Hey Eugene

Last weekend Alekka and I loaded our faithful pooch Bailey into the car for a quick trip up to Eugene in search of non-Medford back-to-school shopping, and to pay a visit to Alice. Alice has lived in Eugene for eight years now and I've been wanting to spend time with her on her home turf.

With Bailey comfortably ensconced in Alice's backyard, the humans headed out to Valley River Center for a full-on fashion fling at Forever 21, with me and Alice performing the all-important hanger-holding and opinion-offering functions. There is nothing quite like an afternoon of watching a middle-schooler questing for black and white vertical stripe pants to work up an appetite.

Alice has been wanting to try out a place called Belly that opened across from Fifth Street Market in the fall of 2008. She forwarded an article to me that included an interview with the chef/owners in which they expressed their commitment to the "snout to tail" philosophy, something that interests us both. There are a few restaurants like this in Portland, but Belly is the closest to home that I've heard about.

Alice tried to make a reservation but learned they only do that for parties of 4 or more, so we just headed over there when we'd had enough of the mall. By the time we arrived at about 8:00, the dinner rush was over and we got the last indoor table with no waiting. There were a few tables outside but I hadn't thought to bring a jacket; another time it would be nice to sit there (but beware, the train tracks run right next to the building and that train is LOUD when it comes through).

The menu, which changes monthly, is divided into appetizers, salads, small entrees, and larger entrees, with a separate dessert menu. Alice and I were somewhat disappointed (Alekka less so) to find little evidence of the snout-to-tail concept. There was a duck liver paté in the starters, chorizo with clams, and a house-made boudin blanc in the mains, but that was the extent of the innards. Perhaps "specialty meats" turned out not to be not so much a Eugene thing. However, the menu choices were varied and intriguing.

We started with two appetizers to share: duck liver and Madeira paté (served with dry-bread crackers, cornichons, bright green Castelvetrano olives, and pickled onion) and bacon-wrapped fresh figs with apple cider gastrique, toasted hazelnuts and a bit of radicchio. I have to admit that I have never met a duck liver paté I didn't like (with one notable exception, but that was due to morning sickness and not the paté itself, which under normal circumstances would undoubtedly have been delicious; unfortunately it ruined my interest in paté for duration of that particular visit to Paris). Belly's paté was smooth and rich. The figs were likewise more than satisfactory - warm, sweet, smoky, and salty, with a sauce that tasted like apple honey. Alekka was not excited about our appetizer selections but she did enjoy a few crackers and olives.

The relatively pedestrian salad offerings didn't spark any interest so next up were entrees. Alice and I had already ordered a bottle of white wine to share so although the Tunisian lamb stew with eggplant, harissa and herbed farro sounded wonderful I opted instead for halibut quenelles with crayfish sauce. This turned out to be the French classic quenelles de brochet with sauce Nantua except that here the brochet (pike) was replaced with more local halibut. The quenelles were light and the sauce was rich and creamy, just as they should be.

Alice chose pan-roasted Chinook salmon with sautéed cabbage, bacon and corn with a brown-butter sauce. Alice was a little surprised to find that the salmon (which she pronounced done to perfection) was served atop a mound of mashed potatoes instead of rice, but she enjoyed the two together with the browned butter. The vegetable accompaniment was also noteworthy.

For her entree, Alekka selected duck leg confit with red quinoa and fried green apple. Alekka adores duck breast the way we make it at home: rare with a crispy brown skin. I was worried that this dish might be too well cooked to meet her expectations and I tried to steer her toward a more familiar skirt steak with onion rings, but she was undeterred. Turns out I was wrong: she loved the duck, which was topped with a fatty lid of crispy skin and fried apple wedges. There was a lot of quinoa, which Alice and I were happy to finish off for her.

The portions are not huge, but generous enough that I couldn't consider dessert. Alice and Alekka were both up for a little more, though, so I got to try a bite of each of theirs. Our enthusiastic and informed waiter recommended the ice cream sandwich made with banana ice cream and sugar cookies, with the edges rolled in chopped bacon and served with caramel sauce. Alice went for that one. Alekka chose a triple-chocolate tart. Both were excellent, although the I think the ice cream sandwich would have been improved with slightly softer cookies. The tart didn't look very chocolaty when it arrived, but it turned out that beneath the light color on top the interior was dense and dark and very satisfying.

I have to say, the bacon trope is getting a little tired. I am pretty sure that not everything is better with bacon ( some of you will remember a similar thing going on with garlic in the 80s - chocolate dipped garlic cloves are not actually a very good idea, and yes, I did eat those at an upscale restaurant on our honeymoon in 1986) . But although we had bacon in our appetizer and one of the entree sides as well as in a dessert, it was a welcome addition every time. I guess you have to expect a bit of bacon in a restaurant with this logo.

The next morning we set out in search of some local color, and coffee. Alice recommended the Wandering Goat, located on the edge of the Whiteaker neighborhood. Dog-friendly coffeehouse by day, indie punk band venue by night, this place was perfect for the latte (with artistic foam, even!), mocha, and hot chocolate we needed to start the day - not to mention excellent people-watching. The Wandering Goat gets points for serving their 16 ounce hot drinks in heavy oversized breakfast cups instead of disposable paper to-go cups. They also sell organic bagels and pastries, many of them vegan, which are made on the premises.

Afterwards we took a walk around the Whiteaker. If I were to move to Eugene, this is where I would want to be. We weren't hungry yet but Alice highly recommends Sweet Life Patisserie for its rich and elegant pastries.

Our next stop was downtown, which is looking a little livelier after a post-mall slump in the 90s and early 2000s. A recent addition is an outpost of Voodoo Donuts, a Portland favorite that (speaking of the bacon thing) I've written bout before. Alice reports that in the first days after their Eugene opening, the line reached down the block and the store sold out of donuts within just a couple of hours. Now things have settled down a bit and we had only to wait a few minutes for our Old-fashioned (me), Jelly-filled (Alice), and Bubblegum (Alekka)(yuck).

A visit to Eugene is not complete without a stop at Trader Joe's. My list of TJ essentials has gotten shorter with time, but two-buck Chuck is still a good deal (even though it's three bucks in Oregon). And there are also those (rather disgusting, IMHO) Gummy-Tummy Penguins that Nik likes to abuse. That should give him something to look forward to after his month in Greece. The poor child. More on that later.

By the way, these are the pants - not to be found anywhere in Eugene.