Duck Fat at Last

Years ago when a Russ, Carter and I were on a trip through Portland we tried to go eat at a great local restaurant called Duck Fat. Although we knew it was a highly rated place we did not think that we would have to wait more than four hours for a table. Needless to say we did not wait to eat that day.

Fast forward seven or so years and I finally got to have lunch at Duck Fat with my friend Warren and the only bad part was Russ and Carter were missing it. Duck Fat is known for its Belgian type French fries cooked in the namesake oil. You have your choice of five sauces and Warren and I got the horseradish mayo to share with our small fries. Of course it was not my sauce of choice since I wanted the Thai Chili Mayo, but Warren’s choice was delicious. If we had gotten the large we could have had two sauces, but that would have involved more guilt than I needed. Sharing a small was the right way to go.
We skipped their famous milk shakes and I had a special very small house smoked salmon salad with squash and strawberries. It sounds like a strange combination but it worked well. Warren had a turkey panini because he is a very white man. All good.

Since we had not eaten breakfast and had such Presbyterian sized servings at lunch Warren and I decided we deserved a cookie while we walked up and down the hills of Portland. We searched out a molasses ginger cookie amongst the many bakeries in the city. Portland is known for bakeries and breweries. We had no guilt about going into a bakery and looking around and leaving without purchasing if we did not find the exact right cookie.  
After four miles of walking we ended up settling on one from a place called Two Fat Cats that was just across the street from Duck Fat. It is not lost on me that Fat is in the name of both places. It was a fine cookie, just not as good at the Orange Julius ginger Cookie we had on Sunday in Belfast, from the antique/book and coffee shop. I have no business eating these cookies and I blame this all on Warren. It is a good thing I am only visiting him for a week in the summer. Now I just have to ween myself off sugar again.
One fabulously healthy thing I did have at Duck Fat was the special spritzer of the day, a lime and cucumber number with soda water. It was light and refreshing so I recreated it tonight back at Clam Cove with a little diet ginger ale. Time to cleanse.