Category: Dining
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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 […]
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“How are you?” It’s the most common of questions, and usually doesn’t elicit much thought before a response. “I’m fine, thanks,” is the standard, no-thought response, whether true or not. But for the 400 or so international students who come to Door County to work in its kitchens, dining rooms, and shopping aisles each summer, […]
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In Love with Food & Wine: Twenty Years of the Mission Grille
Fine dining can be intimidating. There is a perception that the wait staff will be snooty, the sommelier will talk down to you and the atmosphere will be stuffy. That is a misconception that the Mission Grille has successfully turned on its ear for the past 20 seasons. Diners are greeted with more than just […]
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A Culinary Anchor: The Inn at Cedar Crossing
It takes just one bite of the Brie Cheese Beignet (a brie cheese wedge, breaded, fried crisp, and served with raspberry coulis and fresh fruit) to let me know that I’ve made the right decision to lunch at the Inn at Cedar Crossing in downtown Sturgeon Bay. Located on the corner of Third Avenue and […]
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“Perks” Take Base Camp to Higher Ground
Service at a lower level isn’t what it used to be. Not when you can open the door to Base Camp Coffee Bar below Ecology Sports in Sister Bay and be greeted warmly – by the coffee, by the staff and by the fire. With his back to the flames of the gas stove, the […]
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Lunch (and more) at Launch: Café Launch
“Eating and drinking at Launch is always the right choice: great food, great beer, great company. Good times…” –Chris Olson, Door County resident and Launch-goer In every town, I suspect, there is a place – often but not always an eating and drinking establishment – that locals hope to keep quiet. Sort of like the […]
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The Bistro at Liberty Square: The Story of an Old Storefront and a New Restaurant
When you arrive in the sleepy little village of Egg Harbor by way of Highway 42, the clean, glistening white storefront in the heart of town, across the street from Main Street Market, might surprise you a bit. Not by the fact that it’s there – the complex itself has been there for about 10 […]
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Clean Air Act: AC Tap goes smoke free
It’s part of the price you pay for a night on the town. Drink too much, you get a hangover and, if you’re responsible, a quest for a ride back to your car the next morning.
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Pull Up a Stool & Just Try to Clean a Plate: Door County Diners
The byways of Door County were once dotted with drive-in restaurants, supper clubs, and greasy spoons that served cheap, home-cooked grub to the farmers, fruit-pickers, and families who flocked to the peninsula’s cooling shores. Over time their numbers have dwindled or styles changed to cater to the desires of a new clientele and compensate for […]
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Finding the Flavor of Life: Restaurant Saveur
Combining classic French culinary training with a Chilean family history, and a Wisconsin upbringing with flavors inspired by travel around the world, William and Loreto Marks of Restaurant Saveur have created a unique and exciting new dining experience in downtown Baileys Harbor. As the opportunity they had been searching for unexpectedly presented itself two winters […]
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A Different Frame of Mind: The Whistling Swan Inn & Restaurant
What is it about a place that makes visitors feel at home the moment they arrive? Those entering the doors of The Whistling Swan Inn and Restaurant in Fish Creek may well be able to answer that question. The elegant and understated décor evokes a sense of the building’s heritage, while subtle, neutral colors play […]
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Alexander’s Restaurant: A change of scene for an established favorite
The Hotel Du Nord, a beautiful establishment overlooking the Little Sister Islands, was once home to a restaurant well known for its delicious dinners. While the hotel is no longer there, lucky for us the restaurant lives on. Alexander’s, under the guidance of Bruce Alexander for the last 20 years, now has a new home […]
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If you’ve never eaten at Good Eggs you are, in my opinion, missing out on one of Door County’s best and most unique breakfast experiences. (Maybe I’m biased: Joel Bremer, owner/manager/head cook at Good Eggs, is a friend and former roommate. I was actually one of Joel’s guinea pigs for the restaurant when finalizing the […]
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It took their honeymoon for Carol and Dick Skare to realize they could fall in love all over again. But this time, it was with an idea – to open a restaurant in Door County. The beginnings of The Cookery restaurant in Fish Creek began as most romantic endeavors do, with a chance meeting. Wanting […]
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Familiar Faces: The Sister Bay Bowl
The old adage “good help is hard to find” might be true when it comes to staffing a restaurant. Of course, there are always exceptions, and the Sister Bay Bowl is one of them. “The Bowl,” as it is called by locals and longtime visiting patrons alike, has long had a reputation for giving ample […]
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Good Taste is All in the Family: The Shoreline Restaurant
Mike and Mary Mead have a saying about how your meal is served at their Shoreline Restaurant in Gills Rock: “First you eat with your eyes.” If that’s true, between “drinking in” the panoramic water view and enjoying the presentation, you could be full before you take your first bite. But the Meads invite you […]
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Donny’s Glidden Lodge Restaurant
The highest praise you can give a restaurant in the county is to say that locals frequent it. That is definitely the case at Donny’s Glidden Lodge Restaurant. You aren’t just going to find locals, though; visitors and summer residents are also very much in the know when it comes to where to find a […]
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Actor, Prankster, Restrauteur & “Mayor”: Fish Creek’s Digger DeGroot
In Door County, the definition of what makes someone a “local” seems to fluctuate depending upon who you ask. For some, it’s a title given to all babies born north of the county line; for others, it’s a designation reserved for those whose family trees have roots on the peninsula through multiple generations; and then […]
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Approaching the Coyote Roadhouse in the high summer season, you are likely to see cars filling the lot, parked amongst the trees and lined up along the roadside. Walk in the door and the place is hopping. Bar stools are occupied, booths are filled with families, friends are mingling at tables on the porch overlooking […]
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Island Resources Equal Sustainable Saveur: Washington Island Hotel and Restaurant
A ship’s captain could take comfort while guiding his vessel through Death’s Door, knowing a nourishing meal and a peaceful night’s sleep awaited him on Washington Island. The Washington Hotel and its kitchen, established by seafarer Captain Ben Johnson in 1904, existed to provide those at helm with reprieve from the ship’s hold. A century […]