BIGGER BELLY, RUNNING RABBIT
Popular Eugene bistros move into new digs
BY TED SHORACK
W
here the Old World meets the Willamette
Valley with beef tongue, pork collar, duck
leg confit and short ribs: This has been the
draw for fans of two local favorites, Rabbit Bistro and
Belly. The restaurants have managed to attract loyal
patrons despite the limitations of their current locations.
Now, both businesses are moving downtown, and in the
process becoming bigger and better.
Rabbit Bistro has been tucked away in south Eugene
since 2009, when it took the place of Asado Latin Bistro
between Market of Choice and Laughing Planet at 29th
and Willamette. With a narrow dining area and a bar
around the corner, the space has never quite worked for the
owners and chef.
Co-owner Cory Stamp says they were very grateful to
have obtained the spot at Woodfield Station that they’re
vacating, but it really wasn’t designed to accommodate
what they wish to bring to the table.
“It was never meant to be doing what we’re doing in it,”
Stamp says. “There’s a lot of hindrances for us being here.”
Chef Gabriel Gil has set out to make Rabbit a place
with a quality menu in a relatively casual setting, a notion
known as bistronomy. Menu options range from mussels
and frites to a hanger steak or buffalo brisket.
In providing these sorts of dinner options, Gil has
struggled against the current location’s diminutive walk-in
and cramped kitchen. “I don’t have a lot of space to put my
products,” he says. “I really just have enough to make the
dishes that I make.”
This in part led to a “no substitutions” rule. But Gil is
expecting to be able to be more lenient in the new space in
the Broadway Commerce Center at East Broadway and
Willamette.
BRENDAN MAHANEY
SETTING UP THE BAR AT
THE NEW BELLY LOCATION
P H O T O B Y T R A S K B E D O RT H A
“We have a chance to go somewhere and do something
that we get to design and that will be more ideal for the
type of service we want to have,” Stamp says.
Belly owner Brendan Mahaney opened the popular
restaurant at its current 5th Avenue location in 2008.
Belly’s revamped digs at 30 E. Broadway, not far from the
new Rabbit, contain a good two-thirds more space than the
current location, Mahoney says.
Opening shop next to Voodoo Donuts, Belly hopes to
see an increase in foot traffic from the nearby Saturday
Market and surrounding office buildings. Currently a work
in progress, Mahaney says remodeling is about halfway
done. “We’re hoping to open April 23rd,” he says.
This new location opens the door to greater culinary
diversity. “We can expand our menu,” Mahaney says, with
“a broader variety of options.”
A larger bar and a lounge area are also in the offing.
“Just a more inviting space for our customers,” Mahaney
says. “We just look forward to being a part of the
downtown Eugene scene.”
Once its up and ready to go, Belly plans on celebrating
spring and the beginning of summer, utilizing fresh halibut,
fresh salmon and local produce from the Willamette Valley.
Mahaney will operate a full-time taqueria out of the old
Belly location, building on Monday’s taco night and the
crowds it draws with the smell of frying carnitas. ■
Let there be rock.
Helles Belles Lager release party
Friday the 13th at Mcdonald theater!
Helles Belles
(the beer) is
available in
6 packs and on
draft April 15th!
7pm
21 and up
with id
h
e 13t ater
h
t
ay
he
Frid nald t
o
Mcd
*Redeem three Ninkasi bottle caps for
one FREE VIP TICKET at the Ninkasi
Tasting Room at 272 Van Buren during
business hours. Limit 4 tickets per
redemption. 500 tickets will be
distributed "first come first serve."
chow.eugeneweekly.com
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CHOW! Spring 2012 7