Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 19, 2001)
The Wild Duck cooks up some love ■The downtown restaurant is ideal for casual dates as well as Duck weekend revelers The Wild Duck Brewery By Bevin Caffery Oregon Daily Emerald Everyone needs a couple of restaurant ideas to keep in their back pocket for a rainy day. Or a boring, monev-less or stressful day. The type of place where one can relax, show up in jeans and have some finger food, but still ex pect a quality dining experience. The Wild Duck Brewery, a tradi tional college hang-out that boasts a bar, restaurant, brewery and mu sic hall, is nestled in the heart of Eugene at 169 W. 6th Ave. and seemed like it would fit in my back pocket nicely. Intrigued by constantly hearing about musical events at the spot, and being the entertainment editor, I wondered if the food was as good as their performing guests. Expecting regular bar food, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the meal. My dining companion and I ordered three dishes to share: the daily special of baby-back ribs with steamed vegetables and a twice-baked potato, an order of chicken strips and an appetizer or der of house fries. As a Texan native and thus a barbecue expert, I can say that the half-rack of ribs were an interest ing take on the traditional barbe cue that I normally see, dripping with sauce. These ribs were pre pared with a dry-rub of various spices in place of barbecue sauce, and this was a tasty variation. My sidekick is a self-proclaimed chicken strips connoisseur, and he determined that these chickies were average, as far as chicken strips go. The breading fell off very easily and the flavor was average. Finally, the french fries were a big hit at our table. These potatoes were served with both ranch and ketchup and prepared in the thick, moist, steak-fry style, which is hard to find in Eugene. For drinks we tried both the regu lar lemonade and the strawberry lemonade, which were about as av erage as the chicken strips. 1 would recommend the strawberry over the regular for the extra-added excite ment to your taste-buds. Overall, The Wild Duck Brewery not only offers great musical acts, brews several different beers and is a friendly spot to party on the weekends, but also an easy option for a casual dinner date to keep stress levels low. And then after your date goes Seating: ★★★★★ Quick seating at a great private table, but keep in mind that it was a Sunday night Atmosphere: ★★★★★ Definitely a bar atmosphere, but friendly and comfortable without too much smoke c Service: ★★★★☆ Quick, friendly service overall Food: ★★★★☆ Great for a casual bar environment Price: ★★★☆☆ Roughly $10 per meal, without drinks, appetizers or dessert Overall: ★★★★☆ Perfect for a casual date or dinner with friends amazingly well, you can come back Saturday night and party like the wild Duck you are. Review continued from page 10 the two neighbors the opportunity to become friends. Chan becomes lonely and then suspects her husband of cheating af ter overhearing his voice with an other woman. Chow suspects his wife of unfaithfulness, too, when she claims to work late constantly, but then is not actually at work Chan and Chow are deeply sad dened by their discoveries and look to each other for friendship and comfort. It doesn’t take long for them to conclude that their spouses were in fact seeing the other’s part ner. Through this terrible realiza tion, the two friends give each other compassion, support and eventual ly, love. The cinematography of “In the Mood” gives the viewer teasing glimpses of the characters, showing them through bars, oval holes or in mirror reflections. The faces of the adulterous couple are never directly shown, emphasizing tire focus on Chan and Chow. In the first half of the film, Wong symbolically shows only one person at a time in conversations between the two main characters, ex pressing the restrained and reluctant attraction between them. The mood and emotion of the sit uation are accented by slow motion scenes of Chan and Chow separate ly going about daily life, with sim ple music playing in the back ground. These shots draw out the suspense of the relationship and add a deliciously dance-like aspect to the film. Wong focuses less on di alogue and action, and more on the feeling and mood of the setting, which may first seem slow to view ers, hilt changes to dramatic as it soaks in. Chan is played beautifully by Mag gie Cheung, whose most recent film work was last year’s “Love at First Sight,” also known as “Sausalito.” Tony Leung Chiu Wai stars as the soft-spoken, passionate character of Chow. He has a history in the dra ma/romance genre, last appearing in “Healing Hearts,” directed by Gary Tong. Wong has a history of directing drama films — his most recent films before “In the Mood for Love” are “Happy Together” (1997) and “Fall en Angels” (1995). Overall, “In the Mood for Love” has an interesting focus on two star crossed lovers who are determined to keep to their morals but must suppress their love as a result. It offers a mellow, romantic soundtrack, two well-developed characters and exceptional camera shots. It is a strange twist on the typ ical love-web, with the other two members’ characters never un veiled. This movie would be a great date-movie for its forbidden-ro mance appeal, but only if you and your date can appreciate a foreign film that focuses more on lingering emotion than a quick plot. “In the Mood for Love” will be playing at the Bijou Cinemas starting Friday. Community Center for the Performing Arts ■ Tomorrow■ Mood Food with Vince Welnick Rock $10 advance, $12 door, 9:00 pm ■ Saturday ■ lolly Mon, Northwest Royale, That 1 Guy Rock $7 door, 9:00 pm ■ Sunday ■ Dhamaka Bhan^ra Dance Troupe wuh Peace Family Indian Dance/Vocals $8 door, 7:00 pm ■ Wednesday ■ Amy Ray 6 The Butchies with Sara Douf her Rock I $10 advance, $12 door, 8:00 pm All Ages Welcome • 687-2746 Hot oft the Press and into your hands Oregon Daily Emerald Circulating 10,000 papers daily . endless possibilities 2 2 2 2 Centennial Bl Money Grab @ 11:00 pm • $2 Chinese Food Special Hip - Hop and House music • Cheap Drinks