Now Open: Creekside Supper Club

A relish tray grows in South Minny.

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You really don't know how much you miss a Wisco' Old Fashioned until one is set in front of you. All cherry and orange and brash like she be. There's a permission there. 

And now, you can fill that lack at a new spot that opened just before the New Year. The Creekside Supper Club has redone the former El Burrito/Pepito's space next to the Parkway Theater, and they've redone it well. 

This is pure homage to the Northern Supper Club genre. Get fighty if you want to claim that as purely Wisconsin, I'm state-line agnostic, though I fully agree that the Badger state commendably honors and keeps their clubs alive. 

Ward Johnson and Eddie Landenberger co-own the new club as well as the neighboring Parkway Theater. They brought on chef Eli Wollenzien, of Coalition and Red Sauce Rebellion, to get the menu right. 

"The Creekside is billed as an 'authentic midwestern supper club'. What does that mean? It’s something that you can immediately identify if you’ve ever stepped foot in one, but it’s a little hard to articulate, " Johnson said in a note he sent over the holiday, and I fully agree.

It's about the dusty curios in the cabinets and the depth of burgundy hue in the carpet as much as the batter on the cheese curds. That there's a straw duck on the host stand that holds ACTUAL house matches and red glass candle holders on the tables, those are the touches that hit you in the feels. Because here's the thing: you can play at being a supper club, or you can be a supper club. 

I stopped in last night for a quick drink to check it out. 

Starting with the Korbel brandy Old Fashioneds, top scores (it really has to be Korbel). They'll ask you if you want it sweet or sour. Follow your truth. By the way, there's a drinks section called Dairyland where you can order ice cream drinks such as a Golden Cadillac or Brandy Alexander, but I have way too many bartending memories to do that. 

We only had an hour, because I didn't reserve a table, the bar stools were full, and there were only two servers. We agreed to vacate our table when the reserving party arrived, so drinks and snacks were all we had time for. Three of my party of four were Wisconsin college graduates, me included, so it felt like an Appleton bar crawl and we're fine with that. The Vidalia onion rings were shatteringly crisp, and finger-wiggling hot to kick us off. 

How do you not order a relish tray? We were treated with a complimentary cold veg crudité tray when we sat down, but that's not what you're getting with an actual $19 order. Using what I know to be a salad dressing triad (triptych? trifecta? trinity? troika?), the night's selection included wild game sausage and cheese curds, smoked trout dip, plus pickled carrots and asparagus with marbled rye toast and tomato jam. The sausage alone was reason to dive in, but it delivered the goods in all three silver buckets. 

I know you don't usually soup on a bar crawl, but I am on a French onion soup kick, so. This little crock with the appropriate amount of provolone and gruyere is exactly what I wanted, full of salty richness, beefy onions, and uncompromising cheese pulls. Yes, it's brandied. 

We didn't have time for a wedge salad or a prime rib sandwich, but I'll be back for those. And there's nightly fish fry, which is a lovely way to think about 2022.

So are they playing or is it real? There was a real fire in the fireplace. People have started tossing pennies in the water feature. With the tables full of families, neighbors, and oldster couples sitting on the same side of the booth on a Tuesday night, it's hard not to believe in it. Maybe it's us that makes it real. Again, so far, the appropriate amount of cheese has been employed. 

Open at 4pm, Tu-Su. RESERVE a table, maybe by the fire.