Although virtually all restaurants in Wisconsin serve up fried fish on Friday nights during the season of Lent, the most typical fish fry venue is a supper club, another upper midwestern U.S. institution. Supper clubs are restaurants that all seem to date from the 1950s. They are often located near a lake or outside of town (at least originally... they are now often the only 1950's era building in a suburban jungle outside of town, a testament to their enduring popularity). The venue is never too swanky, but still somehow has an atmosphere that is somehow special. They are usually quite dark, and they all seem to serve prime rib on Saturday night and baked chicken on Wednesday nights.
A large bar area is de rigueur. A true fish fry always involves a long wait for a table, and patrons enjoy their wait with a beer (preferably one brewed in Wisconsin) or, more classically, a brandy old-fashioned.
Last night we met friends at a place called Toby's, near Madison, Wisconsin. It was a classic place for a classic Wisconsin experience.
The atmosphere upon entry was festive, happy, communal. Every possible age of person is represented at a fish fry, with the almost Gaussian age distribution slanted to higher numbers, at least at 5:30 pm when we arrived. The dress is casual for the younger crowd; the over-60 crowd tended to be better dressed.
Even at this early hour, every seat in the restaurant was taken and the bar area was SRO. We sent Linda to the bar for drinks, and she returned with beers for the guys and Key lime martinis (a house secret recipe) for the ladies. (At a supper club, every female over the age of 21 is somehow "one of the ladies"). The rest of our group arrived a little later, and at this time we put our name in for a table and simultaneously ordered our dinners (somewhat non-standard practice, but it worked). We had another round of beverages, as we were warned it would be about an hour, at least, before our table was ready.
My husband went to get the drinks this time. It took at bit longer for him, as he is not an attractive youthful blonde female. The atmosphere continued to be friendly, happy, loud, and very warm, with lots of laughter and camaraderie.
The fish fry menu at this establishment was extensive. There was deep fried (or baked) cod, lake perch, catfish, bluegill, and something called "baby pike" which I somehow found slightly disturbing. Some places also serve a fish boil, particularly in Door County, but that is whole topic in itself. The batter on the fish generally contains beer and is somewhere between crispy and crunchy. With the fish fry, you get a choice of coleslaw or tossed salad (which is always made with iceberg lettuce) and a choice of potato (hash browns or french fries).
About 2 and 1/2 hours after we first arrived, we were finally seated at our table. The salads were already waiting for us, as were bowls of crudites (carrots, celery, radishes, and green onions) and a basket of rolls and bread sticks. The main courses soon arrived, hot and fresh and tasting wonderful (although a cynic in our group noted that our long wait may have piqued our appetites). The hash browns were served family style, and tasted especially good, with the typical faux butter flavor that one expects at a Wisconsin fish fry (although the bread basket proudly contained foil-wrapped packets of real Wisconsin butter).
The service at a Friday night fish fry is always fantastic, as restaurants can pick and choose the best servers due to the high income potential from tips.
We left Toby's at about 9:30 pm, very full, very happy, and feeling somehow almost proud that we were doing our part to keep this very special tradition going.
No comments:
Post a Comment