Road Tips

Mader's - Milwaukee

On a recent trip up through Wisconsin, I was having a particularly hard time with restaurants of choice.  One evening in LaCrosse, I had hoped to eat at a Cajun restaurant in the downtown area.  But when I walked in, it was dark and empty.  A guy came up from the back and I said, "Are you open?"

He said, "The power's out.  We lost our power about an hour ago and there's no telling when it will come back on.  Power's out all over downtown."  Well, that pretty much put a kibosh on my second and third option for eating in downtown LaCrosse that evening, so I ended up at a Buffalo Wild Wings near my hotel.  As you probably know, my number one rule while traveling is to never eat at a chain - especially a chain that I can eat at while I'm home.  But of all the chains, I do like BW3 pretty well. 

A couple days later on a trip between Green Bay and Milwaukee, I stopped into Port Washington, WI anticipating a great dinner at Smith Brothers Fish Shanty.  As I pulled up in front of the restaurant I looked inside and saw an empty shell.  It turns out Smith Brothers Fish Shanty had gone out of business about three years ago.  Could it be that long since I'd last been there?  I guess it had.

I then pulled out my list of places that were given to me by Bob and Casey Kelly as to recommendations of Milwaukee eateries they gave their wedding guests last year.  I found a place on the near north side of Milwaukee called Pizza Man, a great little pizza place that was highly recommended by Milwaukee native Casey.  As I pulled up in front of where my GPS directed me to Pizza Man, I encountered an empty lot.  No Pizza Man.  No building.  Nothing.  I found out the next day that Pizza Man had suffered a horrible fire in January of this year.  They had to tear the building down and at last report were still looking to re-open at another location. 

So, with that sort of luck that week I thought I'd just go to my hotel in downtown Milwaukee, check in and head over to the always good and always reliable Mader's German restaurant for dinner that evening on historic N. Old World 3rd St. a block from the Bradley Center (see map).    

Mader's is probably the best known German restaurant in a city that has some world class German restaurants.  In fact, at one point Mader's was voted the most famous German restaurant in the United States.  Since 1902, Mader's has been serving up some of the best German cuisine anywhere.  It wasn't until Prohibition hit in 1919 that founder Charles Mader put more of an emphasis on food.  When Prohibition ended in 1933, Mader's was the first place to serve beer in Beer City USA.  

Charles Mader's sons, Gustave and George, took over the restaurant after the death of their father in 1938.  When World War II came around, the Mader brothers de-emphasized the German concept to the restaurant, but that didn't hurt their overall business.  

In the late 50's, George Mader passed away and Gus took over the full operation of Mader's.  In 1961, Gus' son, Victor, enrolled in the restaurant management program at Michigan State University.  After graduation, Victor traveled Europe and learned first hand about the German cuisine his grandfather's homeland offered.  In 1964, Victor came back to work in the family business.  Victor continues to run the business today.

In the mid-70's, Victor Mader, along with his wife, Wendy, began to accumulate a number of artifacts and artwork dating back to the late medieval period of history.  Over the past 30 plus years, the Mader's have collected everything from suits of armor, weapons, statues and artwork to display at the restaurant.  Today, Mader's has over $3 million dollars worth of antiques and art on display throughout the restaurant. 

Also, Mader's has the distinction of being one of the world's largest dealers for Hummel figurines and authentic German-made decorative collectible beer steins.  Their second floor is home to their gift shop that houses these large collections.  However, Mader's will also set up a small shop to sell steins and figurines at Summerfest each year.   

It was about 8:30 when I got into Mader's.  While there's a number of places to park in a parking garage near the restaurant, Mader's also has a large valet parking lot with a covered area that allows customers to stay dry as they get out of their vehicles.  

The dining room was about half full when I checked in with the hostess.  I noticed that nary a person was in the bar area - the Knights Bar.  I asked if I could sit in there and the hostess led me to the bar and dropped off a menu for me to look through.  The female bartender, dressed in a German style dress with black tights - same as the waitress' attire - asked me if I wanted something to drink.  I took a quick look to see what they had to offer on tap and saw Spaten Oktoberfest.  Spaten now makes their Oktoberfest available year round.  And I do like their Oktoberfest.

When she brought me my stein of beer, she also brought me a basket of Mader's famous onion rolls.  These light, fluffy and soft rolls are just addicting.  I devoured both rolls almost right away, they were so good.  The taste sensation of the rolls brought back memories of my previous visits to Mader's. 

It had been quite sometime since I'd last been in Mader's.  I'm trying to think the exact last time, but I think it was on my first trip to Milwaukee with my present company nearly 8 years ago.  My first trip to Mader's was a memorable one - I rode up from Chicago after the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in 1988 (back when there used to be a Summer C.E.S. in Chicago) with my then boss and a dealer of his and his wife.  The dealer was based in St. Louis but had grown up in Milwaukee and had always been raving about how great the food was at Mader's.  I believe I had the sauerbrauten that time and I remember it being just excellent.  

I believe I had the weiner schnitzel on my last visit, so I was looking at something else to get that evening.  I had talked to my cousin who used to live in Milwaukee earlier in the evening to inform him of Smith Brothers Fish Shanty closing down and I told him that I was just going to cut my losses in trying to find a new place that night and just go over to Mader's.  He said, "I do like their Hungarian goulash a lot." 

Mader's Hungarian Beef Goulash starts with braised sirloin tips cooked in a sauce with Hungarian paprika (Mader's gets their spices from The Spice House, whose original location is just a couple three doors down from the restaurant), and caramelized onions in a rich brown sauce.  It's served over homemade spaetzel and served with a side of spinach.  

I had also looked at getting Mader's Sauerbraten again - they marinate the beef for 10 days and oven roasted.  It's then topped with a Bavarian ginger sauce.   Oh, man.  That just sounds great! 

I was so torn between a number of items including Mader's Bavarian Sausage Platter - they have a simmered knackwurst and a grilled bratwurst with a slice of Mader's Kassler Rippchen (smoked pork chop) and a side of sauerkraut and a potato dumpling.  (Mader's is also located literally across the street from Usinger's - my favorite sausage maker on this planet.  Usinger's provides Mader's with their sausages.)  Plus, the Beef and Mushroom Strudel - marinated beef sauerbraten with grilled onions, sauteed mushrooms and smoked ham added into a rolled up pastry and baked with cheese, then topped Mader's Bavarian brown ginger sauce. 

Oh, man - I've got to quit writing this blog on an empty stomach.  My gut is literally doing jumping-jacks right now.

I took the cue from my cousin - I ended up getting the Hungarian beef goulash.  And I'm glad I did.  It was just superb.  The braised sirloin tips were very, very tender.  The paprika and onion sauce was just absolutely fabulous, as well.  I didn't get much of a hint of paprika - I would have used more in the sauce - but that was fine with me.  The spaetzel was very good, as well.  The little bit of spinach on top of the beef sauce was sort of limp and lifeless, both in presentation and taste.  But there was no doubt about the Hungarian goulash.  It was just fabulous.

Of course, I had another onion roll with dinner and I had to have a couple more beers before I left.  With a nice tip for the waitress/bartender, it came to around $50 bucks for dinner at Mader's - not a cheap place to eat by any means.  But when you're heralded as being the best German restaurant in not only Milwaukee, but in the U.S., I suppose you can get a premium price for your meals.  

I still think Kegel's Inn in West Milwaukee (a place I've visited many times in the past, but for some reason I don't have an entry on Kegel's on Road Tips) is a better value than Mader's.  And there are some locals who feel Karl Ratzsch's has better German/Bavarian food than Mader's.  I'll have to try that place some day.  I'll be in Milwaukee a lot over the next few months and I'll have to give those places a try and report back.  But they'll have to really bring their "A" game if they're going to beat Mader's.

Maxie's Southern Comfort - Milwaukee

I have a good Cambridge Audio dealer in Milwaukee and I wanted to reward them one evening a few weeks ago with a nice meal at a restaurant of their choice.  They've turned me on to a number of great restaurants - and equally great dive bars - in the Milwaukee area over the years.  They proposed going to a west side Cajun restaurant that's been open for about three years called Maxie's Southern Comfort.  I was not familiar with Maxie's - Crawdaddy's was probably the best known Cajun restaurant in the great Milwaukee area - but I'm always up for finding a new Cajun restaurant to try. 

Maxie's Southern Comfort is located just off Interstate 94 at the 68th St. exit, just west of Miller Park (see map).  This is actually the second location for Maxie's - the other location is actually in far off Ithaca, NY.  (Click here to see the Ithaca Maxie's web site.)  

Maxie's is the brain child of Chick and Dewi Evans, an earthy couple who opened their Ithaca location in 1999.  Chick and a good friend, Dan Sidner, a Milwaukee-native, graduated from Cornell University in the 1980's.  Both went on to work in restaurants after school - Chick worked for the Lettuce Entertain You restaurant corporation as well as for restaurants in New Mexico and Colorado, while Dan's restaurant journeys took him to North Carolina, Texas and Washington State running high-end restaurants. 

From 1997 to 2003, Dan ran a high-end Italian restaurant in the Vail area before moving back to Wisconsin.  Joining forces with the Evans, Sidner and his wife, Allison, decided to bring Maxie's Southern Comfort to Milwaukee and bought what was an old neighborhood meat market in Wauwautosa.  They hired Joe Muench - a veteran chef in the Milwaukee area - as the executive chef, and Sally (Sal) Anschuetz as their restaurant manager and they opened the doors in 2007.    

Maxie's Southern Comfort is more than just a Cajun restaurant.  They also specialize in Carolina "low country" cuisine as well as Southern-style barbecue offerings.  Their menu is a diverse sampling of those cuisines along with a few contemporary offerings and some vegetarian items, as well.  Maxie's also has an ever-changing wine and libation list that includes seasonal beers served on tap.  One of the beers they had on tap was Bell's Oberon wheat ale.  I'm not big on wheat beer, but I do like the Bell's Oberon in the summertime.

It was around 7:30 p.m. when we got into Maxie's.  A large parking lot is situated across the street from the restaurant and the neighborhood looks like it was once a thriving little area.  Just to the east of Maxie's are a couple of neighborhood dive bars the guys pointed out to me. "I've spent many a night in both of those places," one of my guests told me.

They had reservations for four in advance of our dinner - one of the guys ended up that he couldn't make the dinner.  I'm glad they did make reservations because the place was packed.  We were seated at a table right next to the bar and up against the west wall of the restaurant.  With a wood-beamed ceiling and hard floors, the place was very loud.  While it was difficult to carry on a conversation, it wasn't impossible.

Our waitress showed up with a "shadow" waitress - a newbie hire who was learning the ropes of working at Maxie's.  She got our drink order - I had to have a Bell's Oberon, one of the other guys got the same, while the other just got an ice-tea for the moment.  While Maxie's Southern Comfort did have a nice wine list, I've never been big on drinking wine with Southern or Cajun cuisine. 

While we looked at the menu, our waitress told us they had a couple specials that evening - one was blackened catfish special and the other was a slow-cooked beef brisket served with Maxie's homemade barbecue sauce.  I was intrigued by the brisket, but I was also looking at some of the Cajun items they had on the menu.

One of my guests asked, "Do you like oysters?"  I told him I did.  He said, "They have a great selection of oysters here."  And, indeed, they did.  They had oysters from the Pacific Northwest, New England and Canadian Maritime regions.  We decided to get a couple dozen oysters on the half-shells - one dozen Rhode Island oysters and one dozen Maine oysters.  Actually, the Rhode Island oysters were smaller and a little salty -but still good.  The Maine oysters were big, meaty and had a great taste to them.  And the oysters were served with a cup of dark vinegar - something I've never tried with oysters before.  It was an interesting taste compared to the usual horseradish/Tabasco sauce I use on my oysters.

When it came down to ordering dinner, I was really torn between the brisket special, the blackened-seared ahi tuna, and the jambalaya.  I told our waitress, "I'm having trouble here.  I really want to try the brisket, but the jambalaya is just yelling at me.  Is there a way that I can get a sample of the brisket?"  She said she would have to check.  She came back in a little bit and she said, "Yeah, we can get you a sample, but there would be an upcharge."  I told her that was fine.  And for good measure, I got a cup of the gumbo to try, as well.

