Some good food in Door County

Those of you that have spent any vacation time in the Door County probably share my frustration with the difficulty in finding good eats. Below are a few places I have found that make me happy up there. I would love to hear of other places people have found in the "Cape Cod" of the midwest.

Mr. Helsinki - Fish Creek

Mr. Helsinki is not a supper club. Nor is it, as the name would have you believe, a Scandinavian-themed establishment. Rather, this relatively small place utilizes a lot of asian influences as well as a lot of crepes. And, believe it or not, it marries the two fairly well. The room is well-appointed and tastfully done, with a understated Asian feel. On a recent trip, I had a seared tuna crepe with a soy-sesame sauce. It was a nice savory-sweet combo. My wife had a tasty goat cheese-cherry tamato-carmalized onion crepe.

They have a nice wine selection. They used to have Lakefront beers on tap, which made my heart leap. Unfortunately this is no longer the case. The now have the respectable, if less intersting, offering of guiness and new castle. The other bonus is they serve Intelligencia coffee, as does the small market on the first floor of the building they are in.

Ain't Licked Yet Frozen Custard - Fish Creek

Creamy, tasty, yummy frozen custard. Nuff said.

Jill's Edge of the Park Cafe - Fish Creek

Nicely done, simple breakfast. Very good baked goods.

Summerhouse - On Hwy. 42 between Ephraim ans Sister Bay

An assortment of homemade soups makes this place worth the stop. They have a "soup bar," which has a rotating assorment of soups made from scratch each day. On my visit they had crab bisque, drench cabbage, tomato dill and ham and bean. All wre quite good, with the French cabbage being the standout.

Mariner's Smoke House - on Hwy. 42 before Gill's Rock

Not a restaurant, but a shop that smokes its own whitefish. chubs. salmon, etc. We made a point of buying smoked whitefish from a variety of spots on our last trip to determine our favorite and Mariner's won unanimously. Had a the upfront smokey quality you look for and just salty enough.

Farmers Market - Settlement Court - Hwy. 42 just before Fish Creek

Held on Wednesdays from 10 - 2, this is a small market, but it has nice produce, some of which is organic. Last week we got some very nice lettuce, potatoes and carrots.

Just returned from a week in Baileys Harbor. Had some hits and misses in the chow department.

El Bajio- Hwy 57 - Baileys Harbor - Good, fresh, mom & pop type Mexican. Only (very slight) negative is that their liquor license allows them to serve only beer and wine hence no margaritas. Wouldn't keep me from going back though.

Weisgerber's Cornerhouse - Hwy 57 - Baileys Harbor -Wisconsin pub dining at it's finest. Gotta love a place where fish fry is a speciality two nights a week and the bartender and the hostess are your two new best friends. Packer memorabilia everywhere. A couple of us had pan-fried walleye and perch. It was really awesome...not greasy, very fresh tasting. Our waitress was smily, chatty, and hustled for us.

Coyote Roadhouse - Hwy E - Kangaroo Lake -After two so-so recommendations, I almost didn't go here but very glad I did. Was a little in doubt at first when I saw the condition of the place, but it was packed on a Wednesday night, so I figured that was a good sign. First of all, the salad that I ordered with my dinner was outstanding. The greens were fresh, the vegetables were fresh, and the dressing was outstanding. My fish was wonderful and served with a roasted red pepper tartar sauce. Someone else at our table had jambalaya and absolutely loved it. It came with jalapeno corn muffins that had just enough cinnamon to cut the heat of the pepper.

Zoey's - Hwy 42 - Sister Bay -Named after the owner's dog (whose picture hangs over the fireplace), we stopped here twice for lunch. Just good food, friendly service, nice atmosphere. The effort they put into things here is very obvious.

Top Shelf Gourmet - Sister Bay - Country Walk Shops -Joel F tipped me off to this place. While I did not get around to trying any of their meats or cheeses (which all looked outstanding), or any of their stuffed olive selection, I did buy some outstanding pasta sauce made of heirloom tomatoes, a couple loaves of their fresh baked country bread and a wonderful bottle of Oregon pinot noir. I'll definitely be back there.

Koepsel's Farm Market - Hwy 57 - north of Baileys Harbor -Bought some Neuske's ham here along with aged sharp Swiss, some terrific Havarti, a loaf of their wheat bread and some nice garlicky dills. The usual assortment of jams, pickles, Door County wine, but the meat and cheese selection was better than anything else I saw.

Our two "misses" happened one right after the other which was most disheartening. First of all, Harbor Grill and Fish Market, Baileys Harbor. I started out with some of the best Blue Points I have ever had and my husband had their housemade gravlax (also very good). My entree of simple broiled scallops with buttered breadcrumbs had some very good scallops swimming in butter. Husband referred to his fish with herb sauce as "unremarkable". We found the wine list to be a bit, um, interesting. Why is it that a place whose entrees run $25 and up puts a wine from Algoma on it's list and then prices it comparably with any of the Napa Valley Chardonnays? We found that kind of curious.

The other miss is a place the Health Dept. should just shut down and that would be Beanie's - Sister Bay. It was one of those places where you're not even sure if your water glass is clean, and when you look at the light fixtures on the ceiling you can see the grease. We thought the carpeting was a solid dark grey, but when we caught a glimpse of an area that didn't get traffic we realized that it was actually light grey with a pattern to it. The chips were good, the salsa was clearly jarred, everyone's food was greasy and uninspired. As we were leaving a woman coming into the restaurant with her family asked me how our dinner was. In a low voice I told her "not real good". She asked if they should stay and I told her "no". When I told my husband about this incident he said that I had done my good deed for the day.

The other place that I have been that I did not stop on this trip was D'Amico's - Hwy 42 - Sister Bay- They have very good pizza and pasta dishes as well as great salads. Good, basic stuff to grab on a night when you just want to stay in.