30. July 2010 by Dan.

A young woman at the bar the other night ordered a Tom Collins, and was pretty specific about it being traditionally made.  When I served it I asked her if she knew where the name came from, and she said she assumed it was called after some guy named Tom Collins. Well, she was right…sort of.

The story goes that an individual by that name was a frequent bar patron in New York around 1874.  He was allegedly an obnoxious character who always had plenty of derogatory things to say about everyone he met.  He didn’t really exist, but that didn’t stop New Yorkers from playing a joke on their friends by claiming that Tom had demeaned their character, and encouraging them to confront him in the local pub.  Victims of the hoax who asked the bartender for Tom’s whereabouts received the lemony beverage instead.

Here’s how to make one:  Muddle a tablespoonful of sugar and about one-third of a lemon in a tall glass.  Fill with ice, add two ounces of gin, top with soda, and stir.  Garnish with a cherry and a lemon slice.  That’s all there is to it.  My 1887 reprint of Jerry Thomas’ Bartenders Guide lists this drink as made with gin, whiskey, or brandy.  I guess the base wasn’t as important as the opportunity to pull one over on your friends.

Your favorite bartender,

-Dan

PS…The couple in the photo above are our friends Tony and Maureen.  I know they are not drinking Tom Collins, but they’re so damn handsome that I had to post their picture.

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22. July 2010 by Dan.

Fish Fry is a long standing tradition at supper clubs in Wisconsin’s northwoods, and ours is pretty tough to beat.  There is a way though, and I’ll tell you how.  I know it’s possible, because I just got back from doing it.  Here’s what you do…

• Assemble three friends.If you don’t have three friends, you’ll have to make them first.  One of your friends needs to have a boat and a truck big enough to pull it.  One of them should have top notch filet skills.   All of you should be able to get by in the wilderness for a while if something bad happens.
• Drive north to International Falls, and enjoy a visit with Immigration as you cross the border.Drive north a few more hours on kidney-jarring Canadian roads, and hope you don’t have hematuria by the time you arrive¹.
• Establish yourself in camp.  Use impressively printed Canadian dollars to buy a one week fishing license ($47.89), a boat landing tag ($20.00), and leeches ($39.50 per pound).
• Drive thirty minutes to the boat launch, then run another 45 minutes to your favorite spot.
• In an eight hour day experience all of these climatic conditions:  Fog, blazing hot sun, no breeze, clouds, high winds, rain, hail, lightning, and biting flies.  Yes, I know the latter is not a climatic condition, but did I mention biting flies!!?
• See unbelievable numbers of eagles, loons, and bears, but not too many people².
• Catch enough walleye in the 16″ - 17″ range for dinner³.  Release the less tasty larger ones (up to 8 pounds!)⁴.
• Motor back to the boat launch, and drive back to camp.
• Clean and filet your fish in the screened-in fish house, which is inexplicably populated by biting flies.
• Lightly bread and pan fry your filets, prepare vegetables and potatoes, and make cocktails.
• Sit down to…honestly…the best fish fry you will ever have in your life unless you do it all again tomorrow.

If this approach is a little intense for you, try this:

• Come to the Bear Trap, and be greeted by a charming and attractive hostess.
• Bring your friends if you have some.  Don’t worry if you don’t, because you’ll make new ones.
• Have a seat at the bar.  If you want, we’ll fix you the exact same cocktails we had in camp.  No flies.
• Sit by the window, watch the trout in the pond, and have a creamy potato pancake while we prepare your fresh Canadian walleye.
• Your friendly server will bring you…honestly…the best fish fry you will ever have in your life unless you go to Canada and catch it yourself.

Tomorrow is Friday.  You still have time to get here.

Your favorite bartender, eh?

-Dan

¹Hematuria means, well… never mind what it means, you don’t want it.

²OK, this part is really cool.

³The photo above shows my friend Eric, holding one that  was too big to make the cut for dinner.

⁴If you’re not familiar with fishing, an eight pound walleye is a big fish.

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13. July 2010 by Dan.

Regulars at our supper club will remember Amy, former bartender at the Bear Trap, and now a Twin Cities resident.  No doubt they miss her wit and charm, as I do.  This got me thinking about all the great staff members that have come to the Bear Trap, developed positive relations with our customers, taught us a few new things, become part of our family, and moved on to other things¹.  This is a common experience in our business.  It reminds me that I need to appreciate each day with the good people in our restaurant while we have them, and also to be grateful for the experiences I have with employees in other restaurants I visit.

Before I over-emote,  here’s the reason for this post:  Amy sent the drink recipe below, and I thought I should share it with you.  I’m going to transcribe it as she wrote it, since I don’t think I can make it sound any better. 