One of the guys got Maxie's grits and shrimp, a half-order for $13.95.  He got a dinner salad to tide him over as he only had a couple three of the oysters.  "Not much of an oyster guy," he said.  My other guest ended up getting the blackened catfish special. 

A few moments later, the waitress brought out the gumbo, salad and the brisket sampler.  Well, the brisket sampler was more than a sampler - it was a heaping plate of pulled beef brisket swimming in their homemade sauce.  It was way more than I wanted, so I shared it with the other guys.  It was OK, not exactly the best I've ever had, but it was good.  The sauce was thick and smoky in flavor and the meat was a little tough.  We all agreed we were glad we didn't get the brisket dinner.  Then again, as one of the guys pointed out, as large as the amount of brisket that we got on the sampler plate was, we may have gotten the dinner.  I never did check to see what they charged us for the "sample."

My gumbo was much better.  Large chunks of chicken and andoullie sausage were prevalent in the gumbo and while they advertised that it had crawfish in the gumbo, I don't know if I actually came across any crawfish meat.  But it was thick and tasty and with a little bit of Tabasco added it had a nice kick to the taste. 

A while later, our main entrees showed up.  I had a heaping plate of jambalaya - much more than I knew I could finish.  But it had a lot shrimp, andoullie and chicken mixed in with the rice and the creole sauce.  On its own, it had a lot of zip to the taste.  But with more Tabasco to kick it up a notch, I really liked the jambalaya.

The guy who got the grits and shrimp was lucky that he got the half-order.  It was almost too much for him to eat.  He said, "My wife and I can hardly eat a whole order of grits and shrimp, so I knew that I wouldn't have any chance at eating a whole plate."  

And my guest who ordered the blackened catfish said it was great, as always.  "I live about four blocks from here and my girlfriend and I walk up here all the time," he said. "I've had this catfish before and it's consistently very good." 

After a very good and satisfying dinner for all three of us, the two waitresses tried to tempt us with some dessert offerings.  I was too stuffed - as I initially predicted I couldn't finish my whole jambalaya dinner - but I did propose looking over the list of Scotch for a night cap.  We all decided to each get a snifter of The Balvenie 12 year single malt to finish off the evening.  It was a great end to a very good meal.

While I thought the brisket was average, I was still happy I got a taste.  But I will say the gumbo and the jambalaya at Maxie's Southern Comfort were well above average compared to other places I've tried.  I think the overall experience at Maxie's was also well above average - I guess you could call it as high-end Southern cooking.  The service was very good, especially with two waitresses helping us out.  While the dining room was sort of loud, it was still manageable.  And the food was very good.  That's what I like about these guys in Milwaukee - they turned me on to another great restaurant in the city.

Davis Street Fishmarket - Evanston, IL

Earlier this summer, my colleague, John, flew to Chicago to help with a presentation for a dealer of ours in Evanston.  The presentation was the next morning, so the night before we stayed in downtown Evanston and walked to a place I've wanted to try for quite sometime - Davis Street Fishmarket at the corner of Davis and Hinman (see map).  I'd always heard the food was good and that night we were going to find out.

The Davis Street Fishmarket is part of the Clean Plate Club restaurant group owned by Mathew David, Larry Huber and Eardley Firth.  Other restaurants under the Clean Plate Club shingle include the highly-acclaimed Pete Miller's Steakhouse in Evanston and in far north suburban Wheeling, and Merle's #1 Barbecue in Evanston.  Linda Diguardi is the G.M. of the Davis Street Fishmarket while Firth handles the Executive Chef chores for the restaurant. 

The Davis Street Fishmarket was the first of the Clean Plate Club restaurants opening  in 1985.  Merle's #1 Barbecue opened in 1992 while Pete Miller's in Evanston opened two years later.  Pete Miller's is known in the Chicagoland area as not only having some of the best steaks around, but the restaurant is also known as having some of the top contemporary jazz performers grace its stage on a nightly basis.  I've wanted to try both Pete Miller's and Merle's #1 Barbecue and if this dealer in Evanston works out, I'm hoping to have that chance at some point in the future.  

It was a 10 minute walk from our hotel to Davis Street Fishmarket on a beautiful summer evening.  John hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast and since his stomach was still on Eastern time he wanted to get an early dinner.  We were seated in a booth in the dining room just around 6:30 local time and the place was far from packed.  Both of us ordered up an Anchor Steam beer and took a look at the menu to see what they had to offer. 

Davis Street Fishmarket has a lot of their fish flown in daily from the East, West and Gulf coasts.  Chef Eardley Firth comes up with a number of nightly specials based upon what types of fish he gets in that particular day.  But the restaurant also has a consistent menu that features shellfish, Cajun specialties, seafood pasta dishes, steaks and, of course, seafood entrees. 

The first thing that caught our eye was the Prince Edward Island Malpeque oysters on the half shell.  We immediately signed up for a dozen of those.  The only problem is that the waiter misunderstood us and brought out a half-dozen.  We said, "Oh, no.  We said we wanted a dozen."  He apologized and said he'd get another half-dozen and adjust our bill to reflect the dozen price versus the half-dozen price.  The oysters were big and meaty, adding a little fresh ground horseradish and some Tabasco they were outstanding. 

With such an extensive menu, I was torn between a number of items.  They had a couple of specials that evening that sounded pretty good, but I was also looking at the blackened fish tacos, the Louisiana seafood chili (basically, Davis Street Fishmarket's answer to jambalaya), and the sesame seared ahi tuna served with wasabi mashed potatoes.  Like I've said many times on this blog, I'm a sucker for good fish tacos.  I had to try their blackened fish tacos.  They came topped with red cabbage and a spicy remoulade sauce, along with a side of red beans and rice along with pico de gallo. 

John, too, was torn between a number of items.  He said, "I'm sure the fish is great here, but I'm sort of looking at getting a big ol' Midwestern piece of beef!"  But he ended up going 180 degrees away from his thinking and ended up getting the Maryland crab cakes served with a side of honey mustard sauce and a corn relish.  Garlic mashed potatoes came with his meal. 

Since it wasn't all that busy, our entrees showed up rather quickly.  My blackened fish tacos were served open-faced with the remoulade sauce drizzled on top of the fish and the red cabbage.  The red beans and rice was served in a cup on the side.  The fish was fresh and the blackened spices with the remoulade sauce gave the tacos a nice kick.  I even scooped a little bit of the red beans and rice onto a couple of the tacos to give them a little more of a diversified taste.

John said that his crab cakes were very good.  They were very large and - according to John - very rich.  He had trouble finishing both of them, but he was able to get through them.  He said, "I still find it somewhat surprising of all the good of seafood I've had in the Midwest over the years.  These taste just as good as some of the crab cakes I get on the Eastern seaboard."

 We were both overly impressed with our experience at Davis Street Fishmarket.  The food was excellent and the service was adequate.  Our waiter was neither pushy nor was he invisible.  The decor was contemporary, yet subdued.  It was a very relaxing meal.  I'll have to put Davis Street Fishmarket on the top of my list of Evanston restaurants that I've tried so far.  I'm hoping to try more over the next couple three years.

The Angus - Prairie du Chien, WI

The night Cindy and I stayed at The Claytonian in Clayton, IA, we decided to take the short drive up to Prairie du Chien to have dinner.  Cindy's family used to go to a place called The Black Angus, a supper club/steakhouse on the outskirts of Prairie du Chien when she was a little girl.  She asked Eileen, the lady who ran The Claytonian, if The Black Angus was still there.  She said, "You mean 'The Angus'?  Yes!  It's been under new ownership for awhile.  The old owners were letting the place go to hell, but some new blood came in and took over.  And it's just as good as you probably remember it to be."

When Cindy was growing up, the restaurant was known as "The Black Angus".  The Jones family were the original owners of the place, but we'd heard the food and service had started to go downhill at some point.  The Jeffers family came in and bought the place a few years, updated the decor and added a new menu.  They restored the good name of the restaurant - now known simply as "The Angus" - back to its days of glory in the 70's and 80's. 

It took us about 25 minutes to get to The Angus from The Claytonian.  We pulled into the lot for the restaurant, located just across the street from the local airport (see map).  We had a short wait before we were seated, so we decided to have a drink in the lounge.  The restaurant has an old-style lounge with a raised oblong bar and a number of small tables off to the side.  The decor is decidedly laid-back and the lighting subdued throughout the place.  We went over and took a seat at the bar and I got a bottle of Old Style which used to be brewed just up the river in LaCrosse.  Cindy got her usual UV vodka with lemonade.  It wasn't long after we got our drinks before the hostess came over and let us know our table was ready.

She led us through the spacious dining area, past the salad bar and back into a cozy little corner to a two-seat table next to a mirrored-wall.   Not long after that, our waitress for the evening, Bunny - a 60-ish lady who had a lot of sass to her - came over to great us.  I said, "Bunny!  That's an interesting name.  Is that your real name?"

Bunny said, "Oh, heavens, no.  I have such a horrible real name that I hardly ever use it.  I've been Bunny ever since I was a little girl."  I had to find out how horrible her real name was. 

Since we already had drinks, she dropped off some cheese and crackers for the table.  I asked her for the wine list and she came back with one right away.

Actually, the wine list at The Angus was rather surprising - both in the selection and the great prices.  I shouldn't broadcast this, but they had a bottle of the 2004 Jordan Cabernet for $65 bucks.  That's easily $20 cheaper than I've seen it before - and I thought $85 bucks was a cheap price THAT time.  I couldn't resist.  I ordered up a bottle for both of us to enjoy.

The menu at The Angus is your typical Midwestern steakhouse variety, heavy on steaks, chops, chicken, some pasta and some seafood.  Steak and lobster is a big combination at The Angus and Cindy thought about getting that until Bunny told her it was $45 dollars.  Bunny suggested to Cindy that she get the 8 oz. beef tenderloin filet with the shrimp scampi.  Cindy said that would satisfy her need for both surf and turf.  She ordered a baked potato with "the works" on top. 

I was intrigued by a couple of things, one of which was a 10 oz. beef tenderloin filet topped with parmesan cheese and a garlic butter sauce.  I ordered that - rare - and got a side of The Angus' famous hash browns with melted cheese and onion.  After we ordered, Bunny invited us to partake in their salad bar.

I will say the salad bar was great.  Not only for the items, but how fresh everything tasted.  Cindy got a cup of their potato soup that they had that night along with a plate of mixed greens and some veggies.  I got the mixed greens, veggies, then went back and got a plate of their marinated beets.  The beets were good, but not as good as the beets at Bud's Skyline Inn in Moline.  Topped with their homemade dressings, the salad bar at The Angus was top notch. 

The Angus grills their steaks over a gas flame in an open area that is in full view from the dining room.   I just happened to go back to the restroom as we were waiting for our main entrees to show up and I walked right by the grill area.  I had to get a picture of this huge filet they were grilling up.  It turned out this was my filet.

When Bunny brought our meals to the table, I was surprised - pleasantly surprised - by the size of the filet on my plate.  I mean, it looked big on the grill, but on the plate next to the hash browns it looked huge!  It was much more than a 10 oz. filet, that's for sure.  The parmesan on the top was sort of crystallized and the garlic-butter sauce was a great compliment to the taste.  The steak was cooked a perfect rare for me - big tenderloins are usually difficult to cook given their thickness - with a cool, red center but a nice charred taste on the outside.  It was very tender and a steak knife went easily through the meat.

Cindy was also happy with her beef tenderloin filet - she got hers medium.  (The grill chef at The Angus obviously knows what he's doing.)  And she got five large and plump shrimp scampi.  She offered me one and it was scrumptious.

I had a little bit of the hash browns with the grilled onions and cheese and they were good, as well.  Coupled with the hefty salad I had earlier along with the beets, the large filet was more than enough for dinner.  And, of course, the big treat was having the Jordan Cabernet with the meal.

Bunny came over and asked us if we wanted any dessert.  I sort of winced and said, "I don't know.  I'm pretty full."

