Fly North: The Wild Duck Cafe (Coburg Rd. Edition)

Remember when BJ's was just an overcrowded chain restaurant with a terrible parking lot in a scrunched up corner of Coburg at Willakenzie? Yeah, it seems like forever ago because the Gigantoplex that is the new BJ's fits in at VRC like kittens with YouTube cameras, I know. But hey, whatever happened to that strange little space it used to occupy over by Safeway and Dairy Queen and Sheldon?

Oh, right: It became the second wing of the Wild Duck Cafe franchise. The original Wild Duck is down by campus, and that, right there, is the reason I've never been. I'm getting old and cranky and I regularly tote 20 pounds of cranky old baby with me, so finding a parking space near campus and The Matt (sigh) that won't get us killed or make us want to kill anyone is too much effort. However, a new cafe in a familiar old place? Sure!

The bottom line is this: If you aren't eating breakfast at the Wild Duck Cafe -- and you're not, because I've personally checked -- then you're missing out.

Two Cheers: Three Forks Wok and Grill

The avalanche of groupon-imitators that began last summer has brought C and I to a near-stand still on eating. We have a basket full of coupons and can never decide where to go next -- in part because once we use one, we usually want to go back to that place immediately. Such has been the case with Three Forks Wok & Grill, a restaurant we frequently shop and study near, but not one I regularly craved, until a half-off coupon reminded me of the beauty of their sweetly-crunchy slivered almonds set atop coconut curry, jasmine rice, and tofu.

Three Forks is a Eugene-grown business that has semi-recently expanded from a single storefront in the Willamette south strip mall to a second location in the Delta Oaks area. It is also a regular participant in every festival that cascades through Eugene in the summer -- my first taste of their wares, in fact, was at the UO's Street Fare, nearly five years ago.

The menu here is eclectic and difficult to define except in the way that the sign does: all of the food is either grilled or cooked on the wok. Another way to describe this place: it's a local, pan-Asian Chipotle model.

It's Delightful, It's Delicious, it's De... vegan?: Divine Cupcakes

I have an apology to make.

I have tasted The Divine Cupcake's wares a few times before, but not under optimum circumstances. I've had them at food fairs three times: twice under a sun that's normally illegal in Oregon and once during a downpour no one was prepared for. I've also had them late in the day in a coffee shop, where they had been sitting in a plastic case that was probably left open for a few hours during the morning rush. Every time, I've been enticed by the flavor combinations -- real ginger in your gingerbread cupcake? Sure! -- and each time, I've been disappointed by a slightly dry cake under admittedly scrumptious frosting.

My apology is this: I have blamed veganism, and for this, I am sorry. I should, instead, have blamed the weather, the venues, and my own sorry supposition that it's ever fair to judge a food when it's out in the wild instead of on its home turf. These aren't Cheetos we're dealing with, after all -- they're sweet little baked goods. There is a certain required delicacy that must be respected.

So I went on safari to stalk the Divine Cupcake in its lair on 11th Street recently, and I've discovered that my earlier samples were, indeed, not representative. In fact, the cupcakes I tasted there -- and took home in a box -- were spongy, fresh, and rich in flavor. The choco-classic cupcake is dark and satisfying; the pumpkin chocolate chip was so moist as to put pumpkin pie to shame (or at least to bring it to mind). They actually stayed very tasty for two additional days, as we picked new samples from the refrigerated box.

My blood-orange cupcake on a more recent visit sung with notes of real fruit under its flat chocolate topping, and C's "Tao of Green Tea" cupcake (matcha green tea cake, green tea frosting) tasted like a cup of tea itself -- warm, rich, and strangely refreshing.

Like with most dining experiences, the atmosphere is key; thus, the extremely cute Divine Cupcake storefront is almost necessary to the experience. Walk in, and you'll find a pleasant coffee-shop front lounge, with a small couch and two matching armchairs, a few tables, and a four- or five-seat bar. Local art (some of it referencing cupcakes, and all of it for purchase) hangs on the colorful walls. Just past all of this lies the shop, where not only the cupcakes but all of the cupcake accoutrement is kept. There are cupcake accessories (tiny wooden sticks that say, "Happy Birthday!" for you to use at will), there is cupcake art, there are cute bags and lamps and virtually anything one would need to start a book group where no one really reads the book but instead gets together to eat sweets.

