Rooftop Dining Takes Local Fare to New Heights

Mezzanine’s rooftop patio. Photo by Sam Watson.

Mezzanine, an Egg Harbor restaurant that opened in May, elevates Door County classics – literally.

Located in the space that formerly housed Harbor View at 7821 Horseshoe Bay Road, Mezzanine serves breakfast, lunch and dinner on the restaurant’s rooftop patio overlooking Egg Harbor Marina. Diners sit at long, wooden tables with built-in benches that stretch across the rooftop, shaded by huge, yellow umbrellas and illuminated by string lights when the sun goes down. 

I got to Mezzanine before sunset, so I had enough time to watch the sun as it sank behind the harbor, rippling over the eye-level treetops and casting long shadows over the other diners. On my right, I could admire a clear, blue sky over even clearer, bluer water. On my left, I had an equally lovely view of the rooftop bar, serving wines from Lautenbach’s Orchard Country Winery and summery cocktails such as watermelon-cucumber coolers and mixed-berry mojitos. 

If you’re starting your day with a meal at Mezzanine, a separate cocktail list might entice you with breakfast drinks such as a Farmers Market Bloody Mary or a house-made coffee liqueur. And to make sure your brunch isn’t entirely liquid, Mezzanine serves cherry parfaits, cherry crêpes and cherry preserves on toast.

Sensing a theme? I was, too. Though the chic, new restaurant may look as though it belongs in a big city, nearly every menu item honors the restaurant’s home turf, putting distinctive twists on local staples such as cherries, lavender and whitefish.

On the dinner menu, for example, I could choose from crackers with smoked-whitefish dip, a pulled-pork sandwich with cherry slaw or, perhaps the most quintessentially Door County item of all, locally sourced cheese curds with lavender-cherry chutney. 

Somehow, I landed on the one menu item that didn’t scream “Door County”: the cremini-mushroom linguini, a plateful of creamy pasta loaded with freshly cooked mushrooms and topped with grated cheese. Though there was not a cherry in sight, it was delicious and paired well with a light breeze off the harbor and the warm rays of the setting sun.

Looking for Other Rooftop Dining Experiences? 

On sunny days the rooftop is always bustling at CHOP in the center of Sister Bay. Get a glimpse of the bay from up high on the corner of Mill Road and Bayshore Drive as you enjoy steaks, chops and seafood and a fine cocktail and wine menu.  

For a more casual open-air experience, head up the street to Boathouse on the Bay and go to the roof for an unmatched view of the marina and sunsets in Sister Bay. Devour a lobster roll, peel and eat shrimp, and sip on a dark and stormy as you wait for the cannon to fire and signal the setting sun on the lake. Boathouse is located at 10716 North Bayshore Drive.