Cindy, on the other hand, said, "Well, let's see what they have for dessert."  Bunny went through the line-up and she came to a blueberry flan.  I sort of groaned in sort of a half "Oh boy!" - half "Oh no!" response.  Cindy said, "We'll take the blueberry flan with two forks."

I like flans, but I'm not certain that I ever had a blueberry flan.  Just like any dessert that has lemon in it, I'm a sucker for anything that has blueberries in it.  And it certainly was very good.  And rich.  We had trouble finishing it.  When the last crumb was off the plate we sort of looked at one another in amazement - both with the taste of the flan and the fact that we actually ate the whole thing.

Bunny came over to give us our check and I said, "OK, Bunny.  You're already going to get a nice tip from us, but I'll tack on another five bucks if you tell us your real name."   I was thinking that it was something like Hortense, Gertrude or Bertha.

She said, "Well, my given name is Marjorie Catherine."

I sort of look at Cindy then gave Bunny a funny look.  "Marjorie Catherine isn't that bad.  I was thinking it would be a lot worse than that!"

Bunny said, "I was raised in a strict Catholic family and I just hated the name Marjorie Catherine.  Someone in our family gave me the nickname of Bunny and that's what I started to answer to.  I've been Bunny ever since."

 And Bunny did get a good tip from us - 20% plus an extra fiver for revealing her real name to us.  Her service was top-notch.  And that mirrored the whole experience at The Angus.  The food was great, the ambiance was wonderful and we had a great dining experience.  I love the old type of supper clubs like The Angus and try to seek them out on our travels in the Midwest.  I would have to rank The Angus as being one of the best - if not THE best - supper club we've encountered over the years.  Cindy said, "I TOLD you it would be good!"

Madison Farmers Market - Madison, WI

I'd been promising Cindy to take her up to Madison one Saturday for the Madison Farmers Market - officially known as the Dane County Farmers Market - that they have around the Capitol Square in downtown Madison.  We first went to the farmer's market there a number of years ago and we were blown away at what they had to offer in terms of fresh produce, meats, flowers, plants and other homegrown items at the market.  We like going to farmers markets when we travel around and the one in Madison is one of the biggest.

The Dane County Farmers Market has been around for nearly 40 years and today boasts over 150 vendors on site nearly every Saturday,  However, there is a seasonal rotation of nearly 300 vendors who have signed up for space along the square.  There is a smaller farmer's market on Wednesday's, but the one on Saturday also features street musicians, a craft and arts area down State Street, and the grounds of the State Capitol are reserved for non-profit, political or public information booths.  

 

 

Parking at one of the parking ramps off the north side of the Capitol grounds, we immediately were stunned at the number of people already at the market before 9 a.m.  I mean, the sidewalk was just jammed with people.  We joined the slow moving group of people - walking in a counter-clockwise direction - and began to just sort of see what there was to offer at the Madison Farmers Market.   By the way, one of the best things about the farmers market around Capitol Square - no dogs allowed!  They continue to allow dogs at the farmers market in Davenport and when it gets crowded, you're always running into people with dogs on a leash darting here and there.  It gets to be too much sometimes.  Not having any dogs in Madison helped the flow.  A little bit.

 
Fresh-cut flowers were big at the farmers market, as they are at nearly every farmers market we've been to.  There were a number of booths that featured late spring, early summer blooming flowers that would look good on any table, full of color and fragrance.  I asked Cindy if she wanted on of the bouquets, but she declined.  "We don't have anything to put them in and they'll need water long before we get home."  (Madison is about a two and a half hour drive for us.) 

 
As I said earlier, everything at the Madison Farmers Market is locally grown.  The one back home in Davenport allows for booth vendors to buy produce from wholesale suppliers and sell them like they'd grown them themselves.  (We usually stay away from those guys.)  At the farmers market in Madison, they have a strict "no resale" policy for the vendors.  It was amazing to us the amount of produce these vendors had to offer so early in the growing season. 

 
There were also a lot of organic produce vendors at the farmers market, pleasing Cindy to no end.  The couple in the picture above right was selling organic mushrooms.  The guy looked like he could also be growing the hallucinogenic kind of mushroom. 

 
You can't have a farmers market in Wisconsin without cheese.  A number of cheese vendors were set up around the Capitol square.  A couple of the vendors were Wisconsin Master Cheesemakers, a program that requires cheesemakers to go through a rigorous training course through the University of Wisconsin to learn the fine art of making cheese.  Only 44 Master Cheesemakers have graduated from the program since its inception in 1994. 

 
There were tons of baked goods at the Madison Farmers Market, as well.  One vendor touted his cinnamon rolls as being the best in the world.  Of course, being a cinnamon roll aficionado, I had to see if it was true.  It was far from the best cinnamon roll I'd ever had.  It was hard and difficult to chew.  In fact, I almost went back to complain, but what good would that do.

This young lady in the picture on the left is from Stella's Bakery, a well-known local bakery that is famous for their hot and spicy cheese bread.  We had a slice of it and it was, well, hot and spicy.  Thankfully, other vendors had bottles of water and we definitely needed one to help cool off our mouths after a slice of bread from Stella's.  Stella's was very busy both times we passed by, stopping the second time for the slice of bread.  This girl was probably happy that she was getting a little bit of a breather before helping the next customer.

A few vendors were into showing off gigantic produce.  The asparagus on the upper left was some of the largest asparagus I've ever seen.  I asked Cindy if she wanted any and she said, "Oh, good God, no.  Asparagus that size is tough to cook properly.  I like my asparagus thin and much smaller." 

The picture on the above right is rhubarb that was well over two feet in length.  I've never been a big rhubarb fan, but Cindy said this rhubarb was probably inedible because it was so large and probably too sour in taste.  I don't know anything about rhubarb, so I'll have to take her word for that.  

 
As I said, all along the Capitol square were a number of musicians playing for the crowds that warm Saturday morning.  There was a South American pan-flute band, two guys playing an acoustic guitar and upright bass, and these two girls (above left) who were drawing a crowd listening to them play traditional Irish folk music on their violins.  From time to time, brass ensembles from the University of Wisconsin's school of music will gather to play songs during the farmers market.  The most interesting group, however, was the bunch of old ladies - the Raging Grannies - singing protest and political songs (left leaning - it's Madison, of course) on the Capitol green. 

When we first went to the farmers market in Madison a number of years ago, we were sort of surprised with the amount of meat vendors around the square.  They had everything from steaks to chicken to sausage to jerky - whatever could be raised and butchered on a farm, it was available at the Madison Farmers Market.  That was sort of revolutionary to see people selling meat at a farmers market.  These days, however, nearly every farmers market we visit has at least a couple vendors that sell farm raised meat, and usually organic meat with no additives or without shooting the cattle full of hormones and the chickens full of steroids.  What surprised us about the farmers market in Madison was that there were only a couple meat vendors around the square this time.  

It was at Madison's farmers market that we first were exposed to the great meat from Weber's in Cuba City, WI.  One of the Weber sons eventually opened up a butcher shop in Bettendorf, about a 10 minute drive from our house and we always used to go over there to get our steaks, pork chops and specialty meats.  Unfortunately, they closed their doors last year.  They did have a location in Geneseo, IL, about a half-hour away, but we never go over there to get meat. 

 
Cindy was on the look out for plants and flowers while we were at the Madison Farmers Market and we found a handful of vendors that had greenhouses in the Madison area that were selling perennials.  Cindy wanted to plant some dahlias in our yard and we found a couple of real nice ones to take home with us. 

And even though we have two dozen rose bushes, I always have to stop and see if there's anything we can't absolutely live without.  Fortunately, we didn't find anything new or unique from this particular rose vendor. 

But probably the best place we stopped at was a booth for The Flower Factory, located south of Madison near the town of Stoughton.  They had a large number of perennial flowers and plants on display for sale.  In fact, we got about halfway around the square and Cindy said, "You know, I want to go back to that one booth and get some of those flowering perennials for the berm."  Well, when we got back there, the ones she wanted were sold out.  She asked the one of the ladies working the farmers market if they had a greenhouse close-by.  It was about 10 miles south of Madison, so later on after lunch we took a trip out there and I'm glad we did.  They had the largest selection of native wild flowers, hostas, ornamental grasses and perennials I'd ever seen in one spot.  That was a $100 bill by the time we got out of there.  But I'd rather spend that kind of money on perennials than annuals. 

 
The Wisconsin State Capitol building is one of the most picturesque and majestic buildings you'd find anywhere.  Being somewhat of a geography geek, I like to seek out the state capitol buildings when I go to cities that are the capitals of their respective states.  Iowa's State Capitol building is pretty impressive, but the huge rotunda on the Wisconsin State Capitol it probably its most impressive feature.  Situated on a hill in the smack center of the downtown area, it's always neat to drive toward the downtown area and seeing the huge building off in the distance.  It reminds me a lot of the Missouri State Capitol as far as the powerful visual impact the building has when you first see it from a distance.

The Capitol building is open for people to use their public bathrooms during the farmers market, that is if you can find your way through the maze of hallways to find them.  I was talking with one gentleman who was standing near me as I was getting the picture of the inside of the rotunda (above right) and he was telling us of an observation deck that you could go up to.  I went over to the information desk in the rotunda and asked the young guy about that deck.  He said, "You go down the North hallway and take a left to go to the elevator.  Go up to the 4th floor, then up a couple flights of steps and you're there."  After gathering up Cindy, we went up to the deck.  Actually, we shared the elevator with one of the Capitol security guards - dressed very casually in a polo shirt with a logo on the front and a pair of khaki pants - and he was on his way up to the observation deck to work a shift up there.  He told us that only part of the deck was open.  "About a third of it," he said, explaining they were doing some restoration work to part of the outside of the rotunda.  The picture on the right is looking Northeast along Washington St.

We had paid for the dahlias and the vendor kept them for us so we could continue to look around.  When we got back to pick them up, Cindy was remarking that the Madison Farmer's Market was "almost overwhelming."  She exclaimed, "There's almost too many people!  I don't remember this farmers market being this choked with people."

The vendor told us, "Yeah, it's gotten over-run over the past few years.  A lot of people have come in and set up shop and have squeezed a lot of the older vendors out.  The people who run the farmers market think bigger is better and we don't necessarily believe that." 

He was telling us about another farmer's market on the west side of Madison where he has a second booth.  "And that booth does twice the amount of business that we do here.  It's not as crowded and our people get a chance to interact with people more out there than down here, so we're actually selling much more.  Here, we're always getting tugged at and pulled away and people are generally more rude here than at the other place." 

Cindy was right - the Madison/Dane County Farmers Market almost WAS too overwhelming.   Even though the throng of people was orderly, they moved too slow around the square and there was a lot of jostling and pushing at times.  Cindy said, "I didn't like the farmers market as much as I did in the past.  It's just gotten too big." 

While it was colorful and vibrant, the Madison Farmers Market might have grown too large to give it the quaint feel that we once experienced.  Cindy agreed with me that we wouldn't have to take a special trip to go to Madison for their farmers market anytime soon. 

 

 

Square One Brewery - St. Louis

Before our annual baseball trip to St. Louis, my friend Scott had mentioned that his son, Greg, had eaten at the Square One Brewery near Lafayette Square on a couple three occasions and he thought the food was very good.  I had been past Square One a few times, primarily to eat at Arcelia's just down the street.  Scott reminded me the day before we left that he really wanted to try Square One during our visit to St. Louis.  I thought that was a good idea, so we stopped in to Square One for lunch and a few beers after our journey from the Quad Cities.

The Lafayette Square area in St. Louis has seen a steady rise in socio-culture activities and gentrification over the past three or four years.  One of the true historic areas of St. Louis, the neighborhood surrounding Lafayette square is a combination of stately homes, rehabbed apartments, curious shops, eclectic eateries and interesting taverns.  Square One, at the corner of Park Ave. and S. 18th St. (see map), is housed in a somewhat historic building that was originally built by Anheuser-Busch toward the start of the 20th century when local breweries would own their own taverns to exclusively sell their beer.  A similar tavern run by the locally immortal Griesedieck Brothers Brewery was situated just a block away.  

