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The smell of blooming nasturtiums blends with the Door County air. The sound of sailboats rocking gently in their slips across the street provides a punctuated, soothing rhythm to gentle guitar notes. A chilled glass of white wine stands next to a plate of warm Brie and brandied fruit as the sun hits the horizon […]
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Skaliwags: Delectable Dive Dining
When you walk through the entryway of Skaliwags, the scene before you might seem unimpressive at first. The restaurant is tiny, five tables and a bar, and the cooks occupy a kitchen in plain view that consists of a grill, a flat top, and little-to-no prep space. But linger long enough to taste the food […]
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The View From the Line: A Look in the Kitchen
Some restaurant cooks bounce around the kitchen like a jitterbug, as if the floor is made of hot coals and there’s a meddlesome fly buzzing around their head. They hop from flat-top, to fryer, to the prep cooler, then to the grill and back to the prep cooler. They shout instructions to prep cooks, find […]
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The Enduring Appeal of Door County Supper Clubs
For years, the sign outside the roadside restaurant and ballroom south of Jacksonport read “Mr. G’s Supper Club.” A few years ago, Mr. G’s co-owners Bob and Mary Geitner changed the name of the restaurant to Mr. G’s Logan Creek Grille, but in the years leading up to the name change, they regularly fielded the […]
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Last winter, while most Door Countyites were tucked in and enjoying some hard-earned downtime, Paul Wanish was busy creating a savory addition to historic downtown Ephraim. Just a block from the water and a stone’s throw from Leroy’s Coffee, Czarnuszka Soup Bar is an unexpected delight. Located in a cozy cabin with a wood-burning fireplace, […]
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Right at Home: Solomon’s Settle in at Julie’s Cafe
Julie’s Park Café opens at 6:59 am, but when the coffee’s made the door is open. If a local or tourist happens to wander in a little early, they will be warmly received and served up a steaming cup of joe. This is just one thing that makes Julie’s inviting. Add to that the close-knit […]
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Todd Frisoni and the Door County Ice Cream Factory
If you ask Todd Frisoni, owner of Door County Ice Cream Factory, on the corner of Beach Road and Highway 42 at the north end of Sister Bay, how he came to own the business, he is apt to reply, “The process was interesting,” and then smile. Todd’s appearance doesn’t remotely reflect his 33 years […]
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They say you should never trust a skinny cook. If you apply this same logic to bakers, you’ll miss out on one of Door County’s best and sweetest offerings: FlourGirl Patissier. Sarah Basch, baker, founder, and sole proprietor, has a wide smile and a quick conversational style paired with a frankness that makes her easy […]
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Ask just about anyone within 20 miles of Sturgeon Bay to meet at “The Pub” and they’ll know what you’re talking about. The Neighborhood Pub, located on Sturgeon Bay’s business thoroughfare, has been serving up food and drink to locals and visitors for 14 years. Although The Pub serves a wide variety of beverages, including […]
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You know you’re dealing with a true food service professional when, during a casual conversation about favorite restaurants, the phrase “flavor profile” escapes their lips while describing a recent meal. It’s not the kind of thing a casual or even regular diner would say, but it is exactly the type of conversation you hear when […]
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The English Inn is an indelible piece of the Fish Creek story. Devoted patrons have been coming to the restaurant for decades, back to the days when it was the original Parkway (commonly referred to as “The Diaper Inn,” since it was an 18-year-old bar and just about anyone could get in). The building, which […]
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Hot Town, Summer in the Kitchen
Soup and salad: a deeply satisfying, heart-happy combination. Yet, like many classic things, it can be done to perfection reminiscent of Mom’s home cooking, or it can pale in comparison. At the Summer Kitchen, located on the north end of Ephraim, owners and brothers Nino and Armando Jauregui make a mean cup of soup. In […]
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Good Old-Fashioned American Food
I navigate my way over the glossy wooden floor, wearing my red Wilson’s t-shirt and khaki shorts, holding a tray of hamburger baskets above my head. A toddler bobs up and down by the neon-lit jukebox. American Pie by Don McLean plays from the speakers. A white-haired woman tells the cashier about her days as […]
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Wild Tomato Brings Fine Ingredients to Pizza
Most business deals that start with a bet don’t end happily ever after, but Sara and Britton Unkefer are beating the odds. Two years after purchasing iconic Digger’s restaurant in Fish Creek, the couple has transformed it into Wild Tomato Wood-Fired Pizza and Grille with a following as rich as the local ingredients used in […]
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For me, JJ’s/La Puerta is the closest I’ll ever come to Cheers: when I walk in, I usually know the names of many of the customers as well as staff, and vice-versa. If I order a margarita, Dave knows to make it “on the rocks with no salt,” or, if I order the Mexican beer […]
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Southern Taste, Northern Place
For carnivores, there is no greater scent than the smell of barbeque, of meats being slowly cooked over low heat produced by real wood. It’s the scent of backyard barbeques, competitive festivals and wildly popular restaurants around the country, with regional favorites from Texas to Kansas City, Memphis to the Carolinas. These days, Door County […]
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Fresh Offerings & Saving Favorites
What would you do with your last day on Earth? A tough question to answer but Barbara Luhring knows; she would spend it at T. Ashwell’s, eating at the bar and sipping her favorite cocktail made for her by her favorite bartender, Zack Lozoff. If that isn’t a restaurant recommendation, I don’t know what is. […]
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Bea’s Ho-Made Products: Start With a Picnic Table and a Coffee Can
If a story is good, it is worth telling over and over again. Such is the case with Bea’s Ho-Made Products. In 1962, Beatrice (Bea) and Bob Landin were raising their two daughters and working their Gills Rock farm. Their elder daughter, Linda, put a picnic table out by the roadside and sold some cherries […]
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A New Twist at The Nautical Inn
Sometimes putting a new twist on an old favorite works, and sometimes it doesn’t. Lucky for Door County residents and those who like to visit, Chef Andy’s Nautical Inn (referred to around town as “The New Nautical”) is a winner. Tucked into 234 Kentucky Street in downtown Sturgeon Bay, just a half block from the […]
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When Chef Terri Milligan creates a new recipe, she begins by identifying a single item around which the entrée can evolve. As Terri explains, “I look at the item and simply ask, what goes well with this?” For example, cherries in season could inspire a new sauce for wild game. Freshly gathered morel mushrooms might […]