Last night we went to dinner with some friends at the Range Line Inn, established in 1840 in Mequon, Wisconsin. It was an old fashioned supper club. Speaking of old fashioned, I had mine with brandy, sweet, olives and cherries!Like many Wisconsinites, the supper club was a staple of my youth, an art lost to a generation of Olive Gardens and Qdobas as well as Carnevors and Mr. B's. Good food that included meat, potato, onion rings, soup or salad for one price. No ala carte. No chain restaurant. No fancy butter, just au jus.
I've forgotten how good a good supper club can be. It's where I had my first kiddie cocktail and relish tray. And yet, I don't know if we've ever taken our kids to one. The Range Line Inn had an incredibly welcoming bar and a cozy homey feel throughout. It was perfect.
So this led to a discussion with my husband on the way home. Like the Friday fish fry, are supper clubs a Wisconsin thing? He said he wasn't sure, but they are big in northern Wisconsin and unfortunately a lot of them have closed because the casinos took their business. I googled supper club and got a bunch of articles about people who get together and cook. Wrong type of supper club. Then I googled classic supper club and the first several items had to do with Wisconsin, so I'm going to say that like fish frys and brandy, supper clubs are a Wisconsin thing. In all three cases, I'm glad I grew up in Wisconsin.
Here, here. As a kid, I thought supper clubs were the only kind of restaurant there was. And when I reached the drinking age (18 at the time) the only thing I knew how to order was Brandy Old Fashioned, sweet. Once on Spring Break, in Florida, I tried to order one. The bartender had no idea what I was talking about.
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