At Wisconsin supper clubs, the steak is served rare, and the traditions are well done. Like the brandy in an Old-Fashioned, these timeless institutions only get better with age.
“We have to get an after-dinner drink,” says a woman in a chic black-and-gold jacket. “We’re celebrating, remember?”
It’s a Tuesday evening at The Butterfly Club in Beloit, Wisconsin, and three friends at a window table are reminiscing over dinner. The occasion? The 53rd anniversary of the couple in the group. As they chatter about old memories, they keep coming back to nights spent at the nearly 100-year-old supper club.
“We used to do what we called ‘the convertible run’ from Lake Geneva,” Jan Sutte says. “All of us who had convertibles would meet at Geneva National, and we would run down the backroads to come to dinner here. The Butterfly Club was always our destination.”…