“Last time we visited DC we went to this great restaurant where they had homemade cream sodas.  The hazelnut soda was amazing, yummy, yummy good, and one afternoon when Orr & I had some time to kill, we went back there for a midday cocktail.  I asked the bartender to add vanilla vodka to mine, and oh man watch out, it was dangerously good.  It’s dangerous because I watched the pour of vodka that went into it, and I couldn’t taste it at all.  The syrup and cream totally disguise the booze².  So now I make them at home:  In a pint glass full of ice add a shot or two of vanilla vodka (when I didn’t have vanilla vodka I used plain vodka with a dash of vanilla); a shot of hazelnut syrup and fill with soda, leaving just enough room for a quick pour of half-n-half.”

I’m sure you could alter this basic recipe to accommodate your tastes for other flavors.  Stop by and see us, and we’ll experiment.

Your favorite bartender,

 -Dan 

¹Some of them appear in the back yard photo above. 

²Amy and I and the staff at the Bear Trap remind you to always drink responsibly.

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8. July 2010 by Dan.

This is a commercial website, and I’m supposed to be selling you on the great quality and service you get at the Bear Trap.  Sometimes these posts come out pretty easily, and sometimes they just sound like juvenile ramblings (see the previous entry.)  I’m having a little trouble with this one.  When I reread the first draft, even I couldn’t figure out what I was trying to say.  But hang in there, I have a point.  I hope.

Our friends in the photo above are enjoying a round of postprandial Brandy Alexanders.  Postprandial means “after a meal”.  I wasn’t sure I should use this word, so I asked hostess Stacey if she knew what it meant, and she said “Doesn’t that mean, like, after sex?”  (For the record, that’s postcoital.)  As you can see, the word made the cut anyway.

Our customers were obviously disappointed when I explained that we don’t have ice cream behind our bar, but that I could make an excellent Brandy Alexander the traditional way with brandy, dark crème de cocoa, and cream.  They were skeptical, but I convinced a couple of them to try a sample anyway.  When they did they were converted, and all six of them ordered one.   I know I’ve argued that you should order the drink you want, and you generally should, but sometimes it pays to try new things.

The reason the traditional  recipe works is that it pays attention to a basic principle of making cocktails.  Most cocktails contain these three elements in proper balance:  a base, a modifier, and flavoring or coloring agents.  The base is the principal liquor (brandy), the modifier alters or augments the character of the base (crème de cocoa), and the flavoring or coloring agents (cream) balance the taste and appearance of the drink.   Armed with this understanding, we can make other drinks by altering only one element of our  Brandy Alexander formula. For example, we can use our crème de cocoa modifier and cream agent with a different base to make a Golden Cadillac (Galliano);  a Grasshopper (crème de menthe); or an Independence Day (Blue Curacao).   The trick is to get the proportions right for the drink you are making, taking into account that some base liquors are more influential than others.

You should be able to trust a good bartender to get this right for you, and with a little practice you can do it yourself.  You may discover a new twist on an old favorite, or new favorite drink altogether.

Thanks for sticking with me.

Your favorite bartender,

-Dan

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8. July 2010 by Dan.

This photo shows a cleverly garnished martini that Charles came up with for the Fourth of July.  It tasted a little like a blueberry slush you could get at the zoo, only this one is the for-adults-only version.  I like it because it is a good example of using any special occasion as an excuse to be inventive with celebratory cocktails.

The model in this picture is bartender and server Kaitlin.  And yes, all the women who work at the Bear Trap are hot.  I’m not kidding.  Come and see for yourself.

Your favorite bartender, 

-Dan

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2. July 2010 by Dan.

Many of our customers are seasonal vacationers or seasonal home owners whose families have been enjoying the Northwoods for generations.  Men seeking hunting and fishing retreats in the thirties and forties found the value of our lakes and forests, and later brought their families for adventures and recreation.  In a lot of ways, this practice helped to establish and maintain the culture we enjoy here today.  Quite a few of the descendants of those early visitors stayed on or returned as full time residents.

 Supper clubs have been an important part of that culture since the very early days, which is why we have so many good ones in our region.  The Bear Trap has been filling this role continuously since 1937, and today provides a traditional Northwoods dining experience second to none.  I hope you’ll get a chance to visit us, and if you have a family story to share, be sure to tell us.  We’d love to hear it.

Your favorite bartender,

 -Dan

PS That’s your favorite bartender on the left in the image above, expressing consternation at an apparent failure in the engine room.   Photo on Wisconsin waters, circa 1954.

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