Over the years, the building has housed a number of tavern/restaurants with the most recent descendant being the Lafayette Pub and Grill.  A fire in June of 2004 closed down Lafayette Pub and Grill (they've since relocated to the Soulard area) and the building was eventually bought by local restaurateur and micro-brewer Steve Neukomm.  Neukomm, a 50-something man who recently sold the Augusta Brewing Company in Augusta, MO, had once operated a restaurant - Ronayne's - in the same location back in the 80's.  Neukomm purchased the assets and equipment of the old Heartland Brewing Company in 1999, then a year later he opened his first brew pub in the heart of Missouri's wine country west of St. Louis. 

In 2006, after a long restoration of the property, Neukomm opened Square One Brewery.  After awhile it became apparent to Neukomm that he was having trouble being in two places at once, so he sold the brew pub in Augusta earlier this year to concentrate on the Square One operation.  The hour and a half drive time between the two businesses was taking too much time out of his day. 

Actually, one of the big reasons Neukomm sold the Augusta Brewing Company was because of his burgeoning distillery that's part of Square One Brewery.  Neukomm became a licensed distiller in 2008 and has created a number of craft liquors that are sold at Square One.  And his liquors are getting noticed, as well.  At the recent Whiskey and Moonshine Distilling Conference put on by the American Distilling Institute in Louisville, Square One took home a silver medal for their Vermont Night whiskey liqueur.  Vermont Night is an oak-barrel aged whiskey infused with Vermont maple syrup, lemon, cloves, orange, cinnamon and vanilla beans.  I'm not big on sweet or fruity liqueurs, but that actually sounds sort of interesting. 

 
We parked just down the street from Square One around 1:30 in the afternoon.  It was a warm summer day in St. Louis with temperatures hovering around 90 with somewhat stifling humidity.  Scott and Marcia had called Greg to meet us at the restaurant and he was on his way when we checked in with the hostess in the bar area.  The bar area was this wonderfully ornate room with a huge walnut bar with an arched leaded-glass window directly behind the bar.  A row of about a dozen spigots adorned the front of the bar and a number of Square One specialty liquors occupied the back bar area.  

On the way down to St. Louis, I was in the sun most of the trip so I had the air-conditioning sort of cranked up to keep me cool.  Unfortunately for the ladies in the back seat, it got a little cold for them and when asked if we wanted to sit inside or outside on their patio, Marcia immediately opted for the outside.  Cindy said, "She needs to warm up!"  The hostess stuck us back in a corner that offered some shade, but after a while the sun had moved and I was soon getting roasted. 

 
The outdoor patio area featured a number of heavy tables with sturdy metal grated chairs.  Umbrellas were placed around the patio to help screen the sun that wasn't filtered already by the large trees outside the restaurant.  A nice little bar area was along the west wall, but the focal point of the patio was a waterfall wall that was encased in what was once an ornate doorway, probably from a nearby building that had been torn down or renovated.   

Just past a large wall of wood and glass-paned doors that appeared to fold out to offer a walk-out to the patio when the temperature was more agreeable was the main dining room for Square One.  It had a sky light with an ornate wood ceiling to go along with a nice wood floor.  It was tastefully decorated and the only hint of the place being a brewpub/micro-distillery were the huge distilling tanks on the other side of a glassed in room as you walked between the bar area and the main dining room.  Cindy had gone in to use the restroom and when she came out she told Marcia, "I think you made the right call.  It's rather cold in that dining room.  They've really got the AC cranked up in there!"

Our hostess had dropped off menus for us and set up placements for five at a table that was designed to seat four.  I took the corner, which wasn't a big deal - other than the sun starting to beat down on me - as the table was large enough for everyone to have enough room.

We didn't wait for Greg to show up before we ordered off the beer menu.  Square One features a rotation of over 50 different styles of beers throughout the year.  Twelve beers were on the list that day including a Spicy Blonde ale, a single malt Scotch ale, a nut brown ale, a Bavarian weizen, and an Imperial Stout.  They also featured a cask-drawn stout beer, as well.   I ordered the Park Ave. pale ale - an American pale ale that isn't quite as hoppy as their India Pale Ale (which was also on the beer menu).  Cindy got the same thing.  Scott opted for the Spicy Blonde (which Greg got as well after he showed up) and Marcia went with their Light Squared beer - a nice tasting lighter beer that goes down good in warm weather.

Cindy wanted to get an appetizer so she ordered up the goat cheese/artichoke/spinach dip.  The dip was served warm with a plate of small toasted bread and tortilla chips.  It was actually pretty good with large chunks of artichokes throughout the dip.

The dip was part of Square One's "microplate" section on their menu that featured a series of delectable items including pan seared crab cakes, beer pretzels, chicken wings and their version of nachos that included smoked flank steak with corn salsa, jalapenos, jack and cheddar cheese topped with lettuce and sour cream.  Seriously, I almost got that for my meal.

One other thing that caught my eye in the "microplate" section of the menu was the grilled mahi mahi fish tacos.  The waitress couldn't sufficiently describe them - how big they were or if it would be a full meal - so I passed on them for the time being and looked for something else to try. 

Greg said his favorite thing on the menu was the smoked flank steak Philly cheese steak sandwich.  They take strips of flank steak and smother it in Swiss and cheddar cheese and grilled onions, then place it on a baguette.  That's what both Scott and Greg ordered.

Cindy was torn between a number of items - she was looking at some of the fish dishes in the "Macroplate" section of the menu, which were basically the main entrees served at Square One.  They had a jerk mahi mahi that was grilled with jerk spices to give it a little kick (that sounded real good to me), a salmon entree that was grilled with a raspberry pecan butter (that didn't sound good to me), or good ol' fashioned fish and chips - beer battered grouper with french fries.

Cindy got to looking at the extensive sandwich selections they had on the menu and finally decided to get the tuna steak sandwich - a seared rare tuna steak topped with avocado, tomato, sprouts, and a smoked tomato aioli sauce and served with a side of Square One's pub chips.  Cindy told the waitress that she didn't want the chips, but asked if she could substitute a side salad with ranch dressing.  The waitress said there'd be a slight upcharge and Cindy was happy with that.  She opted to get the salad before the sandwich.

Square One features a number of salads and soups to choose from.  Greg said that the beer cheese soup was out of this world and Scott and he both got a cup of that.  It's served with a side of the pale ale to pour into the soup, truly making it a beer cheese soup.  Marcia was looking at a couple of the salads before finally choosing to get the grilled chicken salad sandwich - they take a grilled chicken breast and chop it up, then the add Gorgonzola cheese and pecans and a tarragon mayonnaise with the chicken, then place it on mixed greens on whole wheat bread.  I'm not big on chicken salad, but that sounded really interesting.

Me - I was torn between a number of things.  Each week, Square One features a burger on their menu - this week it was one of their 1/2 pound pub burgers topped with onion straws and barbecue sauce.  It didn't sound very inspiring to me.  They had a pulled barbecue pork sandwich that I thought about for a moment.   They had a Cuban pulled pork platter in the "Macroplate" section that was enticing me.  Their stout-braised pot roast caught my eye until I reminded myself that it was 90 degrees and it would probably sit in my stomach for hours on end.   The jerk chicken sandwich was appealing to me.  The turkey pub club sandwich would have been a great choice for a hot summer afternoon.

I was in a quandary as what to get when it came to me to order.  Finally, I settled on the reuben - thick slices of corned beef piled high on swirled marble rye and topped with lager-infused sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing.  I asked the waitress if I could get an order of their onion straws on the side instead of the fries.  She said, "Well, we only offer them as a garnish and not as a side."

I said, "But you would have enough to make a side, wouldn't you?"

She sort of stammered for a moment and said, "Yeah, but they're not offered as a side."  I told her they should be.  I know I sort of flummoxed her and threw her off her game, but I ended up getting the pub fries instead.  I also got a cup of their homemade chili.  I know - it was 90 degrees out and I was sweating like a whore in church sitting in the sun, but for some reason the description of their chili in the menu sounded great.

Cindy sort of chided me for hassling the waitress about the onion straws.  I said, "I guess I don't get it with some restaurants.  If they've got them in the kitchen, then they should be able to make them available as a side.  I don't care if it costs me a buck or two more above the price of my meal.  I wanted the onion straws."

Scott reminded me of a similar circumstance when we had all gone out to eat at Granite City back in Davenport one evening.  "I remember you'd asked for onion straws instead of fries and the waitress had to go back to check," he said.  "And she got 'em for you!"

After a bit, the waitress brought out my chili, the beer cheese soup for Scott and Greg, and Cindy's salad.  My chili consisted of three different types of beans with chopped smoked flank steak topped with cheese and onion straws.  Cindy said, "Well, thank God you got some onion straws as part of your meal!"  I made quick work of the chili, it was damn good.

Scott and Greg's beer cheese soup was served with a small amount of pale ale in what looked like little metal pitchers, the kind you'd used for pouring maple syrup on pancakes in upscale restaurants.  They just poured the beer in and went to town on the soup.  Scott said, "Oh, man, Greg.  You were right about this soup.  This is good stuff!"  I was sort of jealous that I didn't try the beer cheese soup.  Next time...

Cindy and Marcia were intrigued with the specialty liquors and liqueurs on the menu.  They featured a bloody mary made with Square One's made-in-house Spirits of St. Louis vodka.  She got one of those.  Cindy wanted to try the Citrus Mello Cello liqueur - it's Square One's take on an Italian Lemon Cello liqueur, only they make theirs out of rum and infuse it with blood oranges and Agave nectar.  Cindy said she liked the flavor, but that it was too sweet for her taste.   For me, I switched to Square One's India Pale Ale as I thought their Park Ave. pale was a little flat.  The Park Ave. pale was good, but the I.P.A. was much better.

 
Not long after we finished our soups and or salad, the sandwiches showed up at the table.  The description of the reuben in the menu didn't do it justice.  It was overly piled with thick slices of tender corned beef although they could have put a little more sauerkraut on the sandwich.  A ton of melted Swiss cheese covered the top of the corned beef and the marble-rye bread was thickly cut.  I could tell the Thousand Island dressing was homemade with large chunks of sweet pickles mixed in.  I got a side of the dressing to dip my sandwich in to as I like to do with reubens.  And my sandwich was very good and very filling.  Well, I'm sure a combination of a couple three pale ales, the cup of chili, and some of the dip with the toasted bread had something to do with it, as well.

Cindy's tuna sandwich looked lonely on her plate, but she showed me how it was lightly seared and rare inside.  She said it was very good.  I knew that I was going to have trouble finishing my sandwich with all that meat piled on there, so I offered her some of my fries.  She must have been very hungry as she eagerly grabbed some off my plate.

Scott and Greg's smoked flank steak Philly cheese steak was a monster sandwich.  Scott said, "Oh, boy.  This is really gonna be a gut bomb.  I may not be able to eat pizza later on tonight."   But he said it was "great".  Greg didn't steer his dad wrong with either the beer cheese soup or the flank steak Philly sandwich.

And Marcia said her grilled chicken salad sandwich was also very good.  I told her that I don't know if I've ever seen grilled chicken in a chicken salad sandwich before and she said, "Oh, I have.  But you certainly don't see it very often.  I'm guessing it might be a pain to make."

Before lunch, we talked about getting an after-lunch beer at a new place just across the street from Square One called the Lafayette Fire Company - a restaurant/bar that had opened just last year.  It looked pretty interesting from the outside.  However, after a couple three beers and the big sandwiches, Scott and I pretty much vetoed that idea.  We were absolutely stuffed.  But it will be one of those places that we'll have to check out on subsequent visits to St. Louis.

  I'm glad Scott reminded me about Square One Brewery just before our trip.  The food was a good value with large portions for all and it tasted very good.  The beer was above average, but I felt the Park Ave. pale was a little flat.  Drinkable, but not the best American pale ale that I've had.  But it was fine for a hot summer afternoon.  But I really liked the ambiance of Square One.  I could see myself sitting at the bar some rainy Saturday afternoon pouring down a few specialty beers and having a burger or sandwich.  Too bad it's not back home in Davenport.

 I'm beginning to really like the area around Lafayette Square and when I stay downtown as I sometimes do when I go to St. Louis, it's not that far of a drive to the Square One Brewery.  It's another good restaurant that I've now found to add to my list of places to eat when I'm trying to figure out what I want for dinner when I'm in St. Louis. 

