St. Jack

(Also check out my Serious Eats article on St. Jack!)

St. Jack is a French patisserie and restaurant located on SE Clinton St. in Portland, Oregon. This blog post is strictly for the patisserie section, which opens for breakfast and lunch.

Door to the patisserie

Last month, I drove down to do an article for Serious Eats (click the link at the top of the post) to highlight some of pastry chef Alissa Rozos' recommendations. It's a great way for businesses in the Pacific Northwest to get more national exposure.

Door to the adjacent restaurant

Frankly, the options at St. Jack all look great, a mix of savory and sweet choices. I started my odyssey with some coffee ($2). Not bad, probably a light to medium roast. Detected some nutty tones. When I visited, there was some type of honor system where you practically could pour your own coffee; just remember to put $2 in the glass jar nearby.

The canele ($2) is one of the more popular items at the patisserie. It has been described as a "small striated cylinder," having a crunchy, caramelized outside and a soft custard inside. This was my first canele, so I can't look to previous experiences on whether it was executed properly. But after reading a description of this French pastry online, I'd have to say Alissa nailed it. The canele I had was exactly as described.

Cross-section!

I also saw some excellent galettes (sweet or savory options), croissants, and eclairs. St. Jack also makes ice cream, usually 4-5 rotating flavors. Desserts are served all day, both in the patisserie and the restaurant. Happy hour starts at 4 p.m., while dinner starts at 5.

Goat cheese, onion, and leek galette

Eclair

Ice cream

Menu of ice cream flavors
(rotating constantly)

Dark shot of the dessert menu
(using flash made it harder to read everything)

It's cool that a 19th-century home right on the corner transformed into this modest-looking bistro. I might not have had much to eat here on this visit, but I'd recommend this place and hope to return in the future. 7.5/10