that resy!