Kewpie was Klosed. We Still Kringled

Probably like a lot of families, the VI family vacillates between Saturday's crammed with plans and Saturday's devoid of obligations, actually like most families, we have much few of the latter. But we did yesterday. A plan less day. And we were not gonna let that go to waste (especially with the false spring weather). We reduced our choices to Strongbow Inn for an out of season Thanksgiving lunch or Racine for the never visited "Hamburg with pickle on top, Makes your heart go flippity-flop" Kewpie's (plus a Kringle for dessert). Well, you can see the math here right. Racine = burger AND kringle, Valparaiso = just turkey lunch. It was off to Wisconsin. And of course, Wisconsin is one of the most chowiest states around. It would be a FULL day of eating.

Travel north to Wisconsin just a few times and you know exactly when you cross the border. I am not sure the reason for the boundary between Illinois and Wisconsin. It follows no river or other obvious line. Yet, it is very apparent when you are in the state to the north of ours and I do not mean just because all the cars fly their green and yellow flags and the frontage roads are lined with adult book stores. Physically, the state looks different, even before you hit any rolling kettle moraine. And Illinois does not have cheese shops off of Interstate exits.

It does take two exits to get to the cheese. One must be a patient traveler in Wisconsin. The Mars Cheese Castle beckons, but Bobby Nelson seems 100% more real. In fact, Bobby Nelson's Cheese Shop is so obviously non-obvious, that I feared it would be less good in a Larry David kinda way. Mars is big and prominent and looks of many recent additions. It is right there. Bobby Nelson's is small, retro, and with Wall Drug allure, the mysterious sign advertising, mitt or mittout. Since this is Wisconsin, that chowiest of states, both places are worth a visit. Yes, Bobby Nelson's is better, more real, with an engaging owner who runs through the mitt and mittout (with or without garlic) and other fare including bison-pheasant pie made by 400 lb Tiny who runs a nearby bison farm. We also pick up some smoke salmon and the de rigueur cheese shaped like the state of Wisconsin. I wanted to buy nearly everyone of the Koepsel Door County canned products, so instead got none. Mars has a huge and intriguing selection of Wisconsin booze a classic backwoods Wisconsin bar where one can eat cheese spread and drink brandy old fashions and a ton of other things to eat. The irony of the day is, that Mars, while not as good as Bobby Nelson's, turned out to be better than a few shops in Racine not geared towards tourists. And since this was Wisconsin, we picked up excellent cheddar cheese bread at Mars and King of Clubs cheese spread (preternaturally delicious).

The road to Kewpie's goes right through Old Racine, once the heart of Danish America. Which means the oval flaky pastry called kringle. Put money in the meter, then decided lunch should come before dessert. We continued on to downtown Racine where we found, to our sadness, Kewpie took the week off for vacation. Undaunted, we immediately turned to The Balkan Restaurant we saw on our way in. After all, I figured, one of the most famous places in Racine's northern suburb, Milwaukee, was the Serbian Three Brothers, this would be a good place (I've never been to 3 Brothers, but years ago, it used to bother me that the Stern's included the ethnic place for Milwaukee in their book, but did not include similar places from Chicago).

While we still crave a Kewpie burger, Balkan highly satisfied. The owners come from Slavic Macedonia. They limit their traditional fare to a few items, sarma (stuffed cabbage) and kebapi, the archetypical Balkan 'sausage' of ground meat and baking soda. Many a time, I have not loved kebapi (or its variations), but this place fried them real well and served them with a highly spicy red pepper-eggplant condiment. Great. Chunks of potato, American fries, crisp on one side, also helped ease the pain of missing Kewpie.

If seeking out tiny hamburger chains is Dad's thing, the chowhounditas HAVE to get up close and personal with any major body of water. From Balkan, we walked to the edge of Lake Michigan. There, a panic attack hit me worse than the one over could I control myself with Bobby Nelson's inventory. Would the kringle shops still be open? Bakeries do close early on weekends, no? Luckily, I have noted Racine-phile, SethZ's number on the speed dial. He did not know exactly when the Danish bakeries closed, but he was kind enough to get me some needed telephone numbers for me. Finding out I had (at least) a few hours to spare, let me enjoy the lakefront, plus time to shop downtown Racine's Century Market. Earlier in the day, we theorized that there would be a relationship between the quality of food shops and their distance to the Interstate, but Century and later Borzynski proved us wrong. This store was nothing special and had way less Wisconsin stuff than Bobby Nelson or Mars. Because we are chowists, we bought out nearly all the vintage cook books at the bookstore on 6th Avenue (including Luchow's German Cookbook from 1952 and a 1948 Scandinavian book). Still, there was the problem that the Kondiment Kween demanded an espresso before her daily cut-off of 3 PM.

