The Shaved Duck doesn't take reservations. And on a Saturday night, a visitor can see that the policy is either a very good idea or a very bad one. We arrived a little before six for a pre-theater dinner and watched someone leap from a not-yet-parked car to race for the door. We began to think that choosing a backup restaurant might have been a good idea.
The Duck was rocking (as much as ducks rock), and the last sidewalk table was being filled as we walked past it. Inside, we were told to expect a 45-minute wait, but a two-top in the bar was open, the hostess said, sounding a little dubious. But it was fine with us, with the bar-stool-height chairs giving a good view of the comings and goings inside and out. Entertainment with a first-rate dinner, yes, indeed.
After what we thought was early success, the Duck changed from Modern American cooking to a smoker-based cuisine, gentle riffs on American barbecue, and while this is polite barbecue rather than the paper-towel-roll-and-paper-plate style, it's very good. Hush duckies, for instance, are fat, crunchy balls of cornbread seasoned with onion and bacon; its accompanying Dijon-based dipping sauce really was unnecessary. The gumbo trio, duck, seafood and vegetarian, came with rice and sliced green onions. The duck was a real zinger, quite spicy, but showing evidence of a proper roux as its base. Seafood allowed the piscine flavors to come through, using less heat. Only the vegetarian failed. One of the classic New Orleans gumbos is gumbo z'herbes, meatless for use on fasting days, but what we found was mainly celery and green pepper, none of the leafy greens that are traditionally used.
The Big Jimmy sampler bears four ribs, pulled chicken, pulled pork and beef brisket. The brisket was outstanding, deeply tender and smoky. While we believe that usually pork is the meat of choice for barbecue, brisket like this leaves us slightly in awe. Pulled pork had plenty of browned bits and also was quite moist. The chicken was just okay. Where we differed were the ribs. Yes, meaty and relatively lean, but while Joe liked them, Ann thought they were not quite right, lacking flavor and that slight chewiness that usually marks the cut. We also went for the smoked meatloaf, and were glad of that. What an excellent idea, the browned exterior and tender inside, nicely seasoned with a little bit of heat, un-greasy…first rate.
Three sauces sit on each table. The first, in a red ketchup bottle, looks like ketchup, too. But the first taste is very sweet, and then some serious heat jumps in. A thinner red sauce has some fruity notes and less fire. And the third, golden yellow, shows fruit (Mango? Pineapple?) and horseradish. The yellow works well with the chicken; we prefer the thinner red with the pork.
Sides are interesting. The home fries are actually French fries, and we were tempted, the Duck having a track record of excellent fries. But we know that the onion and the potato are vegetables meant for each other. Caramelized onion mashed potatoes seemed, then, like a good idea, and it certainly proved to be. No brown flecks in the potatoes, but with plenty of onion flavor curling around the smooth, cream-colored potatoes, it was irresistible. Jalapeno cream corn seemed to be fresh corn and a real cream sauce. But the corn was very tough and the jalapeno had hightailed it to parts unknown.
To be sure, citrus desserts are a year-round treat, bringing sunshine to winter nights. But there's something about a key lime pie that says hot weather to us. The Shaved Duck's rendition is swell, the graham-cracker crust staying crunchy, and, most important, the filling wonderfully tart. Worth the calories.
Despite the busy-ness that forced a bartender to take a turn juggling plates, service was excellent. And watching the guests come and go provided the theater before our theater.
The Shaved Duck
2900 Virginia Ave. at Pestalozzi
314-776-1407
Lunch Tues.-Fri., Dinner Mon.-Sat.
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Poor
Smoking: No
Entrees: $9-$20