If you’re holding the last dregs of summer in a vice grip, let Marée soothe you by transporting you to the sunny coast of Spain.
Named after the French word for “tide,” the fish-forward French/Spanish spot opened August 31 in the prior Dame space. It’s helmed by Garrett McAleese, who previously opened Seattle pizzeria Coltiva, Kells Brewery in Nob Hill, and most recently, the cult-favorite Italian restaurant Fantino on Division. Despite the shared pedigree, Marée stands on its own two feet, anchored by an ethos McAleese overheard in San Sebastián: “A chef’s job is to get the best possible ingredients and then try to not mess them up.”
At Marée, that translates to unbelievably ripe tomatoes tossed in a sharp sherry vinegar, Oregon albacore crudo topped with a briny, caper-based ravigote sauce and green peppercorns, or perfectly charred Jimmy Nardello peppers over a bed of creamy white beans and a dusting of lemon zest. On the sweet side, juicy peaches are served with hand-whipped cream and a generous heap of brown butter crumble in an ornate, silver coupe. The end result is thoughtful, but unpretentious, letting the incredible produce and seafood we have access to here shine without much intervention.
“It’s simple food by design,” McAleese says. “We’re showcasing what’s in peak season, cooking it the best way we know how and adding very little to finish.”
While working on the menu, McAleese and chef Jarrott Moonitz (previously of Firehouse Restaurant, The Suttle Lodge, and Durkin’s Liquor Bar in Spokane) went to southwest France and the Basque coast to do research. Quickly, the duo realized that a lot of the dishes they liked shared three commonalities: quality, seasonality, and technique.
“We were thumbing through books and looking at menus thinking, ‘How do we do that but with ingredients from Oregon?’” McAleese says.
He admits to sourcing some things, like cheese or tinned fish, internationally. But, the rest of the menu’s tentpole ingredients are bought directly from Oregon farmers or straight from local fisherman’s boats. McAleese, Moonitz, and the team are constantly testing menu items and connecting with more purveyors like Tre-Fin, a local one-boat, line-caught fishing operation.
“Black seabass caught in the Pacific is going to be different from fish caught in Spain,” McAleese says. “But we might pair it with a sauce similar to something we had overseas. It’s about cooking it perfectly, not trying to hide the fish itself.”
Marée’s bar program, led by Anna Moss, also balances special imports with local producers. Moss traveled to Basque Country with McAleese and Moonitz and pushed to get French and Spanish spirits on the cocktail menu. The “Marée Martini” pairs Spanish and French gins with briny kelp and sea salt, while the warmly spiced “Classique” blends cognac and banana liquor with the Basque spirit Izarra jaune, plus black pepper and cardamom.
“Her drinks are meticulous,” McAleese says.
Some of them are also just fun—like the “Diet Kalimotxo,” a Diet Coke-based concoction of vanilla vodka, Lambrusco, lemon, and cherry.
McAleese and Moss also built out a wine list of predominantly French, Spanish, and Italian producers, adding in select bottles from the Willamette Valley.
Many will be quick to look for red threads between this project and McAleese’s last. In reality, the idea for Marée started well before Fantino, which opened in January 2025. It was born, as many great ideas are, while on vacation. McAleese and his wife, Mallory, found themselves drawn again and again to San Sebastian’s cramped pintxo bars, Bilbao’s post-work cafe culture, and Biarritz’s leisurely, lengthy dinners. He knew he wanted to mimic that sense of ease in Portland—he just had to wait for the right moment and the right space.
When McAleese got a text from a friend about the Dame location opening up, he knew it was kismet. As a Northeast Portlander himself, Dame was his go-to for a glass while studying for his sommelier certification.
“It’s an honor to be here,” he says. “And also, to make it our own.”
Aesthetically, McAleese left a few familiar Dame touch-points, like the gold domed bar lamps and sleek, curved bar top.
“The bar was already white marble, which we would have chosen anyway, so that was easy,” he laughs.
But anything carried over from Dame now seems brighter—refreshed—in this iteration. The interiors, McAleese admits, are his favorite part of a new restaurant build out. While he loved the look and feel of Dame, he also wanted to change the room flow a bit. He and a team of contractors got to work putting in Italian lime plaster and removing clunky parts of Dame’s booths that blocked the restaurant’s expansive east-facing windows, putting an elegant burgundy banquette in their place. Antique brass picture lights illuminate the loosely nautical art McAleese collected over many years. His friends in hospitality hopped in to help decorate, too. The oversized globe lights came from No Saint, and a painting was donated from their next-door neighbors, Gabbiano’s.
Some have said this intersection on Killingsworth is “cursed,” with the recent closures of the beloved bar Expatriate, plus Take Two and Pleasure Mountain. But McAleese is bolstered by new tenants signing leases nearby and by the prospect of creating a port-of-call on his home turf.
“We are a cute neighborhood bar and restaurant that wants to serve our community,” he says. “There’s a lot of love in everything we’re doing—hopefully that shines through on the plate.”
Marée, 2930 NE Killingsworth, open Weds-Sat 5-10 pm, mareeportland.com