Vinny Vanucchi's - Galena, IL

Cindy and I had decided to go back up to historic downtown Galena at some point in the summertime after our visit there over her birthday back in December.  While the downtown was all lit up and festive for the Christmas holiday, we decided we'd like to go back up some Saturday afternoon when the weather was warm, walk the streets, then have dinner at one of the restaurants the town has to offer.  I'd known about Vinny Vanucchi's from reviews and talking to people who had eaten there in the past.  While most of the people I'd talked to and from the reviews I read tabbed the restaurant as very good, I still had a little bit of trepidation about going there.  Something just kept telling me it was more of a tourist trap than anything.  But Cindy wanted to go there, so we ended up dining there one night earlier this summer.

Vinny Vanucchi's is part of the CoCo Enterprises group of restaurants that are owned by Jack and Deb Coulter.  In addition to Vinny Vanucchi's, the Coulters also run One Eleven Main in downtown Galena, and Frank O'Dowd's Irish Pub which is connected to The Irish Cottage boutique hotel they own and run with Jack's cousin Basil Conroy on the east side of Galena.  Vinny Vanucchi's opened in 1992 in historic downtown Galena.  A second Vinny's restaurant is scheduled to open this month in Dubuque, IA. 

Many of Vinny Vanucchi's recipes are family recipes from Deb Coulter's side of the family which was part Italian.  Deb's grandmother Lucille LaCorte Finnen was a second-generation Sicilian who was born in Chicago in the mid-20's.  Deb's family lived below "Nana Lu" and she remembers the great smells of Italian/Sicilian food that her grandmother would cook when Deb was a little girl.  Deb took many of those handed-down family recipes and turned them into the basics of the main menu at Vinny Vanucchi's today. 

Chef Robin Fleetwood is the executive chef at Vinny Vanucchi's bringing years of experience to the kitchen at Vinny's.  Fleetwood grew up in the Midwest and learned how to cook at an early age from his mother.  As a couple stints in the Navy as a cook aboard a naval vessel, Fleetwood traveled the world learning about different types of cuisine.  Upon his discharge from the Navy, Fleetwood went to cooking school and became a full-fledged chef.  Fleetwood makes the food at Vinny's from scratch, using only the freshest ingredients in his food.  He features a series of "seasonal items" on his menu, procuring locally grown items during the course of the year. 

Vinny Vanucchi's is located on Main Street in downtown Galena, situated on a hillside with steps that go up to the restaurant (see map).  Actually, the back of Vinny's abuts up to S. Bench Street and parking is more readily available on that street than on Main Street.  We parked up on Bench Street and took the steps down to Vinny's hostess stand.  They feature outdoor seating at Vinny's, but the tables were full that nice evening.  Our hostess took us to the upper level of Vinny Vanucchi's and we were seated at a table against a brick wall in a small dining area that featured three four-person booths and three two-person tables. 

The dining room was uncomfortably warm.  Our waiter came around with a basket of Vinny's signature Italian bread with infused garlic oil and Cindy told him that she thought the room was awfully warm.  For Cindy to say that - she's perpetually cold even when it's 72 degrees outside - the room was almost unbearable for me.  He said, "Yes, it does seem to be a little warm up here.  I believe it was getting too cold for some patrons earlier and we may have shut down the air conditioning.  Let me go check on that." 

As we sweated while we looked through the menu, Cindy took a piece of the Italian bread with the infused garlic oil.  She said, "Oh, my God!  This is great bread!"  And it was.  We made short work of the basket of bread - there were only like four pieces in the basket.  But we were careful not to order any more right away so it wouldn't fill us up before the main entree hit the table.   

I looked through the wine list which wasn't extensive and was sort of mediocre.  We both decided we were going to get something with a tomato sauce for the evening's meal and I ordered up a bottle of the Chateau St. Jean Cabernet, a medium-priced wine out of the Sonoma Valley vineyards. 

Actually, the dinner menu at Vinny's was far from pedestrian with a number of Italian dishes to choose from.  The menu featured eight different types of fettuccine dishes, baked and stuffed pasta dishes, different types of chicken and veal entrees and a handful of house specialties such as Seafood Italiano - a "Nana Lu" inspired dish that featured shrimp, scallops, lobster and Surimi crabmeat in a cream sauce and topped with three cheeses.  There was also something called Pollo Compomare - boneless chicken breast sautéed with broccoli, mushrooms and tomatoes in a cream sauce with wine, lemon, garlic and a hot sauce, then served over a bed of pasta.  Cindy almost got that until she realized it had mushrooms in it and the sauce may have resembled cream of mushroom soup - a big no-no in her diet (tracing back to her days of growing up with all different types of meals featuring cream of mushroom soup). 

One thing that caught my eye on the feature menu was the baked sausage ragu - penne pasta, spicy Italian sausage, green peppers and mushrooms that is slowly cooked in Vinny's homemade marinara sauce, then topped with mozzarella and parmesan and baked in the oven.  That's what I ended up getting. 

Cindy was in a quandary because the descriptions of the food on the menu all sounded very good to her.  She ended up opting for the Chicken Vinito - a boneless chicken breast sautéed with a combination of artichoke hearts, tomatoes, and fresh basil, then served with a tomato-cream sauce over linguini.  A family style Italian salad came with the meal, as well. 

By the time we'd ordered, we felt the cool breeze of the air conditioner kick in.  It had begun to get more comfortable in the dining room and it was fine within 15 minutes. 

Our salad came to the table, served in a large bowl and topped with a homemade vinaigrette.  It was OK, at best.  The vinaigrette really didn't knock my socks off with its taste sensation.  But the greens and chopped veggies they had were fresh and flavorful.  It was an average salad. 

Our main entrees showed up soon after we finished our salads and I was sort of astounded at the large portion of the baked sausage ragu that landed in front of me.  There was going to be no way that I would be able to finish even half of the entree.  So I decided to concentrate on the sausage, veggies and the cheese in the dish and have a few bites of the penne pasta along the way.  I will say the entree was pretty good - surprisingly good, considering that I had some preconceived notions about Vinny's before I sat down.  The sausage tasted like it was home made and had a nice kick in taste, the mushrooms were fresh and I really liked the sweet and tangy marinara sauce that Vinny Vanucchi's makes. 

Cindy said that her Chicken Vinito was "very good."  It wasn't over-cooked and the sauce didn't detract from the overall taste.  The chicken breast was large and there were ample helpings of the artichoke hearts along with it.  The basil was very fresh and I could easily smell it from across the table.

We ate what we could, but decided not to take any of what we had left home.  Cindy always said, "Italian food never tastes as good after it's been boxed up and reheated."  And with pasta dishes, she's usually right.  I had made a huge dent in my dinner, leaving only about half the dish full of penne pasta.  It wasn't worth boxing up penne pasta.  

OK, so I was pleasantly surprised with Vinny Vanucchi's.  It didn't quite have the tourist-trap ring to the place once we got in there.  The service was adequate, the food was above average and we liked the ambiance of the place.  There's some other places in Galena that I'd like to try, but if you're hungry for family style Italian food, Vinny Vanucchi's would be a place to try.  

Hub 51 - Chicago

Hub 51 in downtown Chicago is a place I've read about and recently had the chance to try during a lunch meeting with the General Manager from Music Direct in Chicago.  My colleague, John, had flown in from New York to help me with a presentation with a new dealer in the northern suburbs and we decided to visit Music Direct for a lunch time visit.  We invited the G.M. out to lunch.  Josh knows that my number one rule when it comes to dining in Chicago is "no national chain restaurants!"  He directed me to the corner of West Hubbard and N. Dearborn in the River North area of downtown Chicago (see map).  Actually, it's not very far from the Hilton Garden Inn in River North that I like to stay at when I have to stay downtown.

Hub 51 gets its name from the address - 51 W. Hubbard.  The inside of the building looks like it may have been an old garage at one point in time.  It features high ceilings, exposed ductwork, an outside wall that faces the street that looks like two large garage doors and sort of a contemporary industrial decor.  It's also somewhat loud and, as I was told, always busy - even in the middle of the afternoon.  Hub 51 features valet parking for $8 bucks during the lunch time - a bargain considering some of the high prices of the parking garages in the area.

Hub 51 is the brainchild of two young guys who have a legacy in the Chicago restaurant world - R.J. Melman and younger brother Jerrod Melman.   If you're familiar with Chicago restaurants, there's no doubt you recognize the Melman name.  The Melman brothers are the sons of Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants Rich Melman whose 40 year career has given the Chicago area (and branching out to other large metro areas across the nation) restaurants such as Maggiano's, Shaw's Crab House, Wildfire, and Osterio Via Stato.  Lettuce Entertainment has nearly 40 different restaurants under their umbrella - many of which I've eaten at, and enjoyed, for many years.

R.J. and Jerrod worked in a number of the Lettuce Entertain You establishments over the years.  In fact, R.J. Melman was named after Rich Melman's original restaurant - R.J. Grunts.  While Hub 51 is part of the Lettuce Entertain You network of restaurants, it should be pointed out that Dad had no input on the restaurant.  His boys have their hand prints and signatures throughout the restaurant.

The menucould be called a fusion of Japanese, Mexican and American food.  Hub 51 features sushi, tacos, large sandwiches, steaks and seafood.  Of course, it's not your typical tacos, but a variety consisting of steak, grilled chicken, grilled fish or pork tacos.  The sandwiches are billed as being "two-handed" and consisting of huge burgers, a "knife-cut" BLT, and an ahi tuna sandwich.  They also feature beef tenderloin kabobs, pulled pork platter, braised ribs, and daily seafood specials that are caught "off-the-hook" rather than in nets.   For the light eaters, Hub 51 also has a number of salads to choose from.

We arrived at Hub 51 around 12:30 and while the place was full of diners, we were able to get in right away into a table tucked in the back corner of the place.   Our waiter came around and gave us lunch menus for us to look over.  The lunch menu features a number of sandwiches, sushi rolls (regular sushi doesn't begin until later in the day, and about six luncheon features including Chilean sea bass, grilled Amish chicken breast, and their chicken enchilada stack.

If you're a regular reader of Road Tips, you'll know that I'm a sucker for good fish tacos.  Not the kind that are basically breaded white-fish fish sticks, deep-fried, then put on to a taco shell.  I like the grilled fish tacos served with cabbage, a sweet and spicy sauce and drizzled with lime juice.  It turned out Hub 51 had those tacos on their menu.  While I was tempted to try the green chile cheeseburger or the huge BLT, I kept going back and looking at the fish tacos.  But I'd had fish tacos the night before and I ended up ordering the pulled pork tacos instead.  I can come back the next time I'm staying in downtown Chicago for the fish tacos.

John was torn between a number of items, as well.  He finally ended up ordering the lunch sandwich special that day, a grilled chicken sandwich with avocado, cheese and a Mexican salsa topping.  Josh asked us if we liked sushi.  Well, of course we do!  He said, "They have this tuna appetizer that they marinade the tuna in a ginger sauce and serve it with crispy rice and sort of a lime-infused tomato salsa.  It's just unbelievable."  He went ahead and ordered that for us and he ordered the grilled chicken tacos.  He told me, "I've got the fish tacos here.  And they are excellent.  But I always seem to order the same thing when I go to restaurants and I wanted to break up the monotony today."

The shakishaki tuna appetizer that Josh ordered up was everything he said it would be.  The tuna was sushi-grade rare and the tomato salsa was a great compliment to the meal.  I especially enjoyed the taste of the tuna in the ginger marinade.  We laid waste to that appetizer in less than five minutes.

As we waited for our lunch to show up, we talked about a myriad of topics that seem to be affecting the consumer electronics industry today - from politics, to the Internet, to the proliferation of big box retailers taking over the market, to long-time brick-and-mortar businesses having to reinvent themselves.  We all agreed that if we had to do it over again in our lives, we would have steered clear of the consumer electronics industry.  But as John pointed out, "We're here and we may not be getting rich, but it's still fun."

