Those of us who grew up going to Midwestern supper clubs know it’s a special kind of restaurant that doesn’t always translate to other geographic locations. Sitting down with the family over broiled walleye, popovers and one of several optional potato preparations is a culturally significant experience.
Ideally, the restaurant requires traveling down a long, winding road that revels in 1950s and early ’60s car culture, when supper clubs rose to prominence alongside gleaming chrome and asphalt. There had better be wood paneling dominating the decor; even better if there’s a touch of classy red vinyl seating. And service is polished in the same way as the wood on the bar — by years of experience.
Supper clubs impart that special-occasion feeling when you walk in the door. In northern Minnesota, supper club steak dinners were reserved for birthdays, anniversaries, special celebrations or when my grandparents came to town. The grown-ups would get cherry-wood colored drinks garnished with the same bright red cherries I’d pluck out of my Shirley Temple. Saturday night prime rib specials were a twice-a-year treat that we’d be talking about days later.
While the popularity of supper-club dining has waxed and waned, it was a thrill to see it celebrated on Wednesday night’s episode of “Top Chef.” When the show’s production came to Wisconsin last summer, I was giddy to be one of the “supper club enthusiasts” in the episode, shot at Madison’s famed Harvey House, owned by Shaina and Joe Papach. Cheftestants learned about the glorious history of the Wisconsin supper club, were inspired by the restaurant’s modern steakhouse fare and then took that inspiration to make it their own.
Warning: If you haven’t watched the episode yet, skip over the next paragraph.
The results were a supper club version of the game called Telephone: lots of translations, a few hits and several misses, notably a poor approximation of an ice cream drink and overcooked trout. It was no surprise that the winner of the challenge, chef Dan Jacobs, is a Milwaukee resident with fond memories of snacking on relish trays as a kid. His modern revamp of the freebie starter plate included an exceptional chicken liver mousse.
But that wasn’t the only supper club fare on the menu for “Top Chef” judges. In an interview after the taping, chef and judge Tom Colicchio confirmed he had dinner at Madison’s iconic Tornado Club Steak House and sampled the state cocktail: the brandy Old Fashioned. “I’m really more of a Manhattan guy,” the New Yorker confessed with a bemused shrug. We’ll give him that, but it’s also fine if the “Supper Club” episode left you with a hankering for the real thing.
If you’re feeling nostalgic and are looking for restaurants that understand the supper club assignment, check out these eight, all within a day’s drive of the Twin Cities.
