BY MOLLY TEMPLETON
NOW SERVING CHEF JEVON’S
BAYOU BAR-B-QUE Tantalizing Tapas
El Vaquero raises the bar.
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The Best Thai Cuisine
5BEST NEW RESTAURANT 2003-2004
5BEST SOUTHEAST ASIAN 2004-2005
5BEST TAKE OUT 2004-2005
2 6 L u n c h S p e c i a l s • Lunch & Dinner, Dine In or Take Out
H u g e V e g e t a r i a n S e l e c t i o n s • Family Owned & Operated.
580 Adams St., Eugene
(across from Red Apple) •
344-1706
MON-FRI Lunch: 11am-3pm, Dinner: 4:30-9pm • SAT 12-9pm • SUN 4-9pm
For Delivery Call Pony Express 485-2090
38 OCTOBER 13, 2005
O
the stage for the heartier dishes to come.
n a seemingly ordinary Thursday
The coconut prawns were succulent,
night, El Vaquero was bustling. The
lightly fried, the sauce zingy but not over-
new restaurant in 5th Street Public
whelming. Lobster meatballs, so tender they
Market has only been open a few weeks, but
fell apart in the
clearly word has
mouth, made for
gotten around that
El Vaquero
an unusual texture
there’s something
296 E. 5th Ave. (5th Street Public Market).
and flavor combi-
special going on
Lunch, 11:30 am-4:30 pm. Dinner, 5:30 pm-
nation. The sweet
here.
Owners
10 pm Su-Th; 5:30 pm-11 pm F & Sa. Tapas,
potato
fritters,
Katie Marcus and
11 am-1 am. $$$-$$$$.
crispy outside but
Sara Willis, who
soft and moist in-
also own Red
side, were lightly spiced, with a faintly Indian
Agave, have hit the mark in every regard with
tang.
this spacious, comfortably elegant tapas
restaurant. Dark wood and warm gold tones
But without question, the most stunning
make the space inviting; the simply designed
dish was one not on the menu. We’d planned to
menu lists dishes in Spanish with an English
order the sashimi aquachile, fresh ahi tuna with
translation beneath; and the service is impec-
serrano chiles, but for the night the dish had
cable.
changed to a tuna steak on a bed of Dungeness
Lobster meatballs, so tender they fell apart
in the mouth, made for an unusual texture
and flavor combination.
El Vaquero has two menus, one for en-
trées with delectable-looking side dishes, and
a tapas menu with an incredible array of
small plates. It can be hard to tell how many
small plates you’ll need (or crave), but you
can hang on to your menu and order in stages.
Five tapas plates for two people
(with two miniature desserts) left us happily
stuffed.
Garlic scallops, crab crepes, Red Agave’s
grilled baby back ribs, artichoke tamale —
how’s a person to pick? We started with a
cheese plate, taking our waitress’s sugges-
tions of Mt. Tam, a soft, triple-cream
California cheese, and garrotxa, a tart, hard
goat cheese from Spain. Served with two
slices of bread and a handful of almonds, the
cheeses — along with the cucumber, lime
and guacamole tasting plate that arrived be-
fore we’d even ordered drinks — nicely set
crab mashed potatoes, topped with braised fen-
nel. Each element alone was delicious, but to-
gether they created virtual perfection. The but-
tery, falling-apart fennel sweetened the tuna,
and the crab gave the potatoes a distinct texture
and a last kick of flavor.
We opted to end with two tapas dessert
plates: a tiny pot of chocolate and peanut but-
ter topped with whipped cream and one soli-
tary peanut, and a seashell-sized key lime
tartlet with the same mildly sweetened
cream. Both were so luscious we could
hardly have eaten more.
The true appeal of El Vaquero isn’t just
that the dishes are an utter taste treat. It’s the
fun of anticipating each plate, comparing one
to the next and sharing them all with your
dining companion(s). This is food to linger
over, to savor, to have fun with — and defi-
nitely not to miss.
ew