AL JOHNSON'S SWEDISH RESTAURANT

HWY 42
SISTER BAY, WI
54234

Al Johnson's is a landmark restaurant in Door County Wisconsin. Located in downtown Sister Bay on the main drag, it is hard to miss the log cabin with a roof made of real grass. During the summer months, live goats are let out onto the roof to feed on the grass. This is what Al's is most famous for, and thousands of people are drawn to see this spectacle every year.
I've been going to Al's since I was a small child because I have family in those parts. My cousins worked at Al's for years and I spent some summers working in restaurants in Door County too. I know there are some who say Al Johnson's is overrated, but it has become so much a part of the Door County experience, it's almost impossible to resist.
Al's is really a diner at heart. It's not meant to be a fancy, totally authentic gourmet Swedish restaurant. Many critics knock Al's in comparison to the fine Swedish dining available in, say, the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago, but this is DOOR COUNTY we are talking about here. And that means families & kids. SOOO this restaurant is modeled after a typical family style diner. In some ways Al's is a time warp to the 1950's era of resort tourism, but many fail to understand this.
What makes Al's several notches above your average Omega Diner however, is the atmosphere. After you open the heavy wooden door you are suddenly transported into a fragrant log cabin flanked by a swedish Butik on one side, where one may purchase anything from a Swedish Dala Horse to Recycled rubber Danish clogs. To the right is the restaurant where you will be greeted by one of the pretty waitresses dressed in traditional Scandinavian dresses. This obviously is another draw. Al's can be a busy place with long lines and many a pleasant wait has been spent in the vestibule, watching the waitresses dutifully performing their craft. You can also meet alot of friendly patrons in the lobby if you're inclined, though I'm sad to say in the past decade or so, the newer generations of tourists to Door County think they're still behind the winshield of their HummVee when it is time to interact with anybody at all.
Once seated, one realizes the spartan, frugal nature of Al's. The stackable plastic Eames chair is de rigeur and the blue water glasses, upon closer inspection, are not fancy Scandinavian cobalt, but Corning Ware. The silverware is from SysCo, etc. One thing they have had at Al's for as long as I can remember are sugar packets with different types of sailing ships printed on them. This is foodservice at it's zenith. It needs to be that way at Al's. Most folks don't realize how many customers churn through the doors of this landmark.
That is why it's almost surprising to be handed the large blue script menus and see Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberries . You breathe a sigh of relief and say "Oh yeah, I'm at Al's, not the PALLAS" . No matter what people say about the other fare, I've never heard anyone complain about the swedish pancakes. They are crepe like, buttery, rich and piping hot. A pewter bowlful of Lingonberry Jam accompanies your order. Lingonberries are rougly the size of a currant, but have a taste similar to a sweet cranberry. The pancakes are served with your choice of Oscar Mayer bacon, sausage, or Homemade Swedish Meatballs. Many folks have ripped on Al's Swedish Meatballs, and I'm no expert by far (I almost always ordered the sausage..... goes good with the lingonberries), but I didn't mind them. They have a strong beef taste to them, and I've long wondered what other game is mixed with the beef, but it's a secret. Perhaps caribou or moose or something. Of course any other diner breakfast fare is available from scrambled eggs to belgian waffles.
Breakfast is served all day long at Al's along with your average diner classics such as a B.L.T. or Club Sandwich, but for a lunchtime treat, try some homemade soup with Swedish Limpa, An aromatic, spiced soft rye bread. Local fare is available as well such as Lake Michigan Perch or Whitefish. Desserts featuring Door County Cherries can also be had.
So, the moral of the story is Al Johnson's IS a tourist trap, yes, but with the amount of business they do, it's good to see they havent watered down the formula that has made them a perennial favorite.

