Much has been written over the years about what properly constitutes a “supper club,” the home of what might be considered Wisconsin’s very own cuisine.
“The concept of the supper club is something we certainly embrace as our own,” says Mary Bergin, longtime state travel writer and the author of the new Wisconsin Supper Club Cookbook: Iconic Fare and Nostalgia from Landmark Eateries (Globe Pequot Press).
“Supper clubs do exist outside of Wisconsin, but I know of no other state where it’s embraced so much as being a part of us,” says Bergin. “That makes it part of a regional foodway and something we can choose to work to elevate.”
Bergin has collected treasured recipes from 40 of the state’s landmark supper clubs. She first contacted the restaurants to see if they would share a recipe, a process she likens to throwing a potluck, “hoping not everyone brings a dessert.” But the range of appetizers, soups, salads, sides and, of course, desserts balanced quite nicely. “Again, like a good potluck, somtimes they magically come together,” Bergin says.
Then she plotted her route and took off on several epic road trips to photograph each restaurant.
Next phase: testing each and every recipe. Bergin has found many must-make-again favorites, including Hungarian mushroom soup from the Edgewater in Jefferson and the pumpkin cheesecake from the Chippewa Inn in Hayward.
The book is a fascinating guide to Wisconsin’s incredible range of unique, home-grown restaurants, from rustic Northwoods tavern-style spots to the frankly over-the-top white Naugahyde booths of the Hob Nob in Racine.
One supper club, Turk’s Inn, went out of business in 2013; another, the Red Mill near Stevens Point, just closed at the beginning of this month. Are supper clubs an endangered species in the 21st century? “It all depends on the supper club and its willingness to listen to its most loyal of customers about what they want,” says Bergin. She cites Toby’s in Madison as a spot that draws people in for lunch and dinner; owner Roxanne Peterson is “certainly doing something right.”
But with increased competition, maintaining that loyalty isn’t easy. “People all have stories about the supper clubs they like now or the ones that don’t exist anymore but they wish did,” Begin says. She cautions against taking a favorite eatery for granted. A “We’ll go there for our anniversary next year,” instead of dining at a spot more regularly might not be enough, she cautions: “If we care about something we take care of it.”
Bergin will be part of a roundtable sponsored by the Chicago-based Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance. Its supper club “immersion” experience, April 8-9 in Racine, will also feature Wisconsin food historians Terese Allen and Jim Draeger and documentary filmmaker Holly De Ruyter. “It’s an indication that people outside of Wisconsin have an interest in supper clubs, too,” Bergin says.
