Duck soup—or salad

I used to work near Chinatown in San Francisco, and on my lunch hour I would wander the crowded streets, admiring the roast ducks dangling in the steamy windows, succulent skin burnished deep reddish brown. Sacramento doesn’t have one neighborhood of such atmosphere-rich shops, but it has awfully good roast duck at Gentry BBQ Duck. This mod, spotless restaurant/café/takeout shop that shares space with a Tapioca Express roasts a fantastic duck, tasting richly of anise and packed for takeout with a complex sauce pungent with white pepper. I find it difficult not to pick at the skin on the way home (at great risk to my car’s interior), but what’s left makes a great salad with flavorful greens, some rice noodles and that sauce as dressing. Sometimes I miss wandering the old neighborhood, but I’ve become a big fan of roast duck that’s been, well, gentrified. 6905 Stockton Boulevard, (916) 429-2598.