Now Open: Black Duck Spirits & Hearth

I think you’re going to be excited to try Black Duck Spirits & Hearth in Northeast Minneapolis. It opens today, July 24, and it really fills a hole in the far northeast part of the neighborhood. It’s refined dining, open-fire cooking, and the food we tasted at the soft opening was delicious. Obviously it’s just a soft opening, so this isn’t a review, rather an impression of what you might find if you check it out at 2900 Johnson St. NE.

Like many of us, Chef Jason Sawicki is drawn to cooking over an open fire, and that fire is the focal point of the dining room. He had great success with his FARE GAME food truck, and has done a nice job polishing up an old building kitty-corner from Hazels NE. We started with a beet aguachile ($14)—great texture, acidity, a perfect summer starter. You’re not going to want to skip the smoked cauliflower ($16), which really gets to the heart of what makes Black Duck different. Cauliflower spends some time in a guajillo marinade giving it some fruity and smoky undertones, then it’s smoked and topped with pickled carrots and pecan cream sauce. I could have eaten a couple of platters of this.

There’s a strong Mexican influence here, no surprise as Sawicki was chef de cuisine at Jose Alarcon’s Popul Vuh, and most recently has been working with Gustavo Romero Veytia at Nixta and Oro. You see that technique in the duck ($37). The mole amarillo was perfect, and the duck fat chochoyotes were such a great addition to the dish. Chochoyotes are a masa-based dough, fried like a doughnut, typically served in a Mexican soup. With the duck, it tied the flavors together and made for a super-fun starch component.

Honestly I’m still thinking about the flavors of the wood-fired fish ($36). On our visit, it was trout, served on top of a salsa morita, and seasoned with a mole verde. The crisp from the fire, a hint of smoke from the char, the bold flavors—just a delight.

There’s bar food on the menu, too—a smash burger, a duck burger, fried chicken, and fried bologna sandwiches. So Black Duck is trying to be a neighborhood spot, as well as a place worth a special visit.

I loved En Tus Sueños, a butterfly pea tea-infused Raicilla drink (Raicilla is an agave drink, like a cousin to tequila), the rum-hattan was great as well (spiced rum a hint of spice from Ancho Reyes)—both $15.

Black Duck Spirits & Hearth is booking reservations now . 2900 Johnson St. NE, Minneapolis, blackduckmpls.com

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