Paulee

This was our second visit to the Willamette and our first visit to Paulee. We’ve eaten at all the highly recommended restaurants in the area and this ranks at the top. The space is modern, but warm. For us, a seat at the bar where you can watch the kitchen at work and interact with those creating the superb food you are about to enjoy greatly enriches the meal.
The wine list is extensive and interesting, with several wines priced near retail. We enjoyed a 2003 Clerico Mentin Ciabot Ginestra for only $ 70. It was nice to see a reasonable number of wine choices from regions outside of the Willamette.
We shared some beautiful oysters, each with a separate flavor accent, and a beef cheeks ravioli. For entrees, we had the foie gras and the pork. Because it is our favorite, we shared a side of duck fat french fries which were to die for. Only complaint (and, a very minor one) was that some of the vegetables accompaniments were a little too highly salted. For dessert, we shared a sampler tray and salted caramel ice cream.
The chefs were friendly as was the server and sommelier which greatly enhanced our dining experience. If this restaurant was near our home in Los Angeles, the wait for a table and reservations would have been a long one.

Cons: Expensive, pretentious, poor service, slow kitchen
Pros: good wine list, great quality, local foods, a good range of choices

I usually drive through Dundee on my way to and from PDX, without stopping for anything but traffic. But Saturday night, on my way home from Los Angeles, I was in Dundee and decided to try Paulee for dinner.
What a fantastic find! I travel a lot and eat in highly rated restaurants throughout the U.S. Paulee was among the best I have found, for both food and service.
To put this in perspective, I am an older women, I travel alone, and unfortunately, cannot drink wine. So it would be very easy for the waitstaff to assume that I am not worth their time on a Saturday night. Just the opposite was true. I had immediate attention, had my choice of tables, and just the right amount of attention from a wonderful waiter.
The food was prepared and served within a reasonable time, tasted wonderful, and I left feeling that this great dining experience made the unexpected stop in Dundee a real blessing.

A rare five-​star review for a restaurant from me. In general, in reviewing restaurants, the fifth star, in my opinion, comes not so much from the food but from the experience.
I had lunch at Paulee, the duck burger with duck-​fat fries.
The fries were — there is no other word for it – perfect. They were everything a French fry should be, crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside, perfect texture. There was no greasiness to them at all. A perfect shake of salt brought them to life without leaving them salty.
The burger on the plate sets the chef above a simple cook. A burger is not a difficult thing to churn out; many cooks make hundreds per-​day. But this burger at Paulee is a Chef’s product. Aside from the meat being delicious and perfectly-​cooked, the overall product displayed the attention to details of flavor, aroma, and appearance that a chef brings to a plate. The plum mustard is the key to this dish. More than any other component, the plum mustard makes this a wine country burger.
The waiter suggested the Cote du Rhone from the extensive by-​the-​glass menu. I was concerned that this would be a bit heavy for burger-​and-​fries lunch. I’m glad I trusted him. The plum mustard tied the wine to the lunch. The wine gave the lunch gravity. Altogether, it was a fantastic lunch.
I sat at the bar. I enjoyed chatting with the knowledgeable staff. But, the bar chairs are uncomfortable for a long stay.
I did not have a cocktail, but I observed several made and also saw the bar stock. I suspect that the bar is quite capable and the perfect antidote to palate-​fatigue after a day in the Willamette Valley Wine Country.
The wine-​by-​the-​glass selection is impressive. And the wine list is even more so.
In short, I recommend Paulee in Dundee as a great lunch in Wine Country.
Oh, by the way, Paulee has several great neighbors, some excellent tasting rooms. I was actually brought here today to taste at Le Cadeau which I very much recommend too.

I was in Dundee wine tasting on a beautiful sunny day, and had heard a lot of great things about Paulee, so I went there for lunch. The atmosphere was very nice, but I felt a little lonely because my husband and I were the only diners in the place. We often share food, so we ordered the burger, medium. We didn’t order any wine, because you sort of get ‘wined out’ when you go wine tasting, and we felt we had already had enough of that.
We had latte’s with our burger. Very good.
When the burger came to us it was closer to rare than medium, and that was OK with me, but my husband thought it should have been cooked more. Also, the server said it wasn’t very easy to share because it had a fried egg on top and some bacon — two items that are not so easy to cut in half. I wish she had told us that before we placed the order.
That being said, the meal was good. I think it is actually more of a dinner place, so I guess everything was OK. I can’t say it will be my restaurant of choice for Dundee, but I will give it another chance.

