Live to Ride...Ride to Eat

[Cormanus]

What American delicacy is that on top of the trout?

[the Ferret]

looks like hush puppies to me..or as I like to call them breaded onion balls

[Stichill_imp]

I hope you're right, ferret. I think Cormanus is a bit wary of the fact that they look suspiciously like battered and fried 'huevos' from something with four legs.

[LongRanger_imp]

Rocky Mountain Oysters. Don't ask.

[Cormanus]

I think they get called prairie oysters here, although I've no idea why as we don't call plains 'prairies'. We extract a great many of them from lambs.

[Nortoon_imp]

I think they get called prairie oysters here, although I've no idea why as we don't call plains 'prairies'. We extract a great many of them from lambs.

They are called prairie oysters in Canada as well. Not something I will try.

I had real oysters on the shell ONCE just to taste what all the fuss was about. Much prefer bacon wrapped scallops with a glass of Riesling.

[use2b_imp]

Gulf Shores Alabama with the Wife today .

[emptysea]

Some restaurants in Wisconsin are called "Supper Clubs". They are, more often than not, located on the outskirts of small towns and are where locals go for a special night out. There's more to the Supper Club story than I want get into here, but I love eating at supper clubs.

Today I took a 285 mile ride into Wisconsin. I started in the afternoon and was on my way back at dinner time. I thought I would check out Hobnob in Racine, WI a fairly famous supper club located on the shores of Lake Michigan.

The parking lot was packed, but I stripped off my riding gear and headed inside anyway. The hostess was very polite when she informed me that the restaurant was booked all evening and, no, they do not serve meals at the bar on weekends. She turned to briefly address a question of another patron and just then Leslie (I asked her her name later), the manager saw me and asked me if I had been helped.
"Yes, but I just was riding by on my motorcycle and stopped in without a reservation, and was just informed that there's no room at the inn"
She turned to the hostess. "Put him at Table 11"
"Thank you so much"
She smiled and said "It's a small table, by the door to the patio. Not the best seat, but I'd hate to refuse a traveler a meal".

The food was great. The table was indeed small and by the door and, when the door was open, a chilly breeze blew in. It also had a great view of the patio and Lake Michigan beyond it and was perfect for this hungry traveler.

[LongRanger_imp]

Sea, very cool. By "club," are these private venues for members only? Why "club?"

[emptysea]

I think the idea was to make it seem more exclusive, but these are not private clubs. In fact many of them do not even take reservations.
Wikipedia tells me that these establishments originally were places where folks would come and spend the entire evening—drinks, dinner, listening to music or even dancing. So maybe the “club” part of the name refers more to a night club than to a private club.
Oh...and this s not some sort of restaurant chain. Rack is independently owned. A supper club generally serves steak and seafood, is a “white tablecloth” restaurant, and the cocktail of choice is a Wisconsin Old Fashioned. I think I’ll post more about supper clubs on my next Seat Time report