Our lunch came out and the waiter sat the pulled pork tacos down in front of me.  The presentation was very good with a number of different items to throw onto the tacos with the pork.  There was salsa and rice, a little guacamole, refried beans and a sort of dark sauce that went well with the pork.

I have to say the pork tacos at Hub 51 were just excellent.  I thought the pork looked a little over-cooked at first, but it was tender and very flavorful.  It's hard to find good pork tacos in the Midwest, even though some of the best pork comes from Iowa and Illinois.  But Hub 51's pork tacos were some of the best I've ever had.

Both John and Josh said their lunches were outstanding, as well.  Josh's chicken tacos were very similar to my pork tacos.  And John's grilled chicken sandwich looked very good, too.  And he said as much a couple times through the meal.

Hub 51 is an expense-check meal as it is not cheap.  It was close to $100 bucks with drinks and tip for the meal.  But Music Direct has become a solid business partner with us and our relationship gets stronger with each visit.  So the meal was worth it.  But just like any good restaurant in the heart of any big city in America, you're going to pay for it.  I would have been more upset had the lunch not been that good, but Hub 51 was very, very good.

Hub 51 is the new trendy place to be and to be seen at in Chicago.  I'm glad Josh brought us here for lunch since I'd read nothing but good things about the place.  The food is good and interesting, and they seem to do a great job in trying to please everyone with a little bit of everything on their menus.  Yes, the next time I go back to Hub 51, it will be for the fish tacos. 

 

Breitbach's Country Dining - Balltown, IA

(Update - The Iowa Pork Producers Association has awarded Breitbach's with the coveted "Best Pork Loin Sandwich in Iowa" for 2012.  Here's Road Tips take on the pork loin sandwich from the summer of 2010.)  

Breitbach's Country Dining is located in little Balltown, IA which is situated high on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in Northeast Iowa (see map).  (Above - the panaramic view of the Mississippi River valley from behind Breitbach's.)  Breitbach's has been a family owned restaurant/tavern since back in the 1860's, but it's history goes back to 1852 when it began as a stage coach stop.  Recently, Breitbach's has suffered from two devastating fires - one in December of 2007 and another one in October of 2008.  But they've rebuilt both times and continue to serve country style meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Cindy turned me on to Breitbach's a number of years ago when we were out on a weekend drive in NE Iowa, going around to see some of the places her family was from and places she used to visit as a little girl.  That one and only visit, I forget what I had for dinner, but Cindy had grilled shrimp.  The only problem was that there were these little metal flakes on the shrimp.  When we brought it to the attention of the waitress, she quickly took the shrimp away.  It wasn't long before more grilled shrimp - a LOT more grilled shrimp - came to the table.  And stopping by to apologize was Mike Breitbach, the owner of the place.  He comped Cindy's meal that evening with a promise that we'd make it back at some point.  We always had planned on going back, but just never got around to do it.  However, I had to drive up to La Crosse earlier this summer and I had a chance to stop in to Breitbach's for lunch. 

 

Mike Breitbach (right) is the fifth-generation owner of Breitbach's.  His great-great grandfather, Jacob Breitbach, worked at the stage coach stop that served food and beer to weary travelers heading up the Mississippi River to Minneapolis.  In 1862, the elder Breitbach bought the establishment from the previous owner and it's been in the Breitbach family ever since.  Breitbach's Country Dining is said to be the oldest continuous restaurant/tavern in the state of Iowa.  And with Mike's kids and - I was told - grandkids working in the restaurant, there would be now eight generations of Breitbach's who have helped out in the place. 

On Christmas Eve of 2007, a fire engulfed Breitbach's restaurant.  (For that story, click here.)  Mike Breitbach and his wife, Cindy, decided almost immediately to rebuild the restaurant.  With the help of local contractors and volunteers, they rebuilt the place from the ground up.  They redecorated with vintage antiques and large dining rooms with wood-beamed ceilings.  The Breitbach's would have loved to have installed a water-sprinkler system throughout the restaurant, but Balltown doesn't have a city water system - the residents get their water from wells.  Installing a pressurized sprinkler system in the restaurant would have been too expensive.

So, guess what?  Breitbach's Country Dining went through ANOTHER devastating fire in October of 2008, less than five months after they'd reopened and exactly 10 months to the day after the first fire.  (For that story, click here.)  While a gas leak was found to be the cause for the first fire in December, authorities weren't sure what caused the second fire.  A number of framed newspaper pages and articles on both fires adorn the wall of a hallway between Breitbach's bar area and one of their dining rooms.

After a second fire, Mike Breitbach wasn't too certain that he wanted to rebuild.  He was still waiting to get the final verdict from his insurance company who was doing a thorough investigation of the first fire.  The second fire was investigated by up to 50 insurance inspectors who combed through the rubble for any sign of what may have started the fire.  I've since heard that the second fire may have been started by faulty electrical wiring, but that wasn't the definitive ruling of the probe.  In any event, arson was ruled out. 

The Breitbach's eventually decided to rebuild, buoyed by the support of longtime customers and friends in the area.  Breitbach's new restaurant opened in the Spring of 2009.  It features a large bar area and three large dining rooms.   The main dining room also features a buffet area for lunch through the week, a full buffet on Friday and Saturday nights, and a breakfast buffet on Sunday mornings followed by a brunch buffet on Sunday starting at 11. 

 
Balltown is so small that it basically has one main road through town.  It's on this main road that Breitbach's sits next to.  They have a large parking lot in back, although a large semi and a bus were parking in the lots making it difficult to maneuver around them.  I went in and was greeting by a young hostess who showed me to a table.

I sat in one of the dining rooms toward the back of the place.  A smaller dining room off to the side was host to a group of motorcyclists who had driven their U.S. flag-adorned bikes to Breitbach's for lunch.  I was given a lunch menu and while I thought about going through the buffet, I ended up thinking about just getting a sandwich for my lunch.  While they don't really have deli sandwiches, per se, Breitbach's serves up basic fried or grilled items burgers, chicken sandwiches, BLT's, tuna melts and tenderloin sandwiches.  I'm guessing the buffet is the go-to item on the menu during the lunch hours and that's why they don't go much further than the basics on their menu.

 I thought the fried pork tenderloin sounded good.  The waitress told me they use the same batter on their tenderloins as they put on their fried chicken.  I prefer a battered pork tenderloin than a breaded one. I will say that I looked at the fried chicken on the buffet and thought it looked pretty good.  I ended up getting the fried pork tenderloin with onion rings. 

And I'm glad I did.  The tenderloin was very, very good.  A top notch sandwich, indeed.  The batter was light and they didn't pound the tenderloin beforehand to squash it out into an uneatable size.  The bun was lightly toasted and wasn't dried out in the least.  The onion rings were *OK* - nothing special.  I'm sure they were of the frozen variety that Breitbach's buy from a food purveyor.

After lunch, I walked around the inside of Breitbach's to take a closer look at things.  Mike Breitbach had been running around the place, helping bus tables, pointing things out to the wait staff, and talking with what appeared to be long-time customers of his restaurant.  I wanted to ask Mike if there were any changes he did to the restaurant between the first and second fire.  You know, you put up a new building and about four months later you're thinking, "Well, if I had to do it over again, I would have done it this way."  I didn't know if it would be tacky to ask him such a question.  And he sort of disappeared into the kitchen, so I never did get the chance to ask him.  And thinking back, it's probably for the better. 

 
Outside Breitbach's, they have a large beer garden behind the restaurant.  It actually looked rather nice with heavy walnut oil-stained tables and benches, a heavy roof over the top and a number of hanging baskets through out the garden.  There was a garden area just to the east of that with a number of ornamental plants and flowers.  It looked like a great place to hang out on a warm Friday afternoon during an Iowa summer. 

You can tell that it's a labor of love for Mike Breitbach and his restaurant.  When we first met him years ago when we had a problem with Cindy's meal, you could tell he was a genuinely nice guy who cared about his customers first and foremost.  Joking with his customers during my visit tells me that even getting hit in the stomach twice in less than a year he's been able to pull through and carry on a tradition that began in the mid-1800's.  While their food overall is average to above home-style cooking, I felt the pork tenderloin sandwich was one of the best I've had. It's tough to beat Breitbach's for a small slice of Americana high above the bluffs along the Mississippi River in NE Iowa.     

 

Essen Haus - Madison

The Essen Haus is one of the more highly regarded German restaurants in the Midwest.  Since 1983, the restaurant has served up some of the finest German fare along with American favorites.  They feature nearly 20 German beers on tap and offer well over 200 other types of bottled beer from all over the world.  I took one of my dealers out to dinner there on a recent trip to Madison.  It had been years since I'd last been in the Essen Haus and I was really looking forward to it. 

Local entrepreneur Bob Worm opened the Essen Haus in September 1983 - just in time for their first Oktoberfest celebration.  The building in which the Essen Haus is located dates back to the early 1860's in a historic area in downtown Madison known as the Old Settlement neighborhood.  Part of the building contained the Germania Hotel which was said to house German immigrants as they arrived in Wisconsin.  

In the 40's and 50's, the very popular Hoffman House - which, at the time, was THE fine dining restaurant in Madison - was in the building in which the Essen Haus is in today.   Seven Hoffman brothers ended up running a total of 18 Hoffman House restaurants in Wisconsin, Northern Illinois and Minnesota.  In the mid-70's, they sold the restaurants to Green Giant - the same Green Giant vegetable company - and Green Giant was, in turn, bought by Pillsbury.  Pillsbury ended up selling off all the restaurants and the original Madison location was closed.  

For a while, Hoffman House became the Wilson Street Dinner Theater, but that didn't go over all that well.  Bob Worm came in and decided to put in an authentic German restaurant/beer hall complete with large tables for group and family-style eating.  In addition to the Essen Haus, Worm also owns and operates the Ruby Marie Hotel next to the Essen Haus, as well as the adjoining Come Back In and The Up North Pub, two smaller pub-style places.  

The Essen Haus is located on the Southeast side of the downtown area not far from Lake Monona (see map).  There's a large parking lot behind the restaurant and it was nearly full from all the people in the establishments in and around the Essen Haus.  The restaurant was pretty full, but we were able to get a table near the front of the restaurant on a step-up landing that provided a good view of the German band playing on the stage.  

As we looked over our menus, we enjoyed the German Polka music provided by the Steve Meisner Band.  People were dancing and the music was very good.  And it wasn't all that loud, so we were able to carry on a conversation with no problem.  Even with the ornamental dark wood trim throughout the place, it was easy to hear my guest talk from across the table. 

Like I said, it had been years since I was in the restaurant and I forgot how large the main dining room at the Essen Haus.  And there is an adjoining dining room to the side that can easily seat over 100 people.  The Essen Haus is a popular place and has brisk business nearly every evening.  

In addition to the Essen Haus being decorated in authentic German decor, the restaurant features one of the largest collections of ornamental beer steins in the U.S.  They also have a shop of beer steins, glasses and "boots" called The Germania Collection that is located in the corner of the old Germania building.  They also have porcelain figurines, decorative plates, nut crackers and other assorted items tied to German heritage. 

Of course, we had to have beer.  I ordered a Spaten lager.  A LITER of Spaten lager.  And another waitress brought out a basket with a couple large homemade, piping hot pretzels with a side of horseradish and this outrageously great German mustard.  It was sort of mixture of sweetness, a sour flavor and some spiciness to the mustard.  My guest told me, "I usually don't like mustard all that much, but I love this stuff!"  I asked our waitress if any were available for sale and she said she didn't think so.  But she did give me a small container of it before I left.  (Even keeping it cool overnight, it had lost some of its taste sensation.  It wasn't as good as when it was originally served.) 

I was really torn between a number of items at the Essen Haus.  From the Sauerbraten to their Huhner (chicken) Schnitzel, everything sounded so damn yummy.  I'd gotten the Rahm (pork chop) Schnitzel on a prior visit and I was tempted to get that again.  But this time I ended up ordering the Schweinelendchen in a Pfefferam Sauce - pork tips sauteed with mushrooms and onions, then topped with a spicy pepper cream sauce.  I ordered spaetzle and red cabbage as my side.  A small dinner salad came with the meal, but I was more interested in trying their liver dumpling soup.  I got that as a substitute for my salad.