Paulee was poor at best. Our reservation was at 6:30 but at 8:30 still had not been served our main course. When inquiring with the so-​called manager, he said this is standard for them and could not believe that we would be concerned with not getting food in 2 hours. He was extremely rude and all he cared about was himself and not serving the customers.
On top of this, the food is very spendy for what it was.
I would not recommend this place to anybody.

What a great find! Exciting architecture and very cool environment in which to dine. We were three couples, warmly welcomed, and expertly served the entire evening. The waiter, who was from LA originally, explained everything perfectly and had a wonderful sense of humor and professionalism. What a joy to be in a place like this. Not stuffy or pretentious… simply they welcomed us and exceeded our expectations. More restaurants need to follow their lead.
The food was extraordinary. I told the waiter that if a place like this existed in LA that people would be standing outside the door waiting to get in. There was an extraordinary plate that the entire table enjoyed and it was a combo meat and fish board which contained prosciutto, capicola salumi, house smoked salmon and trout… it was simply fantastic!
Some entrees we had… I had the evening special which was a 28 day dry aged filet which could be cut with a fork it was so tender, and prepared exactly to my liking. I had also started with some of the freshest tasting Washington oysters… only wished there were more than 6… they came with three different toppings, of which the granita was the best and gave the oysters some zing.
Someone else had the king salmon. Now this takes some explaining: the waiter cautioned us that the salmon is slow cooked at low temperature (140 degrees for 12 minutes) and as a result does not arrive at the table piping hot. It also does not looked fully cooked which did bother one member of our group. Despite the appearance, however, the taste was wonderful. Salmon tartare appetizer was also another home run score. The lamb dish was a bit different… lamb belly wrapped around lamb sausage. It arrived quite pink — definitely too rare which did not appeal to the person who had it. If you order that dish, ask for it to be medium and not medium rare. The sausage tasted full of flavors, but it looked raw so heads up on that one.
Simply put… we all had a great evening with wonderful tasting flavorful food. I am only sorry that on a Friday night that the place wasn’t full of diners — it should have been because those who were not there missed a wonderful meal!

1.) Dinner was reserved at 6:30. Our entrees came out at 8:15! There were only four couples in the entire place. I sincerely feel like I was being slow played in poker so I would buy more overpriced glasses of wine.
2.) Another basket of bread would be $ 12. are you serious?
3.) My salmon was a rare and luke warm mess. Ive been in Oregon one week on vacation and this meal was the worst behind 2 rest stops and a novelty seafood spot in Newport with fake sea animals on the wall.
The ambiance and service were the only redeeming qualities of this place. Otherwise, Ive had better at Panera.

This is a foodie type of place. Very foo foo menu, tiny portions and extremely high price point. The food we had was tasty and well prepared. I like the local ingredients and the fact that most vegetables are grown in their own garden. Service was average. I would probably try one of the other restaurants in town if I had a do over.

The kitchen staff and the chef were very pleasant. We enjoyed sitting at the bar alongside the exposed kitchen. Tasting menus are customized for each customer, so we got to try a lot of dishes. But prices are way too high for what ends up on the plate. The food was underwhelming, especially given the price. The concept is there, but the execution is not consistent. One dish was completely dominated by the bitterness of the grilled radicchio. The 48-​hour short ribs were tough. The ice cream in our dessert melted by the time it got to our table. There are other similarly-​priced restaurants in the area that are much better.

We are so lucky to have stopped at Paulee, not knowing anything about it, we were simply passing by. But we are both big foodies, so it didn’t take long for us to realize we had hit the jackpot! The open kitchen showed talented chefs hard at work, and course by course we were floored.
We had the Kale Ceasar Salad, the pheasant, the beets, and the meyer lemon and sesame desert. Local Pinots, of course.
The ambiance delightful, the service, top notch.

Great! We went here for a late dinner about 8:45pm and wanted a couple glasses of wine and some small bites. We elected to sit in the bar area. We were in awe of the inviting and modern setting, the wine cellar, the food and the service. We had a small salad, the pretzels & cheese dip. It all hit the spot. We were even treated to a sample of tuna poke.
The hours of service on this website say they’re open until 9pm. However, the restaurant was full and they had no plans of turning any customers away. It was still happening in that place well past 9pm.
Thank you Paulee’s for a great experience. We hope to be back. We also discovered another wonderful Riesling from a local vineyard that we hope to sip again.

