Gander & Ryegrass

If Spokane has a true "occasion" restaurant, this is it. Tucked into the Liberty Building near Riverfront Park, Gander & Ryegrass is home to the city's only true tasting menu — a six-course, roughly fifteen-plate marathon from Chef Peter Froese built around house-made pasta and bread, contemporary Italian cooking, and a French backbone. Dishes like the roasted duck with peppers and corn and the mustard-pistachio pork tenderloin have earned comparisons to fine dining you'd expect in a much bigger city, and a caviar tasting add-on plus thoughtfully made house sodas round out an experience built by people who care about every detail.

The room is in the historic Liberty Building downtown, right next door to Auntie's Bookstore, and it's open for lunch as well as dinner — the full à la carte menu is a genuinely easier way in than the tasting menu. The kitchen works from raw ingredients on purpose: house-baked bread, handmade pasta, whole-animal butchery, and a real effort to waste as little as possible. And there's always a steak on the menu — by the restaurant's own account, always worth ordering.

It's not an inexpensive night — with wine pairings, expect to invest in the experience — but for a genuine celebration, few places in the Inland Northwest match it. Service is generally warm and attentive, though pacing between courses can vary on busier nights. If the full Marathon feels like too much, the three-course option and daytime à la carte menu are a more approachable way in.