And oh, the sweets. They are displayed in a two-level case, and on my visits -- even late in the day -- there have been at least eight varieties on display, plus several others in the mini category. Cupcakes are available in two kinds: standard ($2.50 for a regular sized cupcake; $1.25 for a mini) and gourmet ($3/$1.50). The difference seems to be one of fanciness and imagination. Standards include chocolate, peanut butter, vanilla, fruit (banana, lemon, raspberry, etc.), and maple; Gourmet selections include red velvet, lime coconut, coffee, carrot, and mango, among others. Nearly all of the cupcakes can be special ordered without sugar or gluten or soy, but those in the case are only guaranteed to be vegan and organic (except on certain days, when there will be sugar-free or gluten-free guarantees -- see store or twitter for details). There are also drinks on offer: cappuccinos and lattes, using any kind of milk (cow included) that you can think of, European-style drinking chocolates, and a tea list that makes C get a little emotional (in a good way).

My only concern, having now gone native to experience the wild, divine little beasts in their natural habitat, is that it can be a little tricky to know what's what. Strangers from strange lands might walk in and find that only four of the eight cupcakes have labels, and if there's a crush of people (which, on Friday night -- game night! -- there certainly was) it can be difficult or embarrassing to have to ask for each flavor to be explained.

There are, however, kind cupcake guides to aid you -- and on every visit, there have also been many cupcake veterans to offer suggestions, too. This place is a magical, mysterious blend of everything Eugene has to offer: vegan tastiness, hippie culture, free wifi, and trendy little treats, all in one (biodegradable? I bet it is!) little paper wrapper.

Location: 1680 W. 11th, Eugene
Hours: Monday through Thursday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday 10-7. Notes: They also offering catering and advanced orders via their web site, and their baked good are available in a variety of shops around town.

Thanks for doing the dishes: Cafe Yumm

Let me answer for what may not even be a burning question at your house: Is it possible to like Cafe Yumm without loving their namesake Yumm Sauce? Yes, my friends. It is.

Let's back up and talk about the sauce: It's an "egg-free, dairy-free, wheat-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, and low sodium" sauce that, if the Internet's imitation recipes are correct, consists mostly of hummus ingredients, curry, and a lot of nutritional yeast. The combination is stunning and strong, as it's meant to be: it's a sauce that's supposed to be the star of whatever dish it tops, be it plain brown rice or a bowl full of beans and spices and relishes. It comes on almost anything you order at Cafe Yumm, because they know that it's what makes their otherwise easy-to-fix-at-home dishes something you'd leave your house for.

Yet here I am, someone who doesn't dig the special sauce, and I still get a Cafe Yumm craving from time to time. Why?

Mostly, it has to do with avocados and a little dish called the Chilean Zucchini Yumm Bowl.

Meet your meat in Veganland: Keystone Cafe

It took me three years of living in Eugene to make it over to Keystone Cafe for the first time, and then I went there about three weekends in a row. That's been a while, and I just revisited the place today to find, somewhat reassuringly, that nothing has changed at what remains one of the real staples of what I'd call "Only in Eugene" cuisine.

Keystone serves breakfast and lunch -- well, I've heard they serve lunch, and their menu testifies to that fact, but I've never tried it and I don't know anyone who has. It's basically a breakfast place for mixed crowds of vegetarians, vegans, and those who hang out with and encourage/tolerate us while secretly wishing everything came with sausage gravy on the side. At Keystone, you can have your vegan toast and your sausage-gravy coated biscuits, too, sometimes on the same plate.

The omelettes are the first things listed on their runs-the-gamut breakfast menu, and that's because they do them pretty well. Roasted red peppers and pesto? Sure! Avocado cream cheese? Yes, please. Greek? Spanish? Olé! These are three-egg omelettes served with big chunks of spiced potato home-fries and a slice of vegan bread. I'll come back to that. The price is around $8-$9, depending on what you want in your omelette. You can add meat -- real or fake -- for another couple of bucks.

What kind of meat? The kind that's sung a lullaby before it's rocked to death and thrown into a pan of vegan oil to be fried. Nitrate-free bacon; turkey ham; hormone-free beef patties; chorizo; salmon; or tuna. They're available as sides or sometimes as the star of the show, in traditional dishes like the aforementioned biscuits and sausage gravy (C gives it two thumbs up). Most of the time, though, they're offered as an option, with tofu, homemade tempeh, or the Keystone protein patty available for substitution.

