Ugly Duck
If someone said they were taking you out for ramen, what would you think? For me, the word ramen evokes the image of hungry college students chowing down at late hours. Traditionally, though, ramen is a far cry from dehydrated noodles and salt packets. Ugly Duck does ramen right. Rich fragrant broth, savory meats or tender tofu, plus tasty mix ins like crunchy pickled carrot, crispy fried kale, and many more mouthwatering combinations.
Ugly Duck was started by A.J. Swanda who began his journey by bringing his passion of Japanese Cuisine to restaurants in the Omaha area as pop up takeovers. For the uninitiated, like me, a popup takeover refers to a roving chef who takes over an existing restaurant’s kitchen for a limited time to serve a special meal. If you’ve never heard of a pop up, don’t feel bad. Although its extremely popular in large cities, A.J. was the first to do it in the Omaha Metro. Since then other ronin chefs have embraced the concept. He took over kitchens at the Night Owl, MULA, Archetype and other fun spots around the Omaha area. During a pop up, A.J. would change everything from the dish ware to the music.
As you can imagine, toting an entire restaurant’s worth of supplies was extremely taxing. When A.J. was ready to anchor Ugly Duck in a permanent home, he reached out to Charlie, the owner of the 88 series restaurants: Hiro 88, Pana 88, and Local-Beer, Patio, and Kitchen. Charlie was looking for a new experience to house in the Pana 88 space in Midtown, and Ugly Duck’s ramen could fill a void in the cuisine scene. They agreed to partner up, and after a short renovation Ugly Duck was off and quacking. With help from SecretPenguin (http://secretpenguin.com/) the restaurant was completely rebranded with slick new logos, menus, windows decals, and a great website where you can check out the menu and even make a reservation. A.J. says the new space comes with the same motto he’s always had: make customers happy first, and go from there.
Real ramen is new to Omaha and Ugly Duck is ready to change the way you perceive that word, taking it from “college food,” to indulgent cuisine. Check out their ever-changing menu at www.uglyduckstreetfood.com, and keep an eye out for Thanksgiving and Black Friday deals on their Facebook page!
