Eat The Menu: Duck Inn

When it comes to dining on duck, there are two categories of aficionados: one, those who agree that this bird is, indeed, the world’s most delicious fowl; and two, those yet to learn this basic fact of life.

Either category of diner can educate their palates while dining deliciously at a dive-gone-modestly-genteel in Nordeast called, ahem, Black Duck Spirits & Hearth. Chef/owner Jason Sawicki is the carnivore who got himself through the pandemic by trolling the streets in his Fare Game food truck while securing financing and fine-tuning the menu for a brick-and-mortar space.

The bright, cheery setting (including a fire-raging hearth, the heart of the operation) was once a gas station, as the story goes. Today, its well-spaced tables support conversations sans straining one’s vocal cords, all in view of the heart of the beast — an open kitchen, from which all manner of tasty eats appear. Trust the corps of servers, in their plaid flannel shirts, as your dining counselors.

The drinks menu sports a formidable list of spirits, plus a dozen original cocktails ($15 range) such as my choice, the Black Duck Old Fashioned. It stars duck-fat-washed rye whiskey (I have no idea what that entails, but why not?) abetted by cardamom, corn liquor and burnt agave. There’s a technical term for all that: yummy. If you prefer a glass of red to match the fowl’s rich, meaty profile, five suitable choices await.

Because (I’m guessing) this dining room anchors a Polish pocket of Minneapolis, the menu’s starters include pierogi ($18.50) — a quartet of sturdy pasta pockets stuffed with a mix of soft farmers cheese, mashed potato and onion — in other words, comfort food deluxe — especially when accompanied by a scoop of chive-crowned sour cream. We added an order of duck confit cabbage rolls ($19 for two), a good decision that produced a rich filling of minced duck mixed with wild rice, afloat on a rosy-pink plate painted with modestly sweet red cabbage cream. Inventive and delicious.

The app list hides some sophisticated surprises in its descriptions, such as pork belly in horseradish cream; egg & chips starring a just-barely poached egg served with properly salty potato chips and rich, rich truffle oil; or Silesian dumplings smothered in charred leek and Parmesan sauce, served with pickled red cabbage and a dusting of poppy seed.

But let’s talk about the supreme deity of Polish fowl: the duck. It’s served two ways on a single plate here ($39) — as leaves of ruddy, sweet and love-me-tender slices of breast meat, fanned around chopped duck confit — all accompanied by a petite mushroom pancake and a slice of sweet potato. There are enough hot peppers involved to leave a delicious little lingering burn in your mouth. Come the morning after, I’m still humming.

Other hearth fare runs from a smoked half chicken with chimichurri and horseradish cream (not your usual “safe” chicken fallback) to a standard flat iron steak or double-cut pork chop served with sauerkraut and mustard vin.

My dining buddy agreed to order the duck burger, which provided greedy me with half. A tender, billowy milk bun is loaded with a sturdy patty of ground duck meat garnished with everything on hand in the kitchen: onions, sharp mustard pickles, an also-mustardy Dijonnaise sauce and Swiss-like Havarti cheese ($18). Options include gilding the lily with duck bacon or duck leg. And for those who yearn for an old-fashioned bar & grill number, there’s the fried bologna sandwich (built upon a house-made sausage, however).

Missing your daily quota of veggies? Not to worry: the kitchen offers sides of spicy roasted cabbage, uniquely dressed in mole rosa, chili crisp and avocado herb aioli, as well as a Caesar salad inventively topped with smoked whitefish, along with toasted breadcrumbs.

Yes, desserts are on offer, too, but since our belts were set to burst, we passed. Next time: choose between a honey cake, a Polish cheesecake with poppyseed ice cream, a coconut sorbet or the treat I fondly remember from former visits, the paczek. It’s a divinely luscious yeast-raised doughnut plumped with your choice of a raspberry or walnut/maple filling, then coiffed with a brown butter glaze. If that isn’t a heavenly finale, well, why look forward to the afterlife?

A generous patio, anchored by the smoker truck that started it all, was already crowded in early April. How do you say it in Polish? Let the good times roll!

Black Duck Spirits and Hearth
1900 Johnson St. NE
(612) 331-1421
blackduckmpls.com
Closed Tuesdays