In terms of vegan fare, you can get tofu scrambles, brown-rice based dishes, a nice mix of Mexican-inspired non-Huevos Rancheros combinations, and toppings including a cremini mushroom "sausage" gravy, Nutritional Yeast gravy, or tomato-veggie sauce. I like eggs, so omelettes have been on the table for me several times, but I can also testify to the tastiness of their sliced and fried polenta.

And, oh yeah, the bread.

There are five varieties of vegan bread available, all baked with organic flours: Sourdough Dill; Mixed Grain; Herb; White; or Spelt Rye Oat. I think one of these is sometimes defined as "wheat" bread, but I'm not sure. I love the White. It's dense and short, about half the height of your standard sandwich bread and twice as firm. Maybe three times as firm, once it's toasted, so that it stands up to the butter-vegan spread mix (really, it's butter mixed with margarine) that comes on top and is a perfect companion for the thick, sweet blackberry jam that sits in old squeeze bottles on every table. Each time I visit Keystone, I tell myself this will be the time that I order nothing but bread and jam for breakfast, and each time, I'm tempted instead by something with eggs or peppers. I end up paying $2 to get two slices of bread anyway.

Seating is inside or out, year-round; the porch has a small covered area that seats about six parties comfortably, with heat lamps for the winter months. Sitting out there can be quite lovely, particularly because it offers a better atmosphere to enjoy while you're alternately forgotten by or hovered over by your server. I've had both experiences every time I've been at Keystone: a lot of initial attention, and then a long, long pause. If you aren't ready to order right as you walk in (and the menu is long, but filled with similar items, making decisions difficult), you'll wait quite a while to establish your order, and then longer to see that order come to fruition.

It doesn't matter. It's a place you go with friends, on a weekend morning or a rainy, empty weekday, to enjoy three or four (if you're me) cups of over-creamed coffee and the constant stream of watchable people and delightfully strange conversations. Keystone is a product of its neighborhood and its town as much as any place I can think of in Eugene, and it's very comfortable.

Location: 5th and Lawrence

Hours: Every day: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A Vegetable Love Story: Ratatouille

Once upon a time, there was a blogging girl and a guy who was afraid of Facebook who used to get together for coffee/drinks/French fries nearly every afternoon at Midtown. There they sampled Manhattans and Old Fashioneds and talked about their various writings and readings and friends and what-have-you. Sometimes, they left Midtown and went in search of dinner together, but not together, because they were just friends.

Of course this story has a twist into more than friends territory, and though it's hard to mark an exact beginning for that twist, one of the major bumps along the way involved a dinner invitation. Just across the street from Midtown, there's a tiny little bistro-looking place called Ratatouille. Now, our hero (ahem) happens to be a vegetarian, and so she'd heard that Ratatouille was extremely friendly to folks like her. The guy -- should we just go ahead and call him C? -- was a fairly enthusiastic meat eater, someone who had, on a recent outing, eaten three McDonald's cheeseburgers without breaking the slightest what's-in-this sweat.

So it came as something of a surprise when he suggested we dine there.

It was a lovely meal. I had a pasta in a cashew cream sauce that wasn't that far removed from the cheesy cream sauces that you'd find nearly anywhere, save that no butter or real cream had touched the whole wheat noodles. C had the blue cornmeal empanadas, which came with artful pools of chocolate mole and crema. We were the only people in the restaurant that night, and our service came at the hands of someone we suspected was the owner, who talked us into a shared piece of vegan German Chocolate Cake.

Once you've found a cheeseburger-lover who's completely content to share vegan cake with you, well -- vegetarian girls, you know what I'm talking about.

So, anniversaries. It's now been just over a year since C and I upgraded from "all the time hanging out" to this dating thing, and that required a celebration last weekend. We went back to Ratatouille and found only one significant change: there were several parties of diners enjoying the place, which made for a warm, bubbling atmosphere of conversation and celebration along with allowing for much more admiration of other people's food.

We started with an appetizer of an heirloom tomato, cut horizontally and layered with fresh basil leaves that had been lightly tossed with a gentle greenish curry dressing (which also dotted the plate).

