Hinterland

First off, a belated happy Canada Day - did I post and wish people such a good thing the other night? Memory fails me. No matter. Oh, and happy Independence Day as well. I hear it's kind of like the American version of Canada Day. Go figure.

Conrad and I are in Escanaba this morning, relaxing. For a change we broke up the drive up here and spent a night in Green Bay. Interesting little city. The downtown has suffered massively from the typical exodus to the suburbs that plagues so many American cities. Still, there are good things underway: the development of a river walk on the Fox River, conversion of riverfront buildings to condos, a few new businesses. And then there's a compelling supporting reason for us to break up our drive: Hinterland Brewery Restaurant.

On a previous trip up to the UP, Conrad and I stumbled upon this place and were impressed with the food and the wine list. Alas, we were driving onward that night, so we couldn't really dig into a meal with drinks. We made a mental note to come back.

Two nights ago, we did. We cashed in IC Hotels points to get a free night at a nearby Holiday Inn and not long after checking in to the hotel, we were freshened up an strolling across a bridge (making it across right before boat traffic caused it to be raised) to Hinterland. Arriving, we found the dining room mostly empty, though there seemed to be a number of people enjoying themselves in the brew pub or on the patio. It was a quiet meal together for us, though, and that was fine.

We settled on a bottle of the Don David Tannat Reserve 2006 (neither of us had heard of the grape before) and relaxed into enjoying dinner. Up first, appetizers:

Heirloom tomato sunflower sprout salad, fresh mozzarella, sherry vinegar, lemon basil.


Kumamoto oysters with yuzu mignonette.Such fresh, fine oysters in Green Bay? That's incredibly patronizing of me to say, I know, but it was a delightful surprise.

Dinner:

Miso grilled Hawaiian swordfish, stir fry vegetables, tako, komatsuna, tempura maitake, mango relish, sriracha aioli. More very fresh fish, and a good portion.

Wood-fire grilled navarino elk striploin, morel mushroom, English peas, cauliflower, caprine supreme goat cheese, mizuna, roasted pepper emulsion. Very lean meat cooked medium rare so that it was still tender. The goat cheese surprised me with how well it married to the other ingredients, and though that list of items sounds like a lot, it made for a great combination of flavours together. A real hit.

We opted not to have dessert but instead enjoyed a plate of Wisconsin artisanal cheeses. And then we retired to comfy couches in the lounge area with a glass each of Zinfandel - how American of us on a holiday weekend - before heading back to the hotel.

It was a splurge, but the hotel was "free", so it all comes out fine in the end. Hinterland has a location in Milwaukee, and we hear good things about it, too. Perhaps an overnight drive this fall would do us some good.