The Wisconsin Fish Boil, Scaturo’s Baking Company and Cafe
Sturgeon Bay



If you prefer light and flaky or bold and steak-like fish, you’ll love a Door County Fish Boil. Restaurants that specialize in fish boils invite you, between Memorial Day and the beginning of bad weather, to join them with this traditional meal of local fish and vegetables.

They even invite you to come to their outdoor kitchen, a large kettle over a blazing fire, to watch them with the “boil over.” The chef-du-jour adds heat to the fire, in the form of kerosene, and allows the fish oils and seasonings to boil right over onto the vegetables in the double layered pot. This is what differentiates a fish dinner and a Fish Boil; well, that and flavor.

Scaturos Baking Company and Cafe, in Sturgeon Bay, is just the place to experience such a feast. Begin with a local cherry beverage. Everything being cherry on this peninsular, John, my husband, had a cherry wine from a local vineyard, and I had a fresh sangria. This was a treat to both the eyes and the tongue. The sangria was not too sugary sweet, but carried a bouquet of fruit that balanced well with the wine.

We were served creamy coleslaw, but not sure if it was an appetizer or not, John ate his immediately; I chose to wait. Even though we had 6:00 reservations and the boil-over wasn’t until 6:30, we passed on any pre-dinner tasting, as to not waste our stomach capacity on filler food. This was a wise choice for us.

At 6:25 we were ushered outside to watch the boil over. Impressed with the Scaturo chef’s timing and culinary knowledge, we returned to our enclosed patio seating area and were give full plates of the chef’s labor: whitefish, carrots, pearl onions, and red potatoes in a butter and lemon bath of seasonings. It took a few tries to conquer the fish bones. The waitress guided us in expertly pulling the tail up and out in one piece, removing the bones with it.

Dinner came with cherry pie dessert and for $1.00 more you could enjoy it with ice-cream. Having had two plates of fish and veggies, even if I did want desserts, there was no room. But John never looked up until his dessert plate was clean. I assume that is a statement of its own on the delights of Scaturo’s Baking Company and Cafe.

Scaturo's Baking Company and Cafe

19 Green Bay Road
Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235Phone: (920) 746-8727
E-mail: scaturos@gmail.com

Kathleen Brandt
stradercom@aol.com
originally posted July 11, 2009