^{Eggplant Parm}

For the main dishes, we both went with eggplant: I had the eggplant parmesan, which comes on a bed of polenta made with a very, very few mushrooms and green beans. The eggplant was perfectly cooked, soft but not falling apart, lightly breaded, coated with orange cheese, and topped with an acidic, salty tomato sauce that would have been too intense were it not for the cooling, creamy polenta underneath.

^{C's Eggplant dinner}

C had an eggplant dish that involved slightly custardy eggplant slices with layers of smoked onion ratatouille between them. Of the two dishes, I thought his won; he said he'd order mine next time.

There was no room for dessert or even for the fresh hibiscus tea that one hostess suggested, nor for the extremely tasty-looking pot pies that kept drifting by. I struggled with the choice between the eggplant, the zucchini lasagna (which can be made vegan), or the house pasta special of whole wheat noodles with sauteed squash and that same, tasty cashew cream sauce and toasted hazelnuts.

This is one of the few places in Eugene where it feels appropriate, maybe even necessary, to dress up (though strangely our waitress wore shorts). Maybe the prices -- ranging from $15 to $20 a plate for an entree; $7-$9 an appetizer -- are part of what makes Ratatouille feel fancy, but some of it is also a cultivated, quiet, artful atmosphere that the chef himself creates through careful displays of food in portions that encourage you to savor each bite.

Highly recommended.

Location: 1530 Willamette St.

Hours: Lunch: Monday through Friday 11-2 p.m.; Dinner: Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 9 p.m.

The Unlikely Vegetarian Haven: Red Robin Gourmet Burgers

Well, I said from the get-go I don't shy away from chains, and I mean to put paid to that statement. On my top five list of cravings, Boca Burgers always hover somewhere in the top three (polenta and ice cream have at times displaced it), and at some point two years ago, I realized that Red Robin does them very well.

I long considered Red Robin to be the kind of place that you'd stop after a day spent at an amusement park, with a couple of cranky kids in tow, because inside you'd find only a slightly less circus-like atmosphere in which you could (for a price that's only slightly lower than the robbery-on-Main-Street-U.S.A. prices of Disney World) pick up some consistently mediocre food that would make the whole family happy, or at least silently greasy. And yeah, it is that place, but let me say a few words in its favor: bottomless steak fries.

I really dig steak fries.

The menu at Red Robin is pretty basic: burgers. Mostly, these are $9-$10 burgers with fries. There are variations on burgers in three sections: actual burgers, chicken burgers, and other dishes that have burger associations: salads with grilled chicken sliced on top, wraps that are just burgers in a tortilla, and sliders and a prime-rib dip. For no apparent reason except perhaps as a nod to the two people who would go to Red Robin that don't like burgers, there's now Macaroni and Cheese and a Pesto Pasta on the menu, but... why?

So, these burgers. They come with all kinds of toppings: guacamole and bacon; barbecue sauce and onion strings; fried jalapeños and pepper jack cheese; onions and mushrooms; a fried egg. You can add an extra patty to any burger, if the original third-pounder isn't enough for you. Any burger, including the chicken sandwiches, can be swapped out for a Boca patty, and this is where my love begins to bloom.

I order the Banzai Burger just about every time I visit: Boca patty drenched in teriyaki sauce, grilled pineapple, cheddar cheese, tomato, and mayo. Now, Boca patties aren't hard to cook -- they need only the slightest heat to become edible -- but they are really, really best when they've been done on a grill, and that's what happens here. Sure, they still come out looking pale and a bit squashy next to an actual beef burger, but, you know what? It's good. And unlike nearly every other carnivore-invested restaurant I can think of, the upgrade to meatlessness is free. (Which, yeah, at $9.49 for the Banzai, it should be).

My tip for dining at Red Robin without losing your mind is very simple: eat in the bar. It's open seating (so no wait, even on a Friday night); it's 21 and over (so no kids complaining about their chicken strips); no one ever goes to that side to celebrate their birthday (so no singing or visits from Red, the restaurant's costumed mascot); and the service is fast, friendly, and efficient. Do I want more fries? Heck yeah, I do, and thanks for the refill.

It's cheesy to say this, but some of the best restaurant service experiences I've ever had in a chain restaurant have been at the Eugene Red Robin. The staff is courteous and professional; they know the menu inside and out; and they pay attention. I've even had a good experience here when the place was taken over by the Eugene Police and Firemen for a fundraiser.

