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What happened to dinner at Broder Nord? You didn't really love it. But we loved it very much, and it's back—sort of—at a cheery, domestic, fish-happy restaurant called Jacqueline in the former St. Jack space.
Related: Clinton Street's Jacqueline Is Like the Best Dinner in Portland You Probably Never Got to Eat
At a new restaurant named after a fictional submarine piloted by secular saint Bill Murray, whose somber visage graces the wall behind the bar, former Nord chef Derek Hanson's Jacqueline feels familiar, especially the whole chicken slow-roasted in tarragon vinegar brine ($21) and served atop toasted bread soaked in drippings. It's impossibly moist, even the white meat. Other dishes, like a subtle smoked sablefish with pickled garlic scapes ($10) and a chanterelle and oyster mushroom frisee dish ($13), smack of Scandinavian restraint.
But Jacqueline also clocks in with a knockout cioppino ($23)—the spicy, tomato-based Italian seafood stew native to the West Coast. The dish has already achieved a note-perfect rendition, stuffed with crab claws, clams, mussels, smoked oysters and beautiful herbal depth.
Elsewhere, the menu looks east, channeling Momofuku and the already-missed Smallwares with charred Brussels sprouts soaked in a mint basil fish sauce ($10), and throws a bacon dashi alongside maitakes onto its seared scallops.
The cocktail menu keeps it simple and classic with old-school gems like a boulevardier and the Corpse Reviver #2 (all $9) while beer, wine and vermouth come in a small but carefully curated assortment, including Priorat vermut that also graces a blackberry sorbet. Like Bill Murray himself, it is all sweetness and tobacco.
2039 SE Clinton St., 503-327-8637, jacquelinepdx.com. 5-10 pm Wednesday-Sunday. $$$.
Eat: Chicken, cioppino, oysters and a pair of appetizers, which have been a parade of bold or subtle delights. At happy hour (5-7 pm), oysters drop to a very happy $1.
Drink: Start with a classic cocktail ($9) and end with a sip of vermouth.
Most popular dish: The excellent mushroom plate with poached egg and bottarga roe.
Noise level: 45/100, which may rise considerably as it's discovered by more than the neighborhood.
Expected wait: Walk right in, at least for now.
Who you'll eat with: Young couples making eyes at each other, a bartender from the neighborhood, and perhaps a checked-shirted man with a Sam Elliott mustache making his wine glass sing using a wet finger.
Year opened: 2016
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