Hosting

This weekend Michelangelo and a couple of his colleagues are visiting us. They went out for a river tour this morning, and this evening we are all going to dinner at Ishnala, a lovely restaurant overlooking Mirror Lake. At any rate, hosting preparation and duties are occupying our time. Hope you are well.

 

Michelangelo's friends are big supper club fans, and the primary reason they came up from Chicago is to eat at Ishnala. Tom knew the Hoffman family that started the restaurant and even worked there for a while as a high school student. This will be my first visit.

Pioneer settlers purchased Ishnala from the Winnebago tribe in 1826 and a log cabin trading post was constructed. In 1909, the Coleman family purchased the cabin and built their dream home. The original stone fireplace, log walls and staircase still remain as part of the restaurant's architecture. In 1953, the Hoffman Brothers purchased the land and built Ishnala as it is today.

It is the pricey place to eat in the Dells and has been featured in documentaries and books about the Wisconsin supper club tradition. It's other claim to fame is that part of the Johnny Depp movie, Public Enemies, was filmed there. The food gets significantly better reviews than that movie did.