The idea of Domek started with a walk through a freezer section in a chain grocery store that made chef Andrew Hroza a little homesick for his native Chicago. 

Hroza and his wife, Sarah Oliver — both owners of Domek — wanted to have an easy, simple dinner of pierogies. Growing up in Chicago, Hroza was used to seeing pierogies, a type of filled dumpling with Polish roots, readily available, whether at a deli or in a freezer section next to pre-made pizzas. 

“You can go to the deli section at any grocery store. You’ll see ham, the cheeses and potato salads,” he says. “But you’ll also see 12 different flavors of pierogies.”

Years after that stroll through a freezer section, Domek is a way to cure the ills of homesickness for Hroza and for so many in Eugene. The restaurant opened its doors in June and it’s warming the hearts of so many who enter.

“The amount of people that I get to interact with and hear about their Hungarian ancestry, their Polish ancestry, their Czech ancestry is so cool,” says Oliver, who’s the restaurant’s maître d. “Because you realize there is a population of Eastern Europeans in Eugene and we’ve made something for them. It’s been especially gratifying.”

Located where Black Wolf Supper Club was at 454 Willamette Street in downtown Eugene near the train station, Domek focuses on the Eastern European fare that Hroza and Oliver have fine-tuned over the years through their travels and life abroad in Europe, but also as a tribute to Hroza’s upbringing.

“There’s a certain smell that is reminiscent of the kitchen of my grandparents, like when the onions are sweating in bacon fat,” Hroza says. 

Hroza and Oliver moved to Eugene from Copenhagen, Denmark, to start the Ninkasi Better Living Room restaurant in 2019. The restaurant closed in 2023, but they fell in love with Eugene and felt like it was the perfect place for their family to settle, while also recognizing the Willamette Valley as a “chef’s paradise” because of the easy access to fresh produce. 

“We like it here, and we’re going to build something to keep us here,” Hroza says. 

Shortly after Ninkasi closed Better Living Room, Hroza started working with an Eastern European roots menu as a popup at Alesong Brewery. Then he and his family took off for several weeks to romp overseas, exploring food and taking their son on a heritage trip through Eastern Europe. They did a chef’s pilgrimage to Lyons, France, and Hroza brought along his knives and work shoes to work in kitchens for 10 days in Prague, Czech Republic. Called staging, Hroza says it’s one of the best ways for any working or aspiring chef to learn the art of cooking. 

“We learned living in Denmark that restaurants are a community that want to teach you things in the sense of sharing and learning with each other,” Hroza says. “The rule in the culinary world is to make it better or make it your own.”

Staging in Europe is what inspired Hroza to import — tariff free — the recipe for the chicken paprikás sauce. Paprikás is mostly known in the U.S. as being a sort of wintery thick and meaty hunter’s stew. But Domek takes an approach similar to what people may find in Prague and Budapest restaurants, Oliver says. 

“We do it in a way that’s showcasing the paprika and the roasted red pepper,” Hroza says. “We basically make it light and frothy. It’s room temperature, and meant to be light, airy and summery.”

Don’t let the stereotypes of Eastern European foods fool you over the region’s dishes. The restaurant may include the borscht or other heavy stews in the wintry months, but Hroza says that Eastern European food is misunderstood as a culture that only eats potato and fermented vegetables. 

“In the summertime and in spring, it’s all about what’s coming out of the garden and working with seasonality,” Hroza says. 

The menu focuses on some of the more underappreciated food sourced in Oregon. Oliver points to their shrimp toast, which features Oregon bay shrimp. “It’s a signature to us. It’s super sustainable and delicious, briny, sweet and tender,” Oliver says. 

As a bistro, Domek’s food and drinks aren’t always fixtures on the menu. It changes depending on what Hroza finds at the farmers market or what the restaurant’s bar director, Matthew Kravitz, is developing, whether it’s an infusion of peppers and vodka or if it’s a Pride-themed “Love is Love” drink that combines butterfly pea flower, lime, orange and rum. 

“If something comes up on Instagram or something comes up on the menu for the week, get in here and try it then,” Oliver says. “Because that’s what a bistro is, it’s there for a night, and then it’s gone.” 

But it all adds to the sense of being a European-style communal space that fits the mood of the patron, whether it’s a drink and appetizer after work or a celebration. And the decor wraps it all into that feeling. 

Domek’s decor has a sense of hygge, a Danish word that captures the sense of coziness, which Oliver says they learned the art of while living in Denmark. The restaurant has revitalized church pews and a China cabinet that may conjure memories of your grandparent’s home. And homeyness is what Hroza and Oliver aim for with Domek. In fact, that’s what the name references. Polish for “cottage,” the word evokes the feeling of a second home, Oliver says. 

“It’s a nod to his grandma’s home,” she says. “But also that it is a little home for the community of Eugene outside of their ‘domes.’”

Domek is at 454 Willamette Street. Hours are 5 pm to 11 pm Wednesday through Saturday. Make reservations at DomekEugene.com. 454-544-1312.