One block in Maplewood seems to have become Spicy Chicken Central. Part of that is happening at a place named for another kind of poultry. The Blue Duck is located in part of the large space where Monarch once was. It’s a sibling of the Blue Duck in Washington, MO. But this isn’t the same menu; it’s much more contemporary.
Its space is large and open, with a bar and tall tables in part of the ell-shaped room and a capacious, high-ceilinged dining area. The well-spaced tables mean conversation is possible, although I’ve not been there when the room was packed. (What isn’t noisy these days?) It’s family-friendly, with a kids’ menu, but I saw several after-work gettogethers, too.
For foodists, the idea of blue duck brings to mind the shocking-forty-years-ago idea of duck breast quickly sauteed and served rare – bleu in French. Not on the menu here, and I have yet to try the two duck-y items that are, a sandwich and a braised, ginger-laced quarter. But I will, particularly that latter.
There are plenty of tempting things on the menu beyond quackers. Corn bread on the appetizer list comes as a couple of mini-muffins, the size that come from what used to be called gem pans, plus a square that has corn kernels and a little chopped jalapeno. It tastes as though there are two different batters used, one for the muffins and another for the standard-sized cornbread. Alongside are honey butter and smoked apple butter, the whole thing quite fun. Fried pork belly belies its humdrum name. Large dice are slowly fried to crisp them up, rendering out a lot of the fat to leave soft, unctuous meat. They’ve been seasoned with a barbecue rub and arrive arranged in a dark barbecue sauce, nice but superfluous, the pork itself is so good.
Smoked trout lolls across whipped ricotta on a tartine, that paleness upgraded with snow peas and pink pickled shallots, a lemony vinaigrette spooned across it all. It’s a nice mixture of textures and flavors. And speaking of textures, consider, if you will, the spiced chickpea salad, an absolute carnival both of textures and color. The chickpeas have been roasted enough to add additional chew, but not enough to turn them into the sort of pellet that could be dangerous to teeth. Spinach, artichoke hearts, tomato, red onion, all added up to satisfaction. The generous size would do for a lunch entree.
Sandwiches beyond the duck/lettuce/tomato/fried egg? Why, yes. The pork burger is succulent, slightly smoky from some bacon and smoked maple aioli, and very moist. What’s called a Don Hamm sports house-cured ham, blue cheese, onion rings, arugula and some sweetness from a date spread with a little sorghum molasses. The cure on the ham is very mild, and most of the flavor comes from the cheese, arugula and the sweet notes. It’s good, if not nearly as exotic as the list of ingredients might lead one to think.
For those of us who like big-flavor items, the don’t-miss entree has to be the chicken. Described on the menu as smoked hot fried chicken, it’s two boneless pieces, a thigh and a breast. Boneless often signals wimpy when it comes to chicken, but that’s not the case here. First of all, the chicken’s brine has actually penetrated into the flesh so that it’s noticeably seasoned as well as being smoked. That’s seldom the case most of the time, in my experience. As to the crust, it’s firm, crunchy rather than thin and crispy, and well-seasoned as well. It contains crushed Red Hot Riplets (that’s a potato chip, non-St. Louisans) and I wonder if perhaps there are some crushed nuts in there as well, considering its flavor. The chicken also passed the refrigerator test, meaning it was good cold the next day. Sides are plus/minus. “Smoked fried potatoes” were two red potatoes that had only a touch of smoked flavor, but had been deep-fried, one of them not quite long enough. Meh. The red cabbage under the chicken, however, was delicious, sweet and slightly sharp. Pickled pepper gravy, their phrase, didn’t do much for me, but I admit I never was a milk gravy girl. This has more character than many of its ilk, but I spent my calories elsewhere, like on the bread-and-butter pickles, which also had a little hit of heat. I could have eaten (a lot) more of them.
The idea of a pie du jour is a good one. I hit a gluten-free salted caramel apple tart, with a surprisingly good shortbread style crust and lots of topping, More apples would have been nice, but overall it was satisfactory.
With the fried chicken, I’d ordered Noboleis Autumn Blush Rose. It turned out to be a little sweet, not my preferred style of rose, but was a good match with the palate action of the chicken. All’s well with that combo.
Service was very attentive, and servers seemed to know the menu well. One did point out to me that any of the by-the-glass wines can be sampled before committing to a full serving, always a nice touch. Reservations only for parties of eight or greater except Friday and Saturday evenings. And they say they’re going to be staying open late. Maybe a stop coming home from Opera Theatre?
The Blue Duck
2661 Sutton Ave., Maplewood
314-769-9940
Lunch & dinner Tues.-Sun.
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Good
Smoking: No
Entrees: $16-$31