We recently had dinner at Paulee… The remodel is just beautiful, the wine room is very cool and they have many wines open by the glass… around 40 I think, using the Enomatic system, even some sparkling. Great beer and a funky cocktail list as well.
The food was fantastic… very creative and versatile menus, the really nice thing about them is that you can chose many small items, larger plates to split or even just some small appetizers. They also have 3, 5, 7 and even 9 course options as well. The kitchen is totally open so you can see them prepping, planning and cooking etc. The staff really seems to enjoy working there and are very good at their jobs.
The hotel in the same building looks very nice as well… The rooms ran around $ 160 to $ 200 if I remember correctly, great place to spend the night after wine tasting and a great dinner at Paulee… The only real downfall, of both places, is the fact that they are close to 99 and almost in a very upscale sort of strip mall. It certainly does not seem that way once inside however.

My husband and I wanted to try Paulee again. We were there when it first opened and had a fantastic meal. The seafood was expertly prepared and super-​fresh – something you don’t often find in the Oregon Wine Country. Creative drinks and a large wine by the glass selection rounded out our nice dining experience.
We ate there again last night. The chef has changed since our first visit. We decided to sit in the bar area in order to try the bar menu that featured burgers and other small plates only available in the front room. In addition to the bar menu, you can order off of the regular menu as well. So many choices! We opted to try the Paulee Burger and the Duck Burger with a side of duck fat fries. Hello burger nirvana! The Paulee Burger was a well prepared burger with bacon, egg, and cheese on it. The Duck Burger was incredible! Served medium, topped with racelette cheese, caramelized onions, and greens then nested on a brioche bun, the flavors sang. it was simply amazing. Duck fat fries were worth seeking out, too. I think we’ll be getting burgers in the bar more often.

Finally got over to Paulee, for brunch. I live nearby. It was okay. Very attractive inside, though i was seated way too close for comfort to a neighboring table; made our conversation overly public for a cozy little two person table in a fancy restaurant. My burger and salad were very good, my husband’s salmon egg dish was also quite good. But it took forever to get coffee and the latte was fine but not up to Portland coffee snob snuff. And I don’t know what it is about the building, but as with the Farm to Fork previous occupant, the service was iffy. Snotty dude who brought the food. And I don’t take offense easily. Waitress was sweet but inexperienced. But the chef, who I think is the owner, was very friendly and engaging when we peeked at the open kitchen area and asked about the produce.
Bottom line, for the total spendy brunch price ($ 36 before tip), I would take anyone who visited elsewhere, like Crescent Café in McMinnville for fancy excellent service brunch or Red Hills Market in Dundee for a less expensive, fun, casual friendly but still foodie brunch/​lunch. I might try again for a cheaper happy hour experience over in the open kitchen area.

Great place at vineyard land for lunch. Laid back and contemporary atmosphere. For lunch menu, Salad nicoise as main dish and ken wright for pinot noir 2008 are amazing. Pork bolognese needed a bit more salt, which could be remedied quite easily.

Six of us went to Paulee and I must admit we were horrified at the service! Our group was in the wine country for a week’s worth of tours and dinners — some of which included some very well known winemakers from the region. We were warned about the service at Paulee — this came direct from a winemaker that was at a large dinner when they first opened that included some food service clients — so we knew we could expect good food but possibly poor service.
The food was fantastic although I found it to be rather pricey for the portions that we received. Wines were excellent as could be expected and the sommelier was very helpful.
Kyle our waiter is hopefully not working there anymore. The last straw for him was when he asked us if we would like any more courses (this came after we had had desserts a a couple of last minute glasses of wine) and when we replied «no — we are finished» he walked away and very loudly said I AM SHOCKED.
I have never had a server be so rude and to make a comment like that was truly shocking. To top it all off we were charged 20% gratuity on our $ 500 dinner and were not given the chance to make an adjustment on this amount. The sommelier deserved her fair share and the food servers did as well but Kyle deserved zero in our book.
I would never go to this restaurant again — no matter how good the food, location and wines.

