Dining Out at Red Stag Supper Club

Saturday, February 27, 2021

Well, we had such a good time eating out last Saturday that we decided to try it again tonight. Red Stag Supper Club here we come. 

                         

They closed at the beginning of the lockdown in February 2020 and didn't reopen until a week ago. Many other restaurants reopened in June of 2020.

                             

I've been looking forward to their Wisconsin style Old Fashioned since I made the reservation last week. I had two of 'em and they were awesome. Dale had red wine. 

     

We started with the meat, cheese, and relish tray. It was all great especially the beets and the pear chutney. 

       

For dinner Dale had a grilled salmon fillet which he loved. I had a prosciutto carbonara linguine and I absolutely adored it. It came with parmesan, peas, egg, and cream. 

     

Matthew, our waiter, took really good care of us. He told us he hadn't worked as much during the pandemic but was obviously so excited to be back at it again. He was attentive, pleasant, and just plain wonderful. You could tell he was so happy to be working again. 

  

For dessert Dale got the carrot cake which was heaven; very dense, not over sweet including the frosting. I got the Grasshopper. Now I've only ever had this drink with ice cream. This was more like a Brandy Alexander and used cream instead. It was amazing and I loved how they lined the rim with Giradelli powdered chocolate. 

                        

We listened to Bachelor Pad Royal from the Ultra Lounge series to get us into the mood and atmosphere of the restaurant. Interestingly enough the music played at the restaurant was all 1980s hits: Xanadu, Gypsy, Rock the Casbah, Flashdance, all tons of fun. We both reminisced about the 80s, especially the summer of '83 which was the first summer Dale lived in Minneapolis and the first summer I held a job at Dayton's Department Store. We were both off of work at 10:30 and probably crossed paths on the while waiting for the bus on Nicollet outside Dayton's. 

          

It's so nice to be able to eat indoors at restaurants again. Dale's feeling okay about it due to the precautions the businesses are taking. I feel the same way and I've also had the first of the two doses of the vaccine which also helps ease my mind. In just a week we've done Jax and Red Stag, two of our favorites, due to pent up demand. 

     

Anniversary at Red Stag

Recently Dale and I celebrated our anniversary at The Red Stag Supper Club. 

The service there is always friendly and our server, Claudia, was no exception to the rule. I started with an Old Fashioned cocktail. The Red Stag's default way of preparing it is the Wisconsin way with brandy as opposed to bourbon. Having spent as much time as I have in Wisconsin during the last however many summers I'm partial  to mine with brandy. 

We're both fans of the Red Stag's relish tray so when dining there we usually start with that. It includes vegetables pickled in house which can vary from visit to visit. This time it featured pickled carrots, green beans, olives, and what looked to be a lighter version of beets. The vegetables were crunchy, tangy, and delicious.

For dinner, Dale ordered one of the specials, a risotto with shrimp which looked delicious. I went with the roasted half chicken which came with a swiss chard souffle, ratatouille, and chicken jus. It was perfectly done. 

Dessert was their awesome carrot cake. Dale doesn't usually go for sweet but carrot cake is something he can't resist, especially The Red Stag's.

The decor of the Red Stag is charming and not (as many supper clubs are) overly kitschy. I've heard that many of the materials used for the restaurant were salvaged by hand including the bar top which is made of marble, tabletops made from doors, and upholstery for the booths made of recycled cassette tapes.* The atmosphere always adds to the experience.

I believe the Red Stag Supper Club will be celebrating it's 10 year anniversary of opening this coming November.  We may have to stop in to help them celebrate.

*See page 243 of Dave Hoekstra's awesome The  Supper Club Book: A Celebration of a Midwest Tradition.