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Well hi, it’s been a minute since I sent out a missive. I’ve been working on a lot of projects, including the launch of Ravenous, a worker-owned co-op food culture website that I’ll be doing with several of my colleagues from Eater. We’ve actually been working on pulling it together since August, but in the past couple of months, things really ramped up.
We are in a fundraising stage for the month of April, and doing an NPR-style push to make our entire budget for the year, so we won’t have to keep thinking about money all the time. The site will launch properly in May. If you’re able to subscribe, our annual cost is $70 for the lowest tier, or $7 a month. You can also subscribe for free and just see what we’re up to. Feel free to hit reply to this email if you want to ask me any questions about it.
Now on to something that has been on my mind: some amazing plates of duck I’ve eaten this year. There have been four exceptional dishes that I want to share with you.
Night Rooster — Tea-Smoked Duck, $180 whole/$60 half
This spot made a lot of waves on its opening, largely for bringing chef Shirley Chung of Top Chef fame to town. Chung told me about this tea-brined duck dish she planned to put on the menu. They had to get a smoker to do it properly. The duck is marinated in jasmine tea for 24-hours, smoked over hickory wood and jasmine tea leaves. Chung sent it over when my table didn’t order it; she was hell-bent on my trying it. I’m glad she did. It was incredible. So moist and juicy, so full of a lightly sweet flavor, and literally finger-licking good. It comes served with a plate of bao buns, so you can stick the duck in those and pour sauce over (smoked plum, chili crisp, and duck suace, dip duck into the individual sauces, or whatever other great ideas come to you.
Urbano Cafe — Duck Fagioli e Scarola, $38
The folks at Urbano invited me to a media dinner to try the new menu, because the new owners, Pasha and Sina Heidari, have focused on improving the food. This dish was one of many that hit the table. It was easily my favorite of the night. Serving things “fagioli e scarola,” or with beans and greens, is a Southern Italian tradition that comes from creating hearty meals with low-cost ingredients. Adding duck cooked in a simply way, with salt and pepper seasoning and skin-on for crunch, keeps it in that spirit. I also want to note that the wine pairings happening throughout the night were spectacular. If you haven’t been in a minute, it’s worth revisiting Urbano. A lot has changed.
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Georgie — Hot Honey Crispy Duck Breast, $55
If chef Bruno Davaillon invites you in to try his new menu, you go. I wrote about his plans to transform the kitchen at Georgie into a fine dining French restaurant, and as of the week after Valentine’s Day, he has been doing it. While there are many excellent dishes to try there now (I also loved the halibut with Champagne sauce and the chestnut agnolotti with brown butter), the duck was outstanding. This version, made with hot honey, gives it a different texture, a little stickier and a little sweeter, which allows the chef to play with the idea of duck á l’orange but not go that old school route. The textures on this were equally incredible, with a thin, crispy crust and tender, luscious meat, all perfectly cooked.
Da Marco — Duck Two Ways, $49
I found myself in the lobby of Da Marco as part of a trip to Houston to update the Montrose neighborhood guide for the Infatuation, starting at framed copies of Gourmet the restaurant had been featured in. There were a lot. When I dug into this plate of duck, I really understood why. It’s served with a sliced duck breast on top and duck confit under, which is hard to see in the photo. The raspberries cooked in Lambrusco, then reduced to a sauce, made an excellent compliment, but even more noteworthy was the black rice underneath, just loaded with Parmesan. It was like every bite was better than the next — which frankly rarely happens with any dish. I feel like Da Marco has been slept on, because it is so long-running. But truly, it’s a restaurant worth splurging to eat at.