After having dinner at Paulee, «The Emperor’s New Clothes» came to mind. You know the story. A naked Emperor strolls around while his subjects pretend he is dressed in and offer compliments about his fine clothes until a little boy has the chutzpah to say roughly this, «Wait! The Dude is nude!»
For all the buzz about Paulee’s finery, based on our dinner we think this Dude is nude. For now. We may go back sometime but we won’t rush back. There are too many better options for dining in the area while Paulee works out their kinks.
A local guy summarized this right when he said Chef Mondok and the Northern California investors who own Paulee want it to be French Laundry. There is chatter about Paulee being «Napa Worthy». I dunno. I spent quite a bit of time in Napa across many years. Paulee would struggle there, imho. And what’s wrong with celebrating the Oregon Wine Country for the unique place it is instead of Napa wannabe?
NAME
For all the things that are off kilter at Paulee, let’s start with the name. Paulee was inspired by La Paulée de Meursault, the traditional meal at the end of the harvest in Burgundy, France. This is a meal for people with muddy boots and purple hands, the grape pickers and winery workers, whose labor makes what goes in the bottle possible.
I read Paulee’s chef has illusions about the open kitchen dining room being the «muddy boots» spot. But the pretense of complicated menu design and high prices both defeat that as reality.
AMBANCE
The stark black and white, dark dining room in front that one has to walk through to get to the open kitchen area in back seems off-​kilter too. (Tip if you go: Choose the open kitchen dining room.)
On the night of our visit, the sound system was blaring James Brown. Good music for another venue. Not a fit here. Finally my hubby said to the waiter: «What you’re selling here» (pointing to the extensive, complex, expensive menu) «is not what you’re selling there» pointing to the speaker. The waiter had the music changed to John Coltrane and similar at a lower level. Good fit. Good for him. But this is one example of several management details missed.
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MENU & SERVICE
Raw food menu, five additional courses (each with four-​ish options) plus dessert, this menu is too cumbersome. (See menu photo.) Servers had to spend too much time with many tables explaining how the ordering process worked and what the lengthy list of ingredients for many of the dishes meant.
Kudos to the servers for having expertise in the menu. But part of the problem in this is servers do not seem to then have the time to coordinate with the kitchen to get dishes to the table when they should be served. (See Food below.).
If the Chef wants this complex menu with the associated time burdens on the staff, from a diner’s perch there needs to be more wait staff on the floor. Another management detail missed.
VALUE
We prefer small plate sharing formats, which is the theme here so that worked for us. But portion sizes were too small for the price on many options and we are lighter eaters. Prices from @ $ 9 for first course to @ $ 27 for fifth course.
FOOD
Daniel Mondok, once Chef at the defunct Sel Gris and then Sous Chef at Genoa, seems a talented guy. Food plating was beautiful. Flavor combinations were interesting. But there were problems getting the food to the table. Dishes that should have been served hot were served tepid and dishes that should have been crispy were soggy. Are there expediting problems the chef needs to address?
As example:
Fried cuttlefish ($ 15 from second course) was not great. The strips of cuttlefish may once have been crispy and warm but the dish was tepid and soggy by the time it reached our table. Perhaps from sitting in the pool of nuoc cham waiting to be served?
Risotto ($ 16 from second course), with three kinds of mushrooms, goat cheese and fava beans, was more successful. Perfectly cooked rice, creamy consistency, served hot, but favas seemed underdone.
Sausage assortment (one half each of a chicken, lamb, and pork sausage ($ 18 from third course) with accouterments was beautifully plated and flavors were good. But almost cold when it reached the table.
LIBATIONS
Twenty page by bottle wine list. The amount of time needed to go through the menu by the sommelier (four on staff?) to explain which wine might work with various courses chosen at tables around us bordered on comical. Cocktails (@$ 10) were good.
BOTTOM LINE
Several restaurants in the area are better for food, service and value. In some of them you’ll actually run into «muddy boots and purple hands». (ex: Tina’s and Recipe.) In some you can experience fine, sophisticated dining with gracious service minus pretense. (ex: Jory and Painted Lady).
Prediction: You can’t fool all of the people all of the time. Paulee will either replace the chef or close within a year.

