| Progressive Dinners (continued) -
This year, the White Gull, Thorp House and Whistling
Swan inns will once again host four Progressive Dinner
Weekends. The ninth annual Fish Creek Historic Inns
Progressive Dinner Weekends are scheduled for December
3 - 4, 10 - 11, 17 - 18, 2004 and January 7 - 8, 2005.
During those four winter weekends, Fish Creek becomes a
destination for fine dining and holiday elegance.
Each inn offers special Progressive Dinner Weekend
packages, culminating Saturday evening in a five-course
dinner, complete with live music, as guests tour the inns,
each festively decorated for the season. The Historic Inns of
Fish Creek describe the Progressive Dinner as “a moveable
feast.” The gourmet dinner begins at one of Fish Creek’s
historic inns, moves to another for the main course and
then on to a third for dessert.
The idea for the first Fish Creek Progressive Dinner came
from the owner of the White Gull Inn. “Almost 10 years
ago now, it occurred to me that the businesses and inns of
Fish Creek were decorating for the holidays, but the winter
tourist season began the day after Christmas,” said Andy
Coulson, innkeeper of the White Gull. “I wanted to draw
people up here earlier. I attended an innkeepers meeting
which involved food and live music and I thought about
putting together a reason for people to come to Fish Creek.
I contacted the other historic inns and together we created
a holiday dinner.”
“We decided to do it one weekend in December and
ended up with a very good turn out,” said Coulson,
modestly. The first dinner was such a success that guests
immediately wanted to know when the next dinner would
be scheduled.
The Progressive Dinner begins with hors d’oeuvres at
the charming Thorp House Inn, built in 1902 by Freeman
Thorp, a member of Fish Creek’s founding family. Following
Freeman’s death in 1903, the house served as tourist lodging
for more than 80 years before being restored and converted
into a bed and breakfast by current owner/innkeepers Chris
and Sverre Falck–Pedersen in 1986.
Chris Falck-Pedersen says guests typically have about15
different bitesized appetizersto choose from, including prawns,
little brochettes of barbequed meats and various stuffed pastries.
“One standout has been the tuna Niçoise, made with a slice
of new
potato and a chunk of marinated, grilled tuna with Niçoise
sauce, topped with capers and fresh herbs,” said Falck-
Pedersen. “Another favorite has been a palate cleanser made
of a nest of meringue, filled with piped lemon cream and
topped with fresh strawberries and mint.”
Following the appetizers at Thorp House, dinner guests
are transported to the White Gull Inn by horse-drawn
wagons, past the many homes and businesses decorated
for the holidays. Although the distance between the inns
is certainly walkable, the horse-drawn wagon only adds to
the charm of the weekend. “You can hear people singing
and caroling as they clip-clop through Fish Creek,” says
Coulson.
The 104-year-old White Gull, founded by Dr. Herman
Welcker, is the oldest continuously operating inn in Door
County. Innkeepers Andy and Jan Coulson and their staff
conduct tours and discuss the inn’s history before serving
soup, salad and the main course.
Coulson and the kitchen staff of the White Gull work
hard to create a special holiday-themed menu, trying to
use as much Wisconsin produce as possible. For last year’s
Progressive Dinner, the White Gull served a cream of
butternut squash and cranberry soup, roast loin of pork
stuffed with apricots and glazed with a Vouvray wine sauce
accompanied by wild rice pilaf with wild mushrooms and
sherry-mapled Brussels sprouts. The dinner ended with a
salad of winter greens with pear, pomegranate seeds and
toasted hazelnuts tossed in a Champagne vinaigrette.
Each course of the dinner is specially paired with a wine
to complement the flavors on the plate. For the soup and
pork dishes, the White Gull poured a 2001 Berger Grüner
Veltliner from Austria and a 2002 Lingenfelder Bird Label
Riesling from Rheinpfalz, Germany. Although this year’s
main course has not yet been selected, based on the
previous year’s menu, dinner is sure to be outstanding.
Guests then stroll from the White Gull down the street
to Dr. Welcker’s other famous inn, the Whistling Swan, for
dessert. The inn, along with its other historic neighbors, has
been designated part of the Welcker Historic District and is
listed on both State and National Historic Registers.
Built in 1887 in Marinette, Wisconsin, the Whistling Swan
was moved in 1907 by the Welckers across the frozen waters
of Green Bay by teams of horses to its current location. It
became known as Dr. Welcker’s Casino, and was the center
of his growing resort. The Whistling Swan was completely
renovated in 1986.
For desert, the Whistling Swan serves a selection of
heavenly sweets for diners to try. Some of the choices at past
dinners have included a chocolate Irish cream torte, whiskey
pecan pie and an especially favored peppermint cheesecake.
As guests savor the various sweet offerings, seasonal music is
performed on the Swan’s original baby grand piano.
In fact, food is only part of the entertainment of the
Progressive Dinner. Music has been an integral part of the
festive atmosphere from the very first year. “We had classical
guitar at Thorp, a harp player at White Gull, and the piano
player at the Whistling Swan, with piano music and caroling,”
said Coulson of the inaugural year. “We even invited the madrigal
singers from Gibraltar School.” Live music is still featured on
each
stop of the Progressive Dinner.
Each of the inns offers special packages for guests of the
Progressive Dinner Weekends. The December 2004 and
January 2005 White Gull Inn packages, for instance, include
two nights lodging, the Progressive Dinner on Saturday
evening, a wine and cheese reception Friday afternoon, full
breakfast each morning and hot cider and popcorn Saturday
afternoon.
Coulson especially enjoys getting to know the White
Gull guests at the Friday reception. It serves as a way
for many of the guests to get to know each other in a relaxed
environment. By the time the Progressive Dinner begins on
Saturday, many of the guests have become friends. “We
have people who have gotten to know each other through
the Progressive Dinners and come every year,” he says.
Tickets for the dinner are $90 plus tax per person and
include all three stops on the dinner tour, beverages and
gratuity. The Progressive Dinners are open mainly to weekend
guests of the Whistling Swan, White Gull or Thorp House inns.
The weekends have become so popular with out-of town guests
that there are only a limited number of spaces available for local
guests. “If all three inns are full, that fills the dinning room,”
says
Coulson. Each Progressive Dinner serves about 75 - 90
people.
The Progressive Dinner Weekends are indeed popular.
Says Falck-Pedersen, “We have so many repeats who have
done it every year. A lot of people sign up for the next year
before they leave.”
After eight successful years, the Progressive Dinner
Weekends in Fish Creek have become a winter institution
in Door County. Combining the charm and elegance of
an historic bed and breakfast inn with the attraction of
fine food and excellent company, along with the spiritual
charm and renewal of Door County in winter makes for an
irresistible weekend.
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