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North Portland's Jan-Marc Wine Cellars has been humbly crushing grapes out of a two-car garage off Killingsworth Street since 2003, making Jan-Marc Baker one of the few literal garagiste winemakers amid the city's increasingly professionalized urban wine scene.
Although he remains under the radar, Baker has quietly moved his wine out of the garage—and into a new bar called Garagiste (1225 N Killingsworth St., 503-954-3959, janmarcwinecellars.com). Along with Barbara, his wife and partner, Baker has crafted a lovely, intimate bistro space where wine is the focus, offering a restrained, minimalist take on urban winemaking.
About 12 Jean-Marc wines are available by the glass at Garagiste, ranging from $9 to $13. His bone-dry Sunnyside Vineyard riesling was my favorite, along with a memorable "smoked" merlot from a Columbia Valley vineyard that received a dose of residual wood smoke from a nearby forest fire.
But it's the food here that threatens to steal the scene. Garagiste offers a focused menu with hyper-fresh local ingredients, much of it sourced from the couple's network of collaborators and friends.
My Oregon steelhead trout with wine-sauteed onions and fennel ($14) was unexpectedly deft and composed. An order of chevre ($8) from a little goat herd in Ridgefield, Wash., was similarly on point, served with good bread, radishes, pink peppercorns and herbs. Outwardly a wine bar, this is quietly one of the best new restaurants to open in food-starved North Portland this year.
Willamette Week