Odd Duck, which opened nine years ago in a rented space in Bay View (2352 S Kinnickinnic Ave.), will move to a permanent home in Walker’s Point in early 2022. The building, at 939 S. Second St., is one that owners Melissa Buchholz and Ross Bachhuber purchased earlier this year. The building housed the now-shuttered Meraki restaurant.
“We really wanted to find Odd Duck a permanent home in a building we owned,” says co-owner Buchholz. “We love Bay View so much and will miss it immensely, but we are so excited to contribute to the already vibrant restaurant scene in Walker’s Point. And it’s literally just a few minutes north.”
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Odd Duck’s focus on small plates and shareable dishes emphasizing local ingredients will remain the same. But assets such as an expanded kitchen and storage space will give the kitchen and bar teams the chance to be even more creative. The new space also has a wood-fired oven. “It’s a game changer for us as far as what we are capable of doing in the kitchen,” says chef/co-owner Bachhuber. “In our current tiny kitchen we are always pushing the boundaries, trying to create the best and most interesting food we can within the parameters of the space. In the new space, the sky is the limit. We really will have the space and equipment to do whatever we can dream of. That’s the new challenge, figuring out how to limit ourselves.”
Seating at the new digs will almost double that of Bay View.
The plan is for Odd Duck to continue operating out of its Bay View space through the end of 2021. It will close for a month to make the move, then open at the new spot sometime in the late winter/early spring of 2022.