And -- they never scoff at my Boca order. I absolutely give them points for that.

Location: 1221 Executive Parkway -- right next to VRC at Goodpasture Island Loop.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday - Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Sidecar: The Best Grilled Cheese

I am a vegetarian who doesn't like lettuce, rarely likes salad, and loves to eat at diners. This means I know a lot about grilled cheese. I say the following with confidence:

The best grilled cheese is not made at home. Oh, go ahead and argue this -- your grandma made the best grilled cheese with tomato soup. Well, maybe so, but in general, really good grilled cheese (see definition below) is not made in personal kitchens. Why? For several reasons:

The best grilled cheese has a crispy outer crust and a soft, bready interior. This is achieved by searing bread on a hot, greasy grill, and it is achieved by cooks with access to melted butter, a brush, and absolutely no compunction about using it lavishly. Most home-cooks who make grilled cheese actually make something closer to a toasted cheese sandwich, by definition, where any color changes on the bread are a result of heat but not, sadly, the kind of frying that comes from a hot, greasy, diner-type flat grill.

The best grilled cheese has a gooey, thick, but not overpowering cheese center. There are two pitfalls that home cooks make here: not the right amount of cheese and not the right kind of cheese.

Viva La Cart Culture: Viva! Vegetarian Grill

There's a reason Viva! Vegetarian Grill place has a 100% approval rate on Urbanspoon. If you go, you go because you know what you're getting into: cart vegetarian food. Now, if you're reasonable, you know this could go very wrong, and so when it doesn't -- when they hand you over your steaming fake philly cheesesteak after only a few moments -- you feel relief. I haven't been taken for a ride, you think, even before you take your first bite.

And that first bite, well, that's what usually separates the day traders from the pros, the part-time vegetarians from the faithful. Part-time vegetarians get excited over things that taste like vegetables, over weird combinations, things that make being a vegetarian "special" and "fun." Long-term vegetarians, in my experience, form two lines: the vegan line and the line that, on occasion, wants something reminiscent of their meat-eating days without the attendant meat.

Viva satisfies the second group. The first group might be happy there, too, though only if they bring their own salad.

Here, we have the aforementioned Fake Philly, which is, incidentally, vegan, complete with a cashew "cheese" sauce. Does that sound troubling? If so, don't go. If you read "cashew 'cheese' sauce" and think, why would you do that?, well, you haven't had cashew "cheese" sauce. You have to understand the subculture of "food in quotes." I live here. I eat "burgers" all the time. And I loved my "Philly" with cashew "cheese" sauce. So did C, who still -- from time to time -- ventures into real Philly land. The sandwich was large and satisfying, hot, salty, and with enough fake meat and real veggies to make it a thing of lunch glory: a one-stop.

But since we were sampling, this wasn't the only thing I tried. I also picked up a little basket of the tempeh satay, which came with a phenomenal (and simple) peanut dip. When the two sticks of (normal, blandish) tempeh were gone, C and I both eyed the little paper cup with the peanut dip inside, pretty much ready to fight for the right to lick out the insides. I can't remember who won (me).

C also tried the Tempeh Reuben. This has been a mistake at every place he's ever tried it, and I think Viva! was the cart that finally convinced him to take the Veg Reuben on its own terms, to not compare it to meaty adventures past. Seen in that light, it was something he liked, though I'm not sure it's an adventure he'd try again. Still, the sauce here was good again, and it inspired confidence in the cooks. C was also delighted by the condiment bar, where one could load up on several typical dressings in addition to sauerkraut, vegan cheese, raw onions, and something called "Charlie's Numb Sauce" that called out to me -- to avoid it.

On our next trip -- and you bet there will be one -- C's got his eye on the Fake Philly. Me? I'm thinking summer is probably a great time to try Viva's Polish Soysage, since I liked the caramelized onions so much on the first trip.

Viva! Vegetarian is installed in a parking lot on Willamette street, so this is pretty much dedicated to-go food. (There are a few -- maybe three? -- chairs provided in a covered area, but at lunch time, I bet that space is really scarce). You can also call or text ahead orders to 541/595-VIVA, which seems like a good bet if you're in a hurry.

Location: Willamette and 12th, east side parking lot
Hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekdays only
Discounts: $.50 off if: a) you ride your bike there; b) you show a student ID; or c) it's raining.