Summer Kitchen Restaurant

Summer Kitchen Restaurant, Ephraim, WI, Door County

The Summer Kitchen garden restaurant’s menu was a unique balance of comfort food with culinary wisdom, but a bit too pricey.

I telephoned the Summer Kitchen since my husband, John, and I were traveling with two dogs, and we knew some restaurants in Door County would allow eating on their patios with the dogs at our feet. This owner allowed us just that. We took the back road route from Bailey’s Harbor to Ephraim, but it wasn’t difficult to find. We followed 42N to Q where we turned west and north again on Town Line. At the intersection of Town Line and 42Hwy we spotted the welcoming red Summer Kitchen sign.

Seated in a corner next to the railings, we leashed down the dogs. Our courteous waitress rattled off the daily soups. There are always five and this day the favorites of Chicken Dumpling, Cream of Wild Rice and Mushroom, French Cabbage with Sausage, Spicy Tomato Dill, and a tomato based Clam Chowder were being served and offered the specials to include fennel sausage lasagna, a whitefish platter, and the Mexican special, chile relleño. After enjoying a sweet horchata, I ordered the cup of soup and whitefish, John ordered a salad with lasagna. A refill is possible with the horchata, but although tasty, I thought the flavor was overpowered by sugar. I switched to iced tea.

The Wild Rice and Mushroom was delicious. It had perfect creaminess, plenty of mushrooms all complimented by wild rice. After eating every drop, I regretted not ordering the all you can eat soup bar. This restaurant, known for its daily soups, has produced two spiral-bound soup cookbooks including an explanation of how to make the perfect soup stock. These cookbooks can be ordered online.

The $17.95 whitefish platter was more food than necessary, but perhaps justifying an overpriced local fish dinner requires large servings. The fillet was cooked to perfection, flaky, well seasoned with a mild paprika and olive oil. Although a bit too salty for my taste, it did not take away from the experience. I was disappointed that the baked potato was served with cold packets of butter; I expected whipped butter, we were in Wisconsin after all. The vegetable medley had an addicting light crunch maintaining their integrity with just the right seasonings. John ate his entire veggie medley, even the squash which he declared upon marriage he was unable to swallow. The fennel in the sausage brought out the sweetness of the tomato sauce. John devoured this vegetable filled meat lasagna which tells me “traditional” lasagna isn’t required by him. Again the $14.95 serving was generous. We passed on the tempting desserts.

I will try to replicate the whitefish recipe in my own kitchen, but for John, his memory of the Summer Kitchen is “the little overpriced garden place, with good food.” With tip, we ate over $50.00 of food that didn’t include dessert or alcoholic drinks.


Summer Kitchen
10425 Water St, N Hy 42
Ephraim, Door County, WI 54211920-854-2131
http://www.thesummerkitchen.com/
originally posted July 9