It was great last week to head back to Restaurant Eugene to try chef-owner (and James Beard Award nominee) Linton Hopkins’ (left) new menu. If you’re a longtime favorite of the restaurant, don’t despair: plenty of your favorites, such as the vegetable plate with local, seasonal veggies and polenta-style grits and the excellent cheese offerings are still available, just in smaller form.

The menu is presented backwards, with a list of farms and purveyors used. Inside, things get more complicated — split between “fish,” “vegetables” and “meat and game,” the choices are a little overwhelming. Selections start at the top of the page with smaller plates and get larger as you make your way towards the bottom, with prices (from $4 to $44) following that suit.

The food is every bit as good as it has ever been on past visits — plump, seared scallops over creamy Cope’s corn and charred spring onions were a sweet harbinger of warmer weather, and a dim sum-inspired roasted pork belly tucked into fluffy Parker House rolls was a fun, tasty diversion from Hopkins’ traditional Southern style.

My only complaint is that there is simply too much from which to choose. And it’s all good, so that makes it even harder. The menu could be cut in half and still offer plenty of varied goodies. Service was better than usual — very attentive, with few lulls between courses, and we probably wore out our welcome by staying well after 11 p.m. It was worth the groggy head the next day …