My guest was equally torn between a number of items.  He said, "I usually get the sampler when I can't make up my mind (smoked Thuringer sausage, Schweine Braten and a smoked pork chop).  Or I get the Rinder Rouladen (I almost got that - strips of beef wrapped around smoked bacon, mustard, onion, ground veal pork and a pickle, then topped with a mustard gravy).  But I'm gonna go with something different tonight."

He ordered up the Weiner Schnitzel - breaded veal cutlets pan-fried in a butter/lemon sauce and served with a side of sauerkraut and German potatoes.  "My wife likes the Weiner Schnitzel here," he said.  "I've never had it, so I guess I'm gonna try it now."

My guest got a salad with ranch dressing and that was brought to my table along with my cup of liver dumpling soup.  There was a nice large ball of ground liver in the cup - I'm not big on liver, period.  But I do like liver dumpling soup.  Go figure.  And the Essen Haus' liver dumpling soup was very good.  I made quick work of the soup and it wasn't long after I finished that our main entrees were brought to the table. 

  

My Schweinelendenchen was absolutely fabulous.  The pork tips were moist and tender.  The taste of the pork hadn't been cooked out of it, either.  The mushrooms were more prevalent in the sauce than the onions and they were very fresh, as well.  And the sauce, well, it was just out of this world.  It had a nice little spiciness to the taste and was very good when I dipped a piece of the rye bread into it. 

My guest liked his Weiner Schnitzel.  He said, "I normally don't get veal all that much, but my wife loves it.  I've had bites of hers in the past and this is very good."  There was a nice coating of breading over the veal, but not enough that it overpowered the taste of the meat. 

In addition to regular German fare on the menu, the Essen Haus features prime rib on Thursday and Saturday, and fish on Wednesday and Fridays.  They also have a number of steaks on their menu including a whisky peppercorn steak that my guest told me was "to die for".  He said, "If you like the pepper sauce on your pork tips, you really need to try the whisky peppercorn steak."  I'll have to try that on my next visit.  

With a large German-heritage population in Wisconsin, I certainly do like the Germanic style beers that they brew in the handful of breweries around the state.  But there are also some great German restaurants, as well, and the Essen Haus is one of the best in the state.  Heck, it's one of the best in the Midwest.  We had great service, great food, wonderful beer and listened to some pretty good German music.  Everyone has a good time at the Essen Haus.  It's no small wonder why it's packed nearly every day. 

The Claytonian Inn - Clayton, IA

Clayton, IA is a little riverside hamlet nestled in between tall bluffs and the Mississippi River in NE Iowa (see map).  Years ago, my wife and I would be bored and would take off on day trips just to go and do and see.  She had me drive down this one black top road one time and it turned into a steep road that wound down to the town of Clayton.  My wife used to come to Clayton years ago with her family to eat at a place called The Lighthouse, an old time supper club with pretty views of the river.  During my first visit there, oh, it had to be 15 years ago, we discovered a bed and breakfast caddy-cornered from The Lighthouse called The Claytonian Inn.  My wife had always wanted to stay there and earlier this summer I decided to surprise her by taking her up to Clayton for a night at The Claytonian Inn

The Claytonian Inn is a three-room B&B - a fourth room is available in the main house, but is rarely rented out - owned and operated by Eileen Christensen.  Eileen and her husband, Don, bought the Claytonian 14 years ago from the original owner, Karen Hagen.  Eileen and Don both grew up in Iowa, but were living in California.  They had hoped to retire to Clayton, running the B&B and enjoying life.  However, Eileen's former company went out of business, basically taking her retirement pension and medical insurance with it.  Don was forced to go back to work full time to allow the couple to have insurance and he is rarely at the B&B.  

The Claytonian Inn started out years ago as the Wilderness Motel.  Karen Hagen, a native of nearby Garnavillo, moved back to Iowa from New York City in 1981 to teach.  In 1987, she bought the motel and refurbished it over a period of a few months.  She initially called it the "Cklaytonian" with the "K" in the name taken from her first name.  The Cklaytonian Inn had six rooms initially, all of the rooms outfitted with antiques and theme decor.  Karen was quite the hostess as she worked up a large clientele of return visitors over the years.  

In 1996, the Christensen's took over and pared down the number of rooms available to rent.  Karen's famous "open bar" cocktail hour (which sometimes lasted well into the evening) also went by the wayside.  Some of Karen's regulars quit coming, but Eileen and Don forged new relationships with people - some who will stay with them for a week at a time.  

When I made the reservations over the phone with Eileen, she told me all three theme rooms were available the evening we planned to stay.  There is a "Fin and Feathers" suite that has a hunting theme to the room; the "E. Stanley Jones" suite, named after the 20th century American author and missionary and which has a 19th century nautical theme to the room; and the "Louis Liers" room, a floral accented room that Eileen calls her most romantic suite.  Without looking at the pictures on-line, I told her we'd take the Louis Liers suite.  But after finding the pictures on The Claytonian's web site, I thought the Louis Liers suite would be a little too effeminate for our tastes.  Actually, it would have been a nice room for my grandma - if either one of them were still alive.   

When we arrived at The Claytonian Inn, Eileen took us around to the three rooms to take a look.  All three were small and cozy - the Fin and Feather suite had a small kitchenette inside.  And all three had very small bathrooms.  She said, "I think whoever designed the place originally sort of forgot to put a bathroom in each room until it was too late."  The Jones suite had the largest bathroom - which, quite honestly, wasn't saying much - so we took that one.  

Even though we had our options of eating at either The Lighthouse or at Bill's Boat Landing - which is more of a bar that caters to boaters and motorcyclists - we decided to go to nearby Prairie du Chien for dinner.  Well, Prairie du Chien is not exactly close, but it's the closest bigger town with a grocery store and a WalMart.  However, we did have a couple drinks at The Litehouse so Cindy could remininsce about going there with her family years ago.  

While it was peaceful and quiet - for the most part - at The Claytonian Inn, it's location did have two draw backs.  One, it was situated - literally - next to the street.  The sidewalk/sitting area in front of our room was bordered by the street that carried traffic to and from Bill's Boat Landing.  The noise from the motorcycles and pick-up trucks going by was annoying at times.  (Eileen said that semi's used to use that road for a number of years to get to and from the sand and gravel depot just south of Clayton - that is, until they built a road specifically for those trucks.)  

And, secondly, The Claytonian Inn is less than 50 yards from the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern railroad which runs a regular schedule of trains through the town both day and night.   And they don't go slow or quiet through the village.  One went through about midnight, another about 4 a.m.  And the wheels hitting the tracks are very loud emitting a high-pitched squeal.  

But other than that, The Claytonian Inn was a great place to unwind for a day and a night.  There's a little park just over the tracks that has some benches to sit on as you gaze out onto the Mississippi. 

The next morning, we met up with Eileen in her dining room for a breakfast of French Toast, sausage and fruit.  It was pretty good and, quite honestly, we weren't expecting a gourmet breakfast from her.   The dining room was filled with antiques including a Grandfather clock and refurbished chairs.  The picture window looked east out onto the river. 

After we finished breakfast, we sat around with Eileen - a pleasant "60's-ish" woman with a quick smile and a brassy demeanor - and chatted for well over an hour.  She was telling us about Clayton and the surrounding area.   "There were 55 people when we moved here in 1996.  Now there's 35 full time residents.  We know everyone, including the people who live elsewhere, but have vacation homes here," Eileen said. 

Fall is her most busy time with business peaking about the same time the leaves change on the millions of trees that line the Mississippi.  Business has been tough since the economy tanked a couple years ago.  Eileen told us that she doesn't see the same people like she used to.  There's a number of B&B's in the area and many of them are having a tough time.  "This area of Northeast Iowa is dependent upon tourism," Eileen explained.  "We're holding on the best we can, but a lot of people need to have a good summer or they may be in trouble."

We looked at pictures of The Claytonian Inn from years ago and at some of the flooding that had occurred over the years.  She said the river - which is less than 100 yards from the front of the place - usually doesn't get up as far as the B&B.  But she said it will get close from time to time.  "We've had to sandbag a couple times," she said.  "But it affects the houses to the north of us more."  She showed us pictures of some of the houses north of the Litehouse restaurant where the houses were submerged in water.  

I'd never stayed in a bed and breakfast before.  There is just something a little weird to me staying in someone's home.  But The Claytonian Inn was probably more of a small theme motel than a B&B.  But in just talking with Eileen Christensen, I could tell why a lot of people enjoy her company.   I didn't feel uncomfortable sitting and talking with her and I had a great sense of why people continue to come back to The Claytonian Inn for a stress reliever.  We're going to go back again at some point.  

Brugge Brasserie - Indianapolis

I have a dealer in Indianapolis that I like to take out to dinner from time to time, mainly because these guys have turned me on to some pretty fine places to eat in the Indianapolis area. This time around, one of the sales guys was given the task to find a place for us to go. He was told by his manager, "Will has two rules - no national chains and it has to have good beer." The sales guy immediately came up with Brugge Brasserie in the Broad Ripple Village section of Indianapolis (see map).

Brugge Brasserie is named after the Belgian city of Bruges, but is spelled and pronounced (broo-gha) in the traditional Flemish way. It opened in April of 2005 and was the areas first European-style "gastro-pub" - basically a pub that serves better than average and unusual cuisine. Brugge's signature dish is Moules Frites - mussels and french fries. The mussels are delivered in a large steaming bucket and the fries are wrapped in paper. You have your choices of dipping sauces for the mushrooms.

Brugge Brasserie is also a brewpub specializing in homemade Belgian-style beers. I'm not big on Belgian beers, but I was definitely willing to give Brugge's brews a try. Brewmaster Ted Miller, who is also the managing partner of Brugge with his wife, Shannon Stone, has years of experience as a brewer and has installed brewing equipment in brewpubs all over the world. Miller and Stone, who grew up in Indianapolis, had their first son while working overseas. When he got to be school-aged, they wanted to move back to Indiana and raise their son. But Miller also had a hankering to open a brewpub/restaurant. He called on some old high school friends to help out.

Actor Abe Benrubi (right) was a high school classmate of Miller's at Indianapolis' Broad Ripple High School, just walking distance from where Brugge is today. Benrubi is one of those actors where you may not remember his name, but you definitely remember his face. His first break came with a recurring role in the TV sitcom Parker Lewis Can't Lose. Over the years, he's acted in other television shows such as Men in Trees and Wings(where he played Roy Biggins' gay son), and in movies such as Twister, George of the Jungle and Miss Congeniality 2. He's also done a lot of voice-over work for animated television shows and movies. But he's best known as Jerry Markovic on the NBC drama "ER".

Miller and Stone graduated with Benrubi in 1987. Along with fellow classmate Eli Schloss, they recruited two other investors - Charlie Midgley, who Miller met in Taiwan in 2001 while Miller was working for a start-up Taiwanese telephone company; and Rene Stoltz, who was Luxembourg's commercial and economic counselor for Taiwan. Midgely joked that he gave Miller the money "just to shut him up" because he talked about opening up his own place all the time. Each of the investors share an equal 1/6th stake in Brugge.

The original Brugge occupied the bottom floor of a building on E. Westfield Boulevard, next to the Monon Bike Trail in Broad Ripple. Business was great right from the start, and in 2008 they expanded into the upper floor of the building providing more dining space and outside seating.

And because the beers at Brugge were so popular, they soon ran out of brewing space at the facility. The investors eventually bought a small defunct brewery in Terry Haute in 2007. After some bureaucratic red tape that they had to cut through, Brugge beers are now found on tap at a number of fine restaurants throughout Indiana.

After an evening product training at the store, four of us drove over to Broad Ripple, sort of the entertainment/restaurant/bar district of Indianapolis on the north side of the city. Parking is at a premium in Broad Ripple, especially in the evening. Although there are a few parking spots in front of Brugge Brasserie, I opted to park in a public lot caddy-cornered across from the restaurant for $5 bucks. It was easy in and easy out.

