Pix Patisserie

Concord and Amelie set the tone at Pix Patisserie, and so does the wine list: Cheryl Wakerhauser built her Portland patisserie so that Champagne sits beside the dessert case as an everyday pairing rather than a New Year's Eve indulgence. The project began in 2001 as a stand at the Portland Farmers' Market, after she lost a catering job in the post-September 11 downturn, and within a year it had a fixed home.

French desserts and a deep Champagne list

The drinks thinking started with Belgian beer, which Wakerhauser knew from Wisconsin and read as a natural pastry match. Champagne took over after a birthday split of Gaston Chiquet drunk with oysters, which led to travel through the region and a lasting interest in small growers working at garage scale.

By 2014 the list held roughly 400 Champagnes and another hundred sparkling wines, and it has since been recognised as one of the best in the world. Wakerhauser pushed dry Champagne with dessert through events, low markups and pairings, so the sparkling wine works as part of the pastry programme rather than a separate luxury bolted onto it.

Signatures worth ordering

Concord is the clearest signature: chocolate mousse under ganache, hidden beneath featherweight meringue logs tied with a red ribbon. Amelie is the other anchor, glazed chocolate mousse with hazelnuts, praline crisp and an orange vanilla crème brûlée layer. Dobos torte turns up as a layered cake with hazelnut buttercream, chocolate ganache and marzipan, though less reliably than the two mainstays.

The rest of the case stays rich and French-inspired: chocolate soufflé, a small pear, chocolate and almond tart, a berry pie, sliced apple piled onto a sturdy crust, and tall chocolate sculptures enclosing mousse and caramel. Macarons are a flagship in their own right, with a long run of flavours and a texture that pulls people across the city. Hot chocolate is on hand, and gluten-free cakes appear in the case.

How the room works

The visit runs on the counter, not on courses. You choose from the case, then pair from a drinks list that runs to about fifty pages, and the room absorbs both after-dinner dessert stops and single-minded macaron pilgrimages. Red damask walls, counters of macarons and chocolates, and empty Champagne bottles do the decorating.

It gets busy, and it is emphatically Portland in temperament, quirky rather than hushed. For a first order, take Concord or Amelie, add a few macarons for contrast, and let the counter staff steer the flavours.