Since opening in 2012, Odd Duck has been a Milwaukee culinary trendsetter. Small shareable plates and an ever-changing menu have been norm at the cozy Bay View restaurant, and have become the norm elsewhere. Now, with its five-year anniversary coming up in April, Odd Duck will look back on its influence with a party featuring throwback menu items and former chefs.
Slated for Sunday, April 30, the retrospective celebration will find chef and owner Ross Bachhuber working alongside fellow chefs, friends, and Odd Duck alumni Shay Linkus (The Vangaurd), Lisa Kirkpatrick and Paul Zerkel (Goodkind), and Dan Jacobs (DanDan). The menu will feature favorites from each of the chefs’ tenures at Odd Duck, as well as favorite cocktails.
“Right now we have way too many ideas for things we want to bring back,” says Bachhuber in a press release. “It’s been a crazy trip down memory lane just looking at all our old menus.”
No reservations will be accepted for the party; instead, the bar will open, per usual, at 3 p.m., with dinner service starting at 5 p.m. All proceeds will go to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee.
“This is going to be insanely fun,” says co-owner Melissa Buchholz. “It’s a thank you to the people of this incredible city who have supported us, a celebration of everyone who has worked here and helped us, a nostalgic look back at where the Milwaukee dining scene was five years ago and where it is now, and a chance for all of us to work together like we did in the beginning.”