We got into the restaurant just before 8 p.m. and it was very busy. We decided to sit outside on the lower level which is covered by the upstairs outside dining area. There was a threat of rain and our waitress warned us that if it did start to rain, we'd get wet as there were spaces between the wood flooring on the second level deck. We decided to take our chances and keep sitting outside. Thankfully, it didn't rain.

The menu at Brugge is very unique. In addition to their famous Moules Frites, they have a number of combinations of traditional Belgian/Flemish crepes at Brugge. They feature crepes made with grilled chicken, ham and swiss, caviar, duck, thai curry beef and grilled artichokes and portobello mushrooms. It all sounded very interesting. But we needed beer first.

Brugge's signature beer is their Tripel de Ripple - a high-alcohol content beer that they'll only let you drink just two of because they're so strong. They have a handful of other Belgian-style beers they brew both in house and at their brewery in Terre Haute. The one I went with was called Belgian Black Ale - or affectionately known in house as "The Black". It's brewed with 8 different types of malts, molasses, poplar tree syrup, dark sugar, chocolate, vanilla, coffee and some orange peels. It was actually very, very good. Surprisingly good. Like I say, I'm not big on Belgian-style beers, but I did like The Black very much.

Our first order of business was to get an order of Moules Frites - the mussels are 2 pounds of Prince Edward Island blue mussels, the kind my colleague Todd used to dig for in the sand at low tide as a boy growing up on P.E.I. There are various ways to get the mussels prepared - from the Classic style, steamed in dry reisling wine with fish stock and herbs; to the spicy red dragons chili pepper or Thai curry mussels. But we went with the mouth-watering Provencal style - they steam the mussels in French butter and herbs, along with shallots and garlic and a French chardonnay wine.

A side of fries - you choice of either small, large or l'enorme - come with it along with your choice of dipping sauces for the fries. There are nearly a dozen different types of dipping sauces - all homemade - mayonnaise, sweet chili, fresh herb pesto, hot curry, blue cheese and poplar syrup and French dijon. We ordered up four different sauces - roasted garlic, horseradish, ketchup, and sea salt and sherry vinegar.

I took a picture of the mussels after our waitress brought them to our table and I sent it to my colleague, Todd. It's not that great of a picture because of the steam rising out of the pot. But Todd immediately recognized the signature blue tint on the inside of the mussel shells. He texted me back and said, "P.E.I. blue mussels! Yum!" And they were yummy. The Provencal style of steaming them was just wonderful. I almost ordered up another bucket because they were so good. But that would have really cut into our main entrees because the mussels were so rich.

Now, I have to say that I'm not big on French fries that much any longer. I find the taste of them to be somewhat bland and lifeless. I don't know what Brugge does with their French fries but on their own they were very good. It has to be the oil in which they fry them. Even without any of the very scrumptious homemade dipping sauces we ordered, the frites at Brugge were some of the best I've ever had. And I've had some very good ones during my travels to Montreal and to France.

It was time to order up our main entrees, which consisted of crepes. We all went in different directions. One of my guests ordered the pan-roasted duck crepe, another went with the thai curry beef crepe and the other one got the Belgian wit (white) beer battered cod crepe. I almost went with the thai curry beef crepe, as well. But I was also torn between the roasted pork crepe and the grilled chicken crepe. In the end, I went with the roasted pork crepe - slow-roasted shredded pork served with goat cheese and a homemade mustard sauce. Our waitress smiled at me and said, "Good choice! That's my favorite!" I don't know if it was, but she was doing her best to get a big tip tonight.

I was on my third Black ale by the time the crepes showed up. We'd also ordered a couple more large sizes of fries to go along with our crepes and some more dipping sauces to try. I'm doing my best to broaden my gastronomic horizons, but I was a little apprehensive about having a pork filled crepe for my main entree. The only crepes I'd ever had in my life were like blueberry or cream cheese crepes for breakfast. But from the first bite, all my apprehension went out the window.

The pork was tender and flavorful. The goat cheese was a little too much, but it wasn't a deal breaker. And I did like the dijon-style mustard they put on the crepe, as well. The crepes weren't small, by any means. But they were very, very good. Yes, I guess you can have crepes for dinner, as well.

Each of my guests all voiced their approval with their crepes. The guy who got the duck crepe said it was "just outstanding". The sales guy who suggested the place got the Thai curry beef crepe. He said, "I've had six or seven different crepes here at Brugge, but this is my favorite."

My guest who got the beer-battered cod told me, "I have to say that it's much better than I expected. I'm worried that beer-battered fish will come out sort of greasy and flavorless. But this is very good."

The annual CEDIA Exposition is coming back to Indianapolis in 2011 and I'm sure it will be up to me to come up with a number of restaurants for us to eat at during our week in the city. I've already told my colleagues that Brugge will be on the top of the list for a unique dining experience. It was surprisingly very good in many different ways. I liked the beer, the crepes were very good, and the mussels and fries were out of this world. I may just go back there on my next trip to Indy and have a bucket of Moules Frites - Provencal-style - by myself!

Road Tips is Now on Facebook

I've decided to open a Facebook account for "Road Tips".  If you are a member of Facebook and would like updates when new entries are added, click on the "like" button in the upper left hand corner of this page.

I'll be linking new entries on "Road Tips" so you can get alerts through Facebook when they come up.  I'll also link up some of the "Best of Road Tips" entries along with some category entries from time to time. 

If you like the blog, send the suggestion along to your friends!  I'd certainly appreciate it! 

Click here for the Facebook link.

 

Moonshine Store - Moonshine, IL

The Moonshine Store is one place that I've wanted to visit for quite sometime.  Their "Moonburgers" have become somewhat of a phenomenon among burger aficionados over the past few years.  It's not that they're exceptional burgers, it's more because of the ambiance, the history and the unique nature of the Moonshine Store.

The Moonshine Store is located in Moonshine, IL, which is, basically, a country crossroads in East Central Illinois near the small town of Martinsville, roughly half-way between Indianapolis and St. Louis off of I-70 (see map).  Moonshine, IL has two citizens, Roy Lee and Helen Tuttle (left), who live above the Moonshine Store.  They've owned the little country store since 1982, making up burgers for the local farmers and workers in the area ever since. 

Before Roy Lee and Helen took over the Moonshine Store, a lady by the name of Enid Misner began the practice of making cold sandwiches and burgers in the store.  Enid Misner used a series of small electric grills to cook the burgers.  Roy Lee and Helen kept up that practice until 1993 when they ditched the small grills in favor of a gas-fired flat grill. 

The Moonshine Store actually got its start in 1889 when a gentleman by William St. Martz opened the original store just north of the present day location.  In 1911, a fire destroyed the original building, but St. Martz built the present day building next to where the old building stood.  For years, the Moonshine Store was a gathering place for farmers who discussed the weather, crops and whatever.  

It was in 2003 when CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Bill Geist visited the Moonshine Store and the little secret near the Indiana border.  After that report, business took off.  Crowds came in so fast that Roy Lee and Helen had to install a second gas grill to keep up with the surging burger orders.  Here is the segment from CBS Sunday Morning on the Moonshine Store: 

Helen says in this report that the most burgers they've sold in a day is 287.  Since this report was first shown, that number has gone up precipitously.  Earlier this year, the Moonshine Store sold a record 1,908 burgers on a single day during the annual Moonshine Lunch Run, an annual motorcycle rally that celebrated its sixth year in April.  What started out as a "fun run" for a small group of riders in 2004 ballooned to over 1100 motorcycles and 1400 attendees this year.

The charm of the Moonshine Store is the fact that they really don't sell much more than burgers.  There is no such thing as French fries at the Moonshine Store.  People can purchase potato chips to go along with their burgers.  There are coolers that have bottles of pop, tea, lemonade and water.  There's some t-shirts and some other snacks to buy, but that's about it.  There are scores of napkin and paper towel packages, tons of hamburger buns on shelves, dozens of ketchup and mustard bottles in boxes - but none are for sale.  They're used in the day-to-day operations by the Tuttles.

  
I was on my way to Indianapolis from St. Louis earlier this summer and decided that I had time to get off the interstate and find the Moonshine Store.  I had it programmed into my GPS and I was beginning to doubt the mapping system until I took a right hand turn down a crushed rock and tar road, past some large grain bins standing alone with nothing but fields around them before finally coming to a crossroads with a number of cars and trucks parked along the side of the road and in a small field across the road from the Moonshine Store.   There were cars from, obviously, Illinois and nearby Indiana.  But I did see license plates from Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio.  Mine seemed to be the only car from Iowa.  

  

I followed a group of elderly folks into the Moonshine Store.  There was a large amount of people milling about the store waiting for their burger orders.  Some were seated on old church pews, some were on folding chairs.  Some younger 20-somethings were standing near the door, trying to stay out of the way of the constantly flowing crowd coming in and going out. 

Toward the back of the store was a counter and behind that were Roy Lee and Helen cooking up dozens of burgers on the grills.  Another lady was behind the counter taking orders, while another lady was over at the cash register taking money (no credit cards) from the patrons.  A small menu was perched on the top of the counter.  I stood patiently while the group of elderly people ordered up their burgers, sort of thankful that they were in front of me so I could take a longer look at what they have to offer.

Basically, it's burgers.  Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, double cheeseburgers, bacon cheeseburgers, etc.  I think there were a couple of chicken sandwiches, but all I remember are the burgers.  You order them from the lady , give her your name and then wait with the scores of other people.  I ordered up a double cheeseburger when it was my turn.   I then went back toward the front of the store near the front door and hung out there as I waited.

The preparation of the burgers at The Moonshine Store is nothing special.  In fact, their ground beef is delivered in tubes.  Each morning for each hamburger, Helen breaks off a chunk of the ground beef, rolls it in a ball and then flattens it out by hand.  The patties are saved in a container until they're used later in the day.   There's no spices, no additives, nothing.  There's a community condiment table in the center of the room for ketchup, mustard, onions, pickles and other stuff.  I'm not sure it would pass any county's health standards, but it helps add charm to the place.

I got in just before noon and there were, possibly, 60 people waiting on burgers at that time.  But not a lot of people came in after I got there.  That's because Helen closes the grill precisely at 12:30 p.m. each day (they're open every day - except Sunday - from 6 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.).  She may make you a cold cut sandwich if you get in after the grill is closed, but she's pretty militant on turning the grill off at 12:30 p.m.

It took over 20 minutes before Helen called out my name and I went up to get my paper plate covered with wax paper and my double cheeseburger.  I put my normal condiments on top and took my burger and my bottle of water that I'd pulled out of the cooler over to the lady at the cash register to pay.  It's all done on the honor system.  You don't get a bill, you get your burger and what else you need and then pay the lady.  My double cheeseburger and bottle of water came to $6.84.  She gave me 15 cents back from the $7 bucks I gave her.

There's a large communal outdoor area with picnic tables off to the side of the Moonshine Store.  It had rained rather heavily in the area the night before and there was standing water around many of the picnic tables, so it was sort of difficult to move around the tables to find a seat.   I was able to share the end of a table with an older couple who had friends seated at an adjacent table.

  

The bun they use at the Moonshine Store is nothing special - it's a cheap bun that doesn't add anything to the flavor of the burger.  But the Tuttles smash the burgers with a heavy flat iron that gives them that crispy edge.  The patties are actually thicker than I anticipated, so a double cheeseburger was one large meal.  They put cheese the top of both burgers and it melted perfectly on the patties so there was a cheesytaste in every bite.  The burger patties were well-done, but far from overcooked.  There was still a juiciness to the burgers and they had a great, flat-grilled taste.  I can't say it was the best burger I ever had.  I probably can't put it in my Top Ten list, but it would deserve an honorable mention.  Not just for the taste of the burger, but - as I said earlier - for the atmosphere, the story and the incomparable location of the Moonshine Store.

I wasn't disappointed in the least during my visit to the Moonshine Store.  I sort of knew what to expect going in, so that helped out.  I knew I'd have to get there well before 12:30 p.m., I knew I'd have to wait for a burger and I knew the burgers would be pretty good.  People just don't keep coming from all over to have a Moonburger if it wasn't good.  And because Moonshine isn't close to anything, the burgers are the draw.  But the unique nature of everything that encompasses a visit to the Moonshine Store exemplifies Middle Americana to its fullest.  I want to go back...