Epicure
Fish Market Grille
By Jan Ross
when the restaurant is closed for
the winter – they spend the time
living on their sailboat in the San
Blas area of Panama that is only
accessible by water and air.
One of the most interesting
traditions in Door County is a fish
boil where the local whitefish is
boiled in an open pot over a fire, but
Carl and Karen decided to change
this up and offer a lobster boil
instead; this has become extremely
popular with locals and tourists
alike. The boil is actually a threecourse dinner which starts with a
cup of their creamy Maine lobster
bisque, then moves on to the boil
which includes a two-pound Maine
lobster, baby red potatoes, fresh
corn on the cob, New Zealand
mussels and steamed clams. The
meal finishes with a generous
portion of homemade Door
County Cherry Bread Pudding.
The lobster boil is so popular that
the restaurant serves up to 40
to 50 lobsters a night during the
summer! They have a wood-fired pot
between the dining room windows
and the water’s edge so folks can
watch one of the staff run back and
forth all evening long, dropping the
lobsters into the boiling water and
retrieving them. If Mother Nature
doesn’t think it’s a good idea to be
outside, they can do the boils in the
kitchen, but the outside boils are
extremely popular, as you might
imagine. Unfortunately, we did not
get to experience the lobster boil,
but a sample of the lobster bisque
made us realize we need to make
plans to do so on our next visit.
the same as New England clam
chowder but using local whitefish to
make it the restaurant’s own special
soup. (As previously mentioned, an
amazingly delicious lobster bisque
is also available.)
Also on the menu: a to-die-for
Flourless Chocolate Cake, served a
little warmer than room temperature
which makes it quite literally melt in
your mouth. The most popular entrée
during our visit was the Chilean Sea
Bass which is lightly dredged in
potato and gently fried, then served
with a lemon buerre blanc. Guests
Everything they serve is made from
scratch using local ingredients
whenever possible, including garden
vegetables, the local famous tart
cherries and other kinds of fruit.
They buy local fish from the Hickey
Brothers Fishery right in Baileys
Harbor, fly in lobster from Maine
and fish from Hawaii. Their menu
changes to fit the seasons and to
utilize whatever fresh products
are available; however some items
are always on the menu.
The popular Harbor Chowder is a
whitefish cream chowder, made much
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