Philosophy Cafe

521 Campbell Hot Springs Rd.
Sierraville, CA 96126
http://www.sierrahotsprings.org/meals.html

At 1,000 feet it started out as a drizzle, 2,500 the drizzle turned to sheets of rain, 3,500 the rain turned to sleet, 5,000 feet the sleet turned to snow, and at 7,000 feet altitude I was high in the sky driving a rented PT Cruiser through a Sierra Mountain blizzard.
Formed from years of chains digging at it's surface, I followed two trails of hard grooves that line the right lane of I-80. To avoid slipping off the rock the local strategy is chains over tires, something if you're from the Midwest, sounds Midevil.
I drove 45 miles an hour, people passed, I'm sure laughed at my car, and sped slush on my windshield. I guessed they were the Mountain Folk, used to crappy weather conditions and low visibility, with special mountain spirits protecting them from sneaky curves laced with road ice. After a couple hours, I reached the top and headed down the other side. The altitude dropped, along with the severe driving. I still had to find Truckee and HWY 89, by the time I arrived at The Sierra Hot Springs my back hurt, I was hungry, my nerves were shot, and I didn't want to have to be nice to strangers.

I hadn't even completely gotten my roll-ey bag out of the Cruiser's trunk, when my companion asks, "Ya wanna go for a soak?"

Really, I just wanted to lay down in the hotel (The Globe Hotel, which apparently is haunted by a hooker from the hotel's brothel days.) and resurface maybe in the morning. I apologized, I didn't have the energy to take my clothes off for the springs. As a compromise of activities I suggested a nice warm relaxing dinner.

The Sierra Hot Springs Lodge has a restaurant called The Philosophy Cafe. They only serve food Fri-Sun 6:30-8 and Breakfast 8:30-10:30. For dinner they offer 3 dishes: a vegetarian dish, a fish dish, and a meat dish. Additionally 2 soups, bread, and various homemade desserts. The menu is printed out daily using Tempus Sans font on colored paper then taped to the glass case of the admission desk.

The restaurant is in the basement of the lodge. If at first glance you don't notice the Buddha shrine, The Philosophy Cafe could easily be mistaken for a Mexican Restaurant with it's pink and purple walls, lacquered wood tables, and southwestern designs. The spirit is a hodge podge of tie dyes, cold plants, small live frogs, a book about birds of the northeast, bad tattoos, and delicious food.

The lodge has several residents that perform various tasks for the hot springs such as massage, security, clean up, and cooking. That night a friend of my companion, Natasha, was on cooking duty.

My choices for Saturday April 14th 2007: Gypsy Vegetable Curry over Jasmine rice, Curried Chicken over Jasmine Rice, or Seared Wasabi Tuna over Jasmine Rice. There was a post-it note attached to the menu handwritten "Artichoke with Garlic Butter Sauce $3.50". We ordered curried chicken and the artichoke. Each dish is served with bread and a salad. The bread was warm and homemade, and included two pats of wrapped Organic Valley butter. Salads came with a vinegar-oil pear walnut dressing, on the lettucey side (good for the inevitable road trip constipation). The buttery sauce for the artichoke voluntarily landed on everything from the bread to the salad onto the rice. Raisins, chick peas, carrots, tomatoes, brown sauce, chicken breast, and savory spices made up the curry. So warm, so good, and so much better than the best New York restaurant food...this meal was prepared knowing that perhaps only 6 or 8 people would order it in a night, not 40. All vegetables and meat tasted fresh even though the closest grocery store is 30 driving minutes away.

Natasha, who I learned is also an Aries, had done a fantastic job, dinner changed my foul mood. I hiked up the mountain, took off all my clothes, and sank into the water digesting saffron, pentagrams, golden Buddhas, and 15 or so other naked bodies racing the 28 degree mountain air. California.

Alpine Village

10401 N Cedarburg Road 51W
Mequon, Wisconsin 53092, USA

Alpine Village

I've included USA in the address, because on a typical visit to the Alpine Village, you may forget what country you're in. No you won't, but you may forget what decade you're in. This place is so much in another era, I'm not entirely sure it ISN'T reached by some kind of time-warp. We may as well just assume it is.

