St. Jack has been a tough act to follow. Two years after the candlelit French restaurant left its tumble-down Southeast Clinton Street building for shinier digs across the river, the space has struggled to find an anchor tenant. First there was Renard, a Francophilic follow-up that wasn't meant to be. Now, the stripped-down space is home to Jacqueline, a new restaurant named for an obscure reference in a Wes Anderson film. Here, owner Derek Hanson (Laurelhurst Market) and his team balance a cast of crudos, shellfish, fish and fish stews with some role-playing seasonal veggies in an upscale reboot of the seafood shack.
The dish: Most visitors will zero in on the cioppino -- San Francisco's famous Italian-inspired seafood stew -- and rightly so. Jacqueline's version, though slightly overcooked on our visit, has an elegant tomato broth sown with crab claws, smoked oysters, clams, mussels, halibut and salmon, all adorned with dill flowers and served with a demi baguette from Little T. It might be Oregon's best-looking cioppino. Elsewhere, there's an heirloom lettuce salad with mountain rose apples, hazelnuts and a smear of Briar Rose chevre, and a good chicken liver mousse with apples and candied hazelnut crumble that, unfortunately, looked like it had been shaken off the chef's spoon. But the best reason to visit Jacqueline might be the oysters. Perfectly shucked shigokus and sea cows arrive alongside a wooden caddy of housemade salsas, horseradish vinegar and a mignonette, each bottled in its own eyedropper for precise seasoning.
Scouting Report
The takeaway: Jacqueline isn't St. Jack, though its oysters are better. But it will do in a date-night pinch.
Sample menu: Oysters ($3-$3.50 each); smoked sablefish ($10); chicken liver mousse ($10); king salmon ($22), cioppino ($23).
Drinks: Classic cocktails ($9), European wines by the glass ($7-$13), easy drinking beers ($3-$5).
Go: For shigokus (or for the 5 to 7 p.m. happy hour, when oysters are just $1).
Details: Reservations for four or more with 24-hour notice; disabled access; dinner, Wednesday-Sunday; 2039 S.E. Clinton St.; 503-327-8637; jacquelinepdx.com
-- Samantha Bakall
sbakall@oregonian.com
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