Odd Duck
We were *hungry* when we got there, and had to wait a bit, so by the time we sat down we pretty much hated everyone in the restaurant. This is to emphasize how good the service/food was, that we forgot all about the grumpiness within a few minutes.
Like its sister restaurant Barley Swine, Odd Duck serves small, inventive dishes in rapid succession. Our waiter, Zach, took our drink and food orders quickly and and thankfully got things off to a quick start.
Cocktails came out first, Erin had a frozen root beer with Rum, hoja santa, and sasparilla. Mine was a smokey pool of mezcal, watermelon juice and spicy pepper syrup. Juuuust enough watermelon juice to moderate the mezcal - so good.
Next was the house baked (and cultured) Sourdough bread with Tomatoe Butter and sea salt crystals. I'm generally not a fan of tough bread, and this had a fairly thick crust, so I was a bit put off by that, but the tomatoe butter and salt were delicious on the soft, doughy bits from the inside.
Next Smoked fish spread on an seed cracker with goat cheese, cucumber and shishito. This was surprising as the fish spread and goat cheese were very light and airy, but with a strong smokey taste.
Next green tomato & masa fritter, goat chorizo verde, goatzii and pickled corn. This was a flavor explosion. The fritters were oily, crispy, the corn and onions were cool, zesty accent to the savory bed of crazy-rich chorizo sausage beneath. This was maybe my favorite dish of the night because it looked like a random pile of stuff, but every element was sooo good.
I was stuffed already when they brought out this pizza. But it was so damn good that I ate it anyway! Smoked fun-guy pizza pie, hot sauce, scamorza, charred peppers, and a ranch dipping sauce.
Duck egg! soft, salty duck chunks. A sophisticated hash.
A wicked good old fashioned
And then they Erin and the Waiter conspired to bring me a birthday surprise!
This is one of those meals where *everything* is amazing. Super flavorful. Great service. I only deduct one star because I didn't like the decor or the too-tall chairs.
4 out of 5 Aemon-Stars!
Also special thanks to our chauffeur, Ryguy. He was every bit as street-wise and lovable as the limo driver from Crocodile Dundee.