If you happen to visit the state of Wisconsin, the one place you MUST visit, besides The House on the Rock, is the Alpine Village. Open since 1949, it appears to be unchanged, though you can no longer catch your own trout in the pond, though still there, built into the front of the dining room. You can, however, order Veal Cordon Bleu, which is weirder. Or Wiener Schnitzel, Osso Bucco, Sautéed Calve's Liver, and an appetizer of water chestnuts wrapped in bacon. All will be eaten to live music standards played by some real human beings. Save (or make) room for an amazing dessert, Strawberry Schaum Torte, which is a meringue shell holding up ice cream, strawberries, and whipped cream, which rises nearly four feet off the table. Maybe not four feet, but it feels that way, especially in your memory.

After eating all of that, it is a good time to visit the "Bridal Tower" in the back of the restaurant, which is connected to the extensive wedding banquet facilities. This is kind of a shrine to the ritual of marriage, but it has the effect of making you feel like you have shrunken to doll size and are wandering in an insane children's playland. On one visit, things became even more surreal when I heard music coming from further back, and upon investigation found an entire room dancing to a polka band consisting of older women wearing gold lame’ costumes. It was like stumbling onto a Rolling Stones concert, almost, that is if the Stones still knew how to dress.

Part of the surreal, time-warp experience of the Alpine Village is FINDING IT, hidden in strange, rural Wisconsin, so I'm including directions to enhance the experience. Take I-43 north of Milwaukee to Mequon, and get off at the Mequon Road exit. Travel west, and take a left on Range Line Road. Follow that to Donges Bay Road and take a right. Follow that until it dead ends at the river. Turn around and head back to River Road, take a left and travel north. Turn left on Mequon Road and turn left and proceed to the nearest gas station or convenience store. Ask directions to the Alpine Village. Ignore the blank stares and continue on, searching the darker than pitch Wisconsin night. You have now entered the Alpine Village Zone, and when you finally come upon the enormous parking lot and ivy covered old-world structure, and lighted blue sign whose shape makes no sense, you will be ready to face the hostess with the beehive hairdo and the heavy chandeliers that always remind me of that Pasolini movie "Salo" --and dinner.

Aurora

Williamsburg
70 Grand St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 388-5100
http://www.auroraristorante.com/main%20page.html

Sexy waitress with foreign accent does not equal good service

My boyfriend and I have had this Scrabble contest going. The first person to win ten games gets to go out the restaurant of their choice. I won, and have been dieing to return to this great little Italian place. If I'm going to go out to a fancy dinner, I want a place that serves weird meats, like carpaccio, rabbit, oxtail, botargo etc. things I can't really make at home.

We had to wait 30 minutes, it was a Saturday, and looked like maybe the Bush daughters were having an engagement party monopolizing the outdoor dining space. Once seated, there were dumb little candles in small paper bags on the tables which kept me from being able to see or read the menu. The music was set on what I imagine to be a 90's world music station, and was wayyy to loud. Lacking my two basic senses, sight and sound, I still managed to order fois grios, and my date ordered fish.

The waitress had a sexy accent, but was sort of slow, and brought me the wrong thing. Cute haircut with dyed blond tips.

When the foie gras did arrive, it looked awful, scary. Never seeing duck liver in this form, I felt like I had failed. But, the liver tasted like the best steak I HAVE EVER HAD. It was served with a poached pear, and it was just unbelievable. Buttery, rich, juicy, loved....

My companion's fish was also one of the best tasting fish dishes ever. A pan seared white fish on top of an asparagus puree with hints of cilantro, basil, and other secret ingredients that I couldn't place. Pan seared probably in butter, lots of rich creamy butter.

Dessert was a chocolate souffle with rose petal ice cream and fresh strawberries. Cutting into the souffle, warm caramel spilled out and oozed over the strawberries and ice cream creating a cold/warm goo reminisant of a good old fashioned McDonald's hot fudge sundae. I mean this in the best of ways, although I no longer participate in McDonald's, I still dream about that hot-cold thing they had going on with the caramel and ice cream.

The next day we went to watch zoombie movies at a friend's house. Aurora was mentioned. A friend, who's allergic to dairy, said he couldn't eat ANYTHING on the menu, because everything is cooked in butter, or served with cheese, or laced with cream.
I guess that's why it tastes so good.

(Warning: you'll spend at least $100 for two people, and it's cash only. They have an ATM conveniently located next to the unisex toilet.)