Marée Will Open in the Former Dame Space in Portland

Dinner is served at Marée. — Photo credit: Marée.

The time is here: Marée opens its doors to the public on Friday, July 31. This is a restaurant from Garrett McAleese—you may know him from Southeast Portland’s Fantino and as the son of the Kells Irish Pub founders Lucy and Gerard McAleese. They are opening Marée in the old Dame space—a place with a lot of history, memories, and meaning.

Marée, Arriving on the Scene

We first told you about Marée’s existence back in April, when their liquor license application was published. I walked by a number of times since then, watching the transformation. Here’s what it looked like back in late April

They eventually painted the whole lower area dark blue.

And just for fun, here’s a photo from the intersection in 1954. You can see this location on the left.

Marée: What’s in a Name? And More

Marée (pronounced “mah-ray”) means “tide” in French. When I walked by last month, I met Jarrott Moonitz, the chef for Marée, who also spoke about the food as French/Spanish/Basque/coastal. Jarrott has been a private chef but also worked in the kitchens at Firehouse Restaurant in the Woodlawn neighborhood and at Durkin’s Liquor Bar in Spokane, WA, among others.

Here is a description of the restaurant in recent job listings:

“We’re a neighborhood bistro opening soon, serving hyper-seasonal food inspired by the coastal cuisines of France and Spain. Our menu is driven by exceptional local ingredients, thoughtful technique, and a commitment to cooking with the seasons.”

Marée on the East Coast, Too

I found it interesting that during my research on Marée in Portland, I learned that another restaurant called Marée was being developed in New Jersey on the Jersey shore just south of Asbury Park. They are a “French coastal bistro & bar” and officially opened their restaurant on Thursday, July 23. If you’re curious about their menu, you can see it here.

The Menu in Portland

Here in Portland, they’ve been hard at work on their menu, which is, again, focused on food from the coasts of France and Spain—and that means the Basque region, too, which sits right there between the two countries. Here’s the opening menu:

Appetizers: Fried Gordal olives with Ossau-Iraty (a Basque sheep’s cheese), tomato toast with anchovy, crispy squid with piparras (those thin, long, skinny, mild, pickled yellow pepper from the Basque country).
Salads: Summer melon with jamon and espellete, tomatoes with spring onion and sherry vinegar, Little Gems lettuce with anchovy dressing and fried capers.
Smaller Plates: Mussel escabeche toast with green chili aioli, Oregon albacore crudo* with sauce ravigote (a French “daughter” sauce) and green peppercorn (Note: I recently had Albacore crudo at Bar Loon that blew me away), Sailor’s knot pasta (nodi marini) with Comté (a raw cow’s milk cheese from France) cream.
Larger Plates: Bomba rice (a short-grain Spanish rice used in paella) with clams, Kinki rockfish with sauce verte, 16oz Josi Farm t-bone with Roquefort butter, grilled Little T Baker sourdough bread with seaweed butter, pommes frites with aioli and piquillo sauce.
Dessert: Stone fruit with whipped cream and brown butter crumble, Basque cheesecake with figs and honey.

There’s close to 40 seats inside the restaurant; their liquor license does not indicate outdoor seating, but that could change, as there had been outdoor seating before. There is both a bar area and dining room.

They’ll be joining one of the best corners of Portland for food, which includes Estes, Wilder, Gabbianos’, Gabby’s Next Door, Extracto, and the soon to arrive Pamana, which is moving into the old Expatriate space.

Marée soft opens tomorrow, Friday, July 31 at 5pm and will be open until 9pm; they’ll continue the soft opening on Saturday evening, too. They plan to be open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 5pm to 10pm.

All the best to Jarrott, Garrett, and their team as they bring this classy space back to life.

Marée [opening July 31, 2026]
2930 NE Killingsworth Street, Portland
Marée website | Instagram