DUCKING THE COLD
Wild Duck Café heats things up BY ANDY VALENTINE
I
t may have been the driest winter on record for a while
there, but that doesn’t mean it’s warm. Au contraire: This
year’s mercurial weather has meant that a lot of the time
it’s still nail-bitingly, teeth chatteringly cold outside, and
humans need more than fro-yo to get through a lunch break.
Enter Wild Duck Café, the East Campus sports restaurant
keeping it chill when it comes to warmth.
Some may know the joint by its former name — the Villard St.
Café — and the management team remains, but Wild Duck has a
new menu of mid-range prices and delicious ways to body slam the
cold right out of your bones.
“There’s just no comparison to fresh ground beef when you’re
eating a gourmet hamburger,” says Bob Jensen, Wild Duck’s jovial
and personable manager, as I sink my teeth into a spicy jalapeño
burger, piled high with cream cheese and whole jalapeño peppers.
“And those onions came out right on the money.” Here Jensen
points to the unique creation that is “Haystack Onions,” a thin-
sliced take on onion rings that arrives looking more like delicious
wisps of angel’s hair than anything else.
That’s the name of the game, seemingly, at Wild Duck; it’s all the
comforts of sports-bar food (wings, soup, burgers, etc.) with a twist
on each item that makes it seem new. For example, the wing
appetizer comes with a choice of spicy sauces beyond the generic
buffalo (Vietnamese garlic sauce, et al.), and the beer cheese soup is
one of the sharpest, most beer-tasting soups in the city. Add sweet
potato tots and you’ll be wearing an internal food blanket in no time.
Wild Duck also has a catering service that’s been in business
since 1996, and this acts as a lucrative side-project as well as a
ready supplier for the restaurant’s ingredients. With a solid base
like this, it’s unsurprising that the folks at Wild Duck have fancy
plans for the future: Among them will be the installation of a
12-foot Chef’s Table, an exclusive seating area allowing patrons a
front row seat while the chef prepares their food.
“The table is going to be made of Koa,” Jensen says, divulging a
NEW WINTER
M E N U
PHOTO BY JACKSON VOELKEL • JACKSONVOELKEL.COM
great passion for Oregon sports as he launches into a story
involving the formation of his friendship with Max Ung-
er’s grandfather in Hawaii (Unger is a former offensive
tackle for UO’s football team). “We’re going to make an
event called Unger for Hunger.”
While the event is not projected to come to fruition
until next fall, the concept itself is a great idea: With
Max Unger’s influence, Wild Duck Café hopes to create
handcrafted
beer & food
NOW
GET YOUR
BEAGLE ON,
7 NIGHTS
A WEEK!
a benefit — including a ukulele auction and dinner —
that will aid Food for Lane County.
Beating the cold may seem a daunting task, especially
considering the fact that the heavens have finally
opened, but when you’ve got choices like these, who
cares? It won’t take long before your belly is stoked and
your body is bathed in warmth. ■
Wild Duck Café is located at 1419 Villard St., 485-3825.
SOUL FOOD
D KITCHEN
KITT C H E N
Tues-Fr
Fri
LUNCH
12-2
&
5-1
10pm
DINNER
Sat
2-10p
0pm
CATERING
TO
2009-2012
WINNER - Best BB
BQ
400 BLAIR BLVD. 342-7500
FALLINGSKYBREWING.COM
2435 Hilyard St.
Eugene, OR 97405
541-484-3062
www.thehumblebeaglepub.com
open for dinner
sun-thurs 5pm - 10ish
fri-sat 5pm - 11ish
happy hour everyday
EAT OREGON!
come on by, we’re open
1334 Oak Alley
5-6pm & 9pm-close
2 CHOW! Winter 2012
chow.eugeneweekly.com