This was very pricey with the appetizers at $ 9 – 15 and entrees at $ 25 – 30. The portions were exceedingly small for that price. Wine by the glass was $ 10 – 15.
The service was friendly and excellent. The food was also excellent. My wife got the salmon, and I got the duck. Both were perfect. But Two glasses of wine, two entrees, and two things of ice-​cream with tip was about $ 100.
Be ready to drop some big money if you don’t want to leave here hungry.

After a hazy afternoon in the Dundee Hills of wine tasting, we decided to stop at Paulee for some small plates and crafted cocktails…
Paulee is new to the area, in the formerly farm to fork location, they just opened this weekend. We were excited to try them on their first night open, as we have been anticipating their open for a few months now. Chef Daniel Mondok and Brandon Tebbe are the guys behind Paulee. They have created a place to come in after at the end of your day and have fresh local food, wines/​cocktails, over great conversation.
We have been here when it was the former place, but wow… what they did to the inside was amazing! Hard to believe this is the same space as before! The huge floor to ceiling wine cellar is the first thing you notice. It separates the bar from the open kitchen and more dining area after that. It’s all glass with metal shelving, absolutely beautiful with all the wines displayed. Across from the wine cellar is a wall flanked with wine glasses. The bar is beautiful with a walnut live edge. The space feels modern but warm with materials from metal to wood and rock. The fireplaces are covered in sheets of metal from floor to ceiling. They do have a patio area with another huge fireplace, but it’s not open just yet, I’m sure it will be in the near future. I could see myself lounging here in the warm summer evenings over wine!
The staff is very, very friendly. They give that genuine feel, making sure you are happy with every aspect of your dining experience. From the moment we were seated to the time we left, everyone was very friendly. The staff at the front door greeted us with a smile and said no problem when asked if we had reservations. We had the choice of sitting at the bar or at the chefs counter… oh yes, please seat us at the chefs counter. This was going to be an awesome dining experience!
As we were seated, Chef Mondok was already in action. The open kitchen is very open! In the front they are 2 chefs preparing raw dishes, Mondok had his table behind them. Then the full kitchen crew was behind Mondok. There must have been 8 chefs in that kitchen! It goes way back, with white subway tiles, and glass jars displaying dried goods. On Mondok’s table, there were a row of glass jars all filled with fresh herbs that he used as he plated the dishes that were going out. Yes, I have to admit we were a little star struck watching all this action right in front of us.
The dinner menu consists of small plates, starting with what they call «raw». It’s broken down from starters to entrees. A lot of seafood and meat, but there were many I have never heard of or tried before. I love seeing new dishes on a menu! We had to start with the Sea Urchin! But before we could order, 2 plates were put in front of us with some interesting textures and colors. Compliments of the chef, out waiter say, Amuse-​bouche. Raw salmon with oyster and seaweed on top, it had our taste buds awake for sure, excited for more! The Sea Urchin was not what I had expected… very creamy! I had never had this sea creature before so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this, oh this was so good, I wanted more! Paired with cauliflower and egg brulee, definitely something new for me! Cuttlefish was our second. What was a cuttlefish I wondered… well I had to try it. It reminded me of a breaded calamari. Served with leeks and peppers, it had a kick to it, but was very fresh tasting. By now we were enjoying a few drinks and sampled a little of what they had to offer, when the chef came over to us and asked how we were doing. The place was filling up fast, every seat was now taken, the chefs were busier than when we first got there, but plates and drinks were still coming out quickly. Next we tried the Turbot… again I had no idea what a «Turbot» was. It was a white fish, that had a thick crust on top. Smells of maple filled the air, but did not taste of maple! Served on top of a bright green sauce with asparagus and radishes cut so thin, they were almost transparent. Flaky and fresh, we were pleased with this dish also. The choices for the meat plates were duck, pork, or beef. we choose the duck breast with forbidden rice and baby bok choy. What is this «:forbidden rice» we wondered? It was black as night with bright green bok choy on top! and the taste… oh my, it was so good and creamy… not spicy, but a smoky flavor, it was a smoked black tea jus. Oh and the desserts were to die for also!
The attention they put in every dish really showed. We had the BEST dining experience here. From the food to the staff, even the broken light incident that happened, were all fabulous. Nice to see this what would be labeled as a «Portland restaurant» out here in wine country. This is exactly what this area needs! We look forward to trying their brunch menu in the near future! Cheers to Daniel and crew!