About Us – Black Duck Spirits & Hearth
Chef Jason Sawicki has spent his entire career cooking in Minneapolis kitchens, working his way through some of the city’s most celebrated restaurants before realizing his dream of opening Black Duck Spirits & Hearth in Northeast Minneapolis.
Sawicki’s culinary journey began as an intern at Restaurant Alma, where he spent four years learning under James Beard Award-winning chef Alex Roberts. During his time there, he experienced firsthand the process of a restaurant earning a James Beard Award—an education that would shape his approach to cooking for years to come.
After Alma, Sawicki partnered with friends Ben Rients and Travis Serbus to open Lyn 65, followed by a food truck venture called Wyn 65. In 2018, he teamed up with chef José Alarcón to open Popol Vuh and Centro in Northeast Minneapolis, where he served as Culinary Director. When Popol Vuh earned a spot on the James Beard semifinalist list for Best New Restaurant in 2019, Sawicki felt confident enough to pursue a restaurant of his own.
Sawicki secured a building at 2900 Johnson Street NE and prepared plans for a restaurant slated to open in 2020. But when commercial SBA loans were halted in March due to the pandemic, everything stalled.
Rather than wait, Sawicki got creative. He contacted the buyer of his original Wyn 65 food truck and arranged to rent it back. That’s how Fare Game was born—operating in the very parking lot where he had hoped to open his restaurant. When it came time for a more permanent setup, he commissioned a custom food trailer built in Mexico, driving 1,200 miles to Texas in January 2021 to pick it up and bring it back to Minnesota.
For years, Fare Game served as a preview of what was to come, with Sawicki experimenting with hearth-style cooking while continuing to refine the restaurant’s design. By October 2023, financing was finally approved and construction began. During this time, Sawicki also worked alongside friends Gustavo and Kate Romero at Oro by Nixta, deepening his understanding of Mexican culinary traditions.
Black Duck Spirits & Hearth officially opened on July 24, 2024, nearly five years after Sawicki first envisioned it.
As a first-generation Polish-American, Sawicki’s heritage runs through the menu. “My dad’s whole family is very Polish, and I wanted to do something to show people my heritage,” he has said. You’ll find pierogi—glossy dumplings shaped like miniature scallops, filled with potato, dotted with chive—and pączki woven into the offerings alongside wood-fired American fare.
His years working with acclaimed Mexican chefs José Alarcón at Popol Vuh and Gustavo Romero at Oro have also left their mark. The restaurant’s signature duck entrée arrives with mole amarillo and duck fat chochoyotes, marrying French presentation with Mexican flavor and New American spirit. Fire, Sawicki says, “transcends cultural traditions.”
Every element of Black Duck centers around the wood-fired hearth that flanks the open kitchen. It’s more than a cooking method; it’s a philosophy. Sawicki fell in love with wood-fire cooking during his time at Popol Vuh, and at Black Duck, meats and vegetables are smoked over the hearth, giving dishes a subtle, soul-satisfying depth.
The restaurant occupies a low-slung white tavern building in a quiet corner of Northeast Minneapolis, kitty-corner from Hazel’s Northeast. It’s designed to be a neighborhood sanctuary—equally suited for casual weeknights and special occasions, for families and couples, for neighbors stopping by and visitors making the trip.