Downtown Racine is no Harlem Avenue. We returned though to Old Racine for coffee and pastry. Bendsten's, probably considered the best kringlery has a cafe, but it looked pathetic. We decided to get a few kringles (well one for us and one for SethZ). JeffB notes that this is the best version of coffee cake he's ever had, and he passes on the fact that the pastry is about 85% fat. Down the street from Bendsten's is Wilson's Coffee and Tea. They roast their own coffee but over extract their espresso. I ran across the street to Larsen's, one of Bendsten's prime kringle rivals. I skipped the kringels here (knowing it would take long enough to finish one) but took full advantage of their end of day special. Most of the donuts and Danish cost only 25 cents. The one I ate on the spot, a cherry diamond tasted only worth 25 cents, too dense and sweet, but the cake donut I had the next day was good and I have about $2 worth still to try. We also picked up 2 half pounds of Wilson's coffee. Hopefully the beans beat the brew.

And we could not leave this stretch of Racine without trying DeRango "the Pizza" King. It cost less than $6 for a 12 inch, cheese heavy, thin-thin pizza. A little too much garlic powder in the sauce made it a tad less than ideal for me.

On the way out of Racine we visited Borzynski's Farm Market. I finally gave in and bought expensive Wisconsin cherry jam and expensive Wisconsin Kallas honey (for the impending household honey tasting). As I mentioned above, it's not as impressive as Mars or Bobby Nelson.

I would say our last chow stop of the day was Miro's Charcoal House Little Europe, but after dinner and when the kidz should have been hitting the hay, we caught the outlet mall still open. There, there is a gourmet shop where Ms. VI picked up some needed glass bowls, and I got an extra bitter orange marmalade from Maxim's de Paris (really!). Our original plan was Ray Ratigan's, but Miro's tempted from the expressway. It needs its own report, which I will do.

Bobby Nelson's Cheese Shop Fine Cheese, Gifts
2924 120th Ave.
Kenosha, WI

Mars Cheese Factory
2800 120th Ave
Kenosha, WI

Kewpie's
520 Wisconsin Ave
Racine, WI

Three Brothers
2414 S. St. Clair
Milwaukee, WI

The Balkan Restaurant "A Bit of Balkan"
605 Sixth Street
Racine, WI

Martha Merrell's Books
312 Sixth Street
Racine, WI

Century Market
506 Sixth Street
Racine, WI

Bendtsen's Bakery
3200 Washington
Racine, WI

Wilson's Coffee and Tea
3306 Washington
Racine, WI

Larsen Bakery
3311 Washington
Racine, WI

DeRango "The Pizza King"
3114 Washington Ave.
Racine, WI

Borzynski's Farm and Floral Market
11600 Washington
Racine, WI

Miro's Charcoal House Little Europe
6613 120th Ave.
Kenosha, WI

Le Gourmet Chef
11211 120th Ave.
Pleaasant Prarie, WI

Rob:

Swell report. As an occasional visitor to Kenosha, I often wonder what there is in Racine. I have always been wondering about Little Europe too, another place I just never quite get around to stopping at, so I'm looking forward to your further post.

Next time you're up that way, check out these two Italian favourites of mine in Chenoscia/Kenosha... I'm still waiting for additional posts added to these two threads ( ):

Tenuta's

Ruffolo's

Antonius

Antonius wrote:Next time you're up that way, check out these two Italian favorites of mine in Chenoscia/Kenosha... I'm still waiting for additional posts added to these two threads ( ):

Tenuta's

Ruffolo's

Antonius,

Haven't been to Kenosha since reading your original post, but both places are firmly planted in my Palm Pilot, name, address, your suggested items of interest, for next opportunity.

