The Smoking Duck
There is smoked duck and then there is what Pepe Alfonso Raimundo does with duck.
There is smoke obviously, I imagine there must be some chanting and invocations, possibly some dancing around flames in a circle, all manner of herbs, spices and secrets rubbed, massaged and folded into it. There might be a few amulets and good juju hanging around or near it. It is probably prepared in tune with certain cycles of the moon, runes must be cast and rituals performed, a get-you-up-out-of-your-seat soundtrack blaring. And the ducks, the preparation and the act of sharing must be injected with copious amounts of love, joy and care until over-flowing.
This is what Pepe does, the man is a wizard.
The only fault with the man is that he has absolutely no sense of portion control, the only thing bigger than his dishes is his heart, generous to a fault, kind; he possesses inside of him a very rare and beautiful soul.
On Monday night, upstairs in Frank Baroudie and Guy Baldwin’s new ‘Loft’, (above Baldwin’s Bistro) I had dinner with two friends and associates from Le Dome winery in Saint Emilion.
Pairing their wine to Pepe’s smoked duck; one of them, (Nicolas) pushed his chair back, sat bolt upright and -staring at the plate with mild shock on his face- exclaimed, “This is the best-smoked duck I have ever had!” His colleague, (Xiao) quickly agreed.
I had a smirk on my face, looking down at the plate, preparing to insert another morsel of this juicy, tender miracle into my mouth. This, my friends, was something I already knew very very well, and this is just the beginning of the Pepe story.