Actually, I've been meaning to go to Tenuta's for some time, ever since Joe H mentioned their giardiniera in his Unquestionably The Absolute Best In America: c-h post a couple of years ago.

Enjoy,
Gary

We travel quite often to Oconomowoc and pass through the Kenosha and Racine areas on a regular basis. Thanks for the great report. We have stopped often at the Mars Cheese castle, but I am now eagerly anticipating a trip to Bobby Nelson's. I also have been curious about the restaurants in the area and will have to try them, especially Little Europe.

Vital Information wrote:The Mars Cheese Castle beckons, but Bobby Nelson seems 100% more real.

Rob,

Great report, looking forward to the Little Europe follow up. I've only been to Little Europe once, 3-4 years ago, though my recollection is positive. If I remember correctly, they have a number of different types of schnitzel.

Far as Mar's vs Bobby Nelson goes, as someone who drives to Milwaukee often I prefer Bobby Nelson by a wide margin, for all the reasons you specified. Though there are two reasons to stop at Mar's over Nelson's, Mar's very delicious cheddar cheese bread and their bathroom, though not at the same time. Bobby Nelson does not have a public bathroom available and Mar's has a spacious, always clean, bathroom next to the bar.

Couple other places in that general area worth mentioning are Tim and Tom's Cheese Shop, same exit as Mar's and Bobby Nelsons, which specialize in Merkts spreadable cheese, my Merkts preference being horseradish cheddar, and The Brat Stop. Key to getting a good brat or steak sandwich at the Brat Stop is to sit at the bar. If you sit at the bar they grill your food in the open, visible charcoal pit, sit at a table, they grill it in the back using a gas grill.

Far as Kewpie goes, it's been a few years, but my recollection is a White Castle type hamburger, but better. Better ingredients, better flavor, better....well, just better. Not that I don't enjoy the occasional White Castle, I do, but Kewpie should be on anyone visiting Racine's short list.

I'd also suggest Ray Radigan's for your next visit, nicely appointed Wisconsin Supper Club atmosphere, old school waitresses, nice array of complimentary starters, including that fine dining favorite cottage cheese, and fresh veggies, beets and pickles. Ray R's also serves a surprisingly good steak.

Enjoy,
Gary

Ray Radigan's
11712 Sheridan Road
Kenosha, WI
262-694-0455

Tim & Tom's Cheese Shop
2614 120th Avenue
Kenosha, WI 53144
(262) 859-9494

Racine for the never visited “Hamburg with pickle on top, Makes your heart go flippity-flop” Kewpie’s (plus a Kringle for dessert). Well, you can see the math here right. Racine = burger AND kringle, Valparaiso = just turkey lunch. It was off to Wisconsin. And of course, Wisconsin is one of the most chowiest states around. It would be a FULL day of eating.

Strange how LTH'ers minds work. Did this myself too - not the "Strongbow"
vacillation p art, but the Racine part Was going to write about it, but youve
covered it all, almost

It does take two exits to get to the cheese. One must be a patient traveler in Wisconsin. The Mars Cheese Castle beckons, but Bobby Nelson seems 100% more real. In fact, Bobby Nelson’s Cheese Shop is so obviously non-obvious, that I feared it would be less good in a Larry David kinda way.

Hm. Stopped into Mar's for just a couple minutes - have done so a couple of
times now. Didnt even know about Bobby Nelson's Cheese Shop - thanks
for that, will do that instead next time.

myself with Bobby Nelson’s inventory. Would the kringle shops still be open? Bakeries do close early on weekends, no? Luckily, I have noted Racine-phile, SethZ’s number on

Bendtsen's is 5:30 to 5:30, Monday thru Saturday. Not open at all on Sundays
(which is not always convenient, but still).

Downtown Racine is no Harlem Avenue. We returned though to Old Racine for coffee and pastry. Bendsten’s, probably considered the best kringlery has a cafe, but it looked pathetic. We decided to get a few kringles (well one for us and one for SethZ). JeffB notes that this is the best version of coffee cake he’s ever had, and he passes on the fact that the pastry is about 85% fat.

Yes, Bendtsen's is awesome. The Pecan Kringle is just terrific. Ive tried a few
different ones now - the Pecan, the Turtle, the Pecan-Date etc. The Turtle
was my favourite the first time I tried it, just one piece of it (they sell some
pieces there too, at the shop, but only of a couple of varienties per day).
The turtle is excellent - but it is very rich, and if you have an entire kringle
with you, a little bit too rich maybe. I like Dates, but the Pecan-Date didnt
go as great together as I might have expected. The Pecan is their #1
seller, and Ive finally come to the conclusion that there is a good reason
for it - Ive always liked it, but, while preferring the Turtle early, am now
firmly in the Pecan camp when purchasing an entire kringle (or two,
in this case

BTW, you can actually get kringles from "Old Racine Company" or some
such, in Chicago stores now - I saw one in the bakery section of
Shop-n-Save (on Greenwood Avenue in Niles). But its frozen, and
thawed at the store - shipped out, basically (and the girl at Bendtsen's
who I talked to said it would be the worst kringle Ive ever had in
my life, BTW Bendtsen's is apparently the last bakery left that is
still doing it the "old fashioned" way - by usnig actual butter in the
kringle etc (most others, she said, with the just the right amount of
contempt, actually use lard nowadays to make it easier).

I really like Bendtsen's - just wish it was closer. Their kringles are awesome,
but the other stuff is good too. Their cafe might look pathetic, but Ive plonked
myself down every trip and had a little something - not the coffee etc (which
may well be useless, have no idea), but a piece or two of their other
items. Tried their Apple Fritter - was very good IMHO (a completely different
animal from the Apple Fritter I know and love from Old Fashioned and
Abundance bakeries on the South Side; those fritters are about 2 bucks
each, and hub-cap sized; this one was small, eatable in one sitting as
dessert, and 50 cents. But it was good and fresh, made every morning,
moister than Abundance's IMHO, and also had actual apple pieces in
it. Having one of them a day later, it was much better than Abundance's
is a day later - it stayed a whole heck of a lot moister). Ive also tried
Bendtsen's Almond Horns and a couple other things, all uniformly
very good. I now stop there every time Iam going to Milwaukee when it
isnt a Sunday - just hop onto Highway 20 (off the 94), and its about 6/7
miles on a completely straight road (Hwy 20 turns into Washington
Avenue). Basically a 20 minute detour, there and back (plus the time
spent at the bakery browsing, I suppose

Was chattnig with the girl at Bendtsen's, and she said its a 4th generation
family-operated store. Theyre apparently not very busy during the day
nowadays - as with bakeries in small towns I suppose - but are busy
enough mornings and evenings. They also have a couple of very
busy periods though - basically Thanksgiving on past Christmas and
New Year's is crazy-busy. Apart from doing huge in-store sales in
this period, they actually mail-delivery 30,000 kringles every Christmas
period across the country! For a family-operated store that was quite
staggering, to me (the bakers, BTW, are in at 2am every day of the
year anyway, for the 5:30 opening, but during Xmas they do it 7 days
a week instead of 6, and often stay until afternoon and later).

Down the street from Bendsten’s is Wilson’s Coffee and Tea. They roast their own coffee but over extract their espresso. I ran across the street to Larsen’s, one of Bendsten’s prime kringle rivals. I skipped the kringels here (knowing it would take long enough to finish one) but took full advantage of their end of day special. Most of the donuts and Danish cost only 25 cents. The one I ate on the spot, a cherry diamond tasted only worth 25 cents, too dense and sweet, but the cake donut I had the next day was good—and I have about $2 worth still to try. We also picked up 2 half pounds of Wilson’s coffee. Hopefully the beans beat the brew.

Have stopped in at Larsen's once - must do it more often. But after Bendtsen's
I suppose there isnt often time (or inclination) to

And we could not leave this stretch of Racine without trying DeRango “the Pizza” King. It cost less than $6 for a 12 inch, cheese heavy, thin-thin pizza. A little too much garlic powder in the sauce made it a tad less than ideal for me.

Always thought of, but never actually stopped in, at DeRango.

Also, since we're on the Racine thread (and I was planning on doing this
anyway...)

There is a spot on Washtington/20th on the way to Bendtsen's called
Yuni's - sort of a breakfast/brunch place. Has been rec'd to me by
a couple of different people at Bendtsen's (when I asked where I could
grab a bite). I wasnt able to because it was closing - it looked a very
nice place when I dropped in, but they were quite literally closing the
doors. Seemed a very nice place for breakfast on the way to Bendtsen's
the next time.

Also, on 2 occasions now, Ive actually had Soul Food in Racine One wouldnt
suspect such a creature existed, but it does - and its not bad at all (though
we're probably spoiled here in Chicago anyway, with so many good
places). This place is called "Irene's Carry Outs"- it is a combination
carry-out place and convenience store of sorts (they have no tables
to eat at, a couple of chairs to sit on and wait - and a few rows of
convenience-store items for sale). Has an extensive menu, of the
Meat-n-two variety (Grilled Chicken, Shrimp, Pork Shoulder, Smothered
Pork Chops, Whiting, Perch, BBQ Chicken, Steak etc). Also have Ribs,
Tips etc (but I dont believe its smoked). The usual sides too - Fried Okra,
Pinto Beans, Collards, Mac-n-cheese, Candy Yams, Baked Beans etc.
Plus Fried Chicken, Wings, Catfish, Perch etc. And Subs too (Ham
and Cheese, Pepperoni and Salami) etc. Desserts are Banana Pudding,
Peach Cobbler, Carmel Cake etc. There was a new menu being
prepare4d, so aid the guy behind the counter (apparently they have
special stuff on Sundays anyway, and are going even more into the
family-food-style for Sundays; lots of baked and smothered stuff
then apparently).

Anyway. I havent bothered to try the BBQ - its not smoked, so there
isnt a reason to. Not even so much the Soul Food, just a little bit of
the sides. But Ive done their Pork Chop Sandwich, which was very
very good (or maybe I just got lucky). Simple bread toasted on a
griddle, mayo/butter, lettuce, tomato, and freshly battered and
fried chop. Maybe it was just the freshness of the battering and
frying - it was prepared right there while you waited for a while - but
it actually tasted great both times. That (with seasoned fries) for
5 bucks was a pretty good lunch.

Irene's Carry-Out is at 2051 Mead Street, but they apparnetly deliver
north and south in Racine. This seemed to be the "other" area in
Racine, BTW - sort of similar in look to the SouthSide of Chicago.
Appeared to have at least a few places that looked quite
Chow-worthy if one explored a bit - while getting to Irene's, only a
block or two away, I passed a place that advertised "Southern Style
Soul Food" or some such and also appeared to be carryout. And
there were at least a couple of Mexican restaurants that looked
very insteresting from the outside (one a half-block from Irene's
was called Tapatia something - and at least from the few people I
saw walking out of it, it looked quite authentic; this as opposed to
the "Blue Sombrero" on the main stretch of Washington Street in
Racine, which looked about as authentic as Taco Bell from the
outside

Racine might well have quite a few of these kinds of places. There is
a bit of a Hispanic population now it appears - and surely they must
have some places to cater to them (and Iam not sure the Blue
Sombrero would). But of course it probably wouldnt hold a candle
to Chicago (OTOH, we dont have a place that produces kringles at
all, leave alone one that can hold a candle to Bendtsen's

I would say our last chow stop of the day was Miro’s Charcoal House Little Europe, but after dinner and when the kidz should have been hitting the hay, we caught the outlet mall still open. There, there is a gourmet shop where Ms. VI picked up some needed glass bowls, and I got an extra bitter orange marmalade from Maxim’s de Paris (really!). Our original plan was Ray Ratigan's, but Miro's tempted from the expressway. It need’s its own report, which I will do.

Excellent - shall look forward to this one. I see it every time Iam heading
back, and always think of stopping, but never have yet.

(BTW, once you get back onto the 94 from the Bendtsen-detour, the nearest
Kopp's is only about 25 miles away IIRC. I know cos I did it this time, and
picked up a couple of quarts of frozen-custard to bring home. If you call
them the previous night, they keep it in the freezer for you - and you can
buy dry-ice there fora buck IIRC. I just had it in a paper bag with the
dry ice, and in the trunk of my car - but the custard stayed quite frozen
in the just-under-2-hours it took to get back).

c8w

Antonius,

I still haven't visited Tenuta's.IIRC last time we drove to Kenosha we ate at Golden Corral by my choice.I blame it on low blood sugar.So thanks for the reminder.We will probably be out that way in a few weeks.And if I go to Tenuta's I will post.