Drink your fish fry (sort of): Supper club is the cocktail theme at Station No. 06 in West Allis
Wisconsin supper clubs just don’t lose their appeal.
Last month, new restaurants that pay homage to them opened in New York (Emmett’s) and Minneapolis (Creekside Supper Club and Lounge).
This week, the drinks wizards at West Allis bar Station No. 06 released their winter cocktail menu, and the theme is supper club dishes.
Bars and restaurants could be excused if, in this dismal era, their creativity was stymied. It’s anything but, and the cocktail menu at Station No. 06 is one case in point.
General manager Miles Patzer said he and the bar’s staff were brainstorming ideas for the seasonal menu. “The Supper Club” was suggested for a drink name. “What if that’s the theme?” Patzer said.
They decided the drinks would be named for classic supper club dishes; the challenge lay in evoking the dish without trying to make it taste like the dish. You don’t want to drink a fish fry, Patzer noted.
“It was challenging, but it was very rewarding,” he said.
So, the Fish Fry cocktail is built with rye whiskey, limoncello, aquavit, lemon and club soda, to suggest the rye bread, lemon wedge, dill tartar and the soda that often lightens the batter.
RELATED: Beer garden meets cocktail bar and coffee bar at the new Station No. 06 in West Allis
Other drinks on the menu:
Relish Tray, a version of a dirty martini, with gin, aquavit, celery liqueur, lemon and Trinity bitters;
Prime Rib, a Scotch drink with amaro, coffee liqueur, demerara sugar and green Chartreuse;
Surf and Turf, a tiki drink made of spiced rum, apricot, chai, orange, Key lime, coconut, nutmeg and blackstrap and Angostura bitters, with a gummy-candy lobster garnish;
Banana Bread Pudding, bourbon, banana liqueur, amaro, cinnamon and black walnut;
And Lemon Meringue Pie, limoncello, Madagascar vanilla, Meyer lemon and egg-white foam that’s browned with a torch. “It gets this gorgeous texture and aroma,” Patzer said.
The cocktails range from $8 to $11.
Some of the customers this week joked that they planned to order “a full meal” from the drinks list, and others asked if there would be food to go with the drinks.
Not at the small kitchenless bar, but neighbor West Allis Cheese and Sausage’s monthly pairing dinner in February will be a supper-club-themed collaboration, Patzer said. The shop likely will announce details for the dinner next week, where seating will be distanced and limited to 20 diners.
The patio at Station No. 06, at 6800 W. Becher St., is open in winter. It has wind-resistant covering on the sides of the pergola, but the top remains uncovered, for fresh air. For warmth, there are infrared heaters and a fire table.
“There are nights when we have more people outside than inside,” Patzer said.
Still, dress for winter on the patio — as if you’re riding your snowmobile in the Northwoods to get to the supper club, maybe. Remember, the upside to being on the patio, besides the fresh air, is that your ice cubes won’t melt.
And customers who want to try the drinks but not right now have until mid-March or so. Station No. 06 is open 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays, 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, noon to 10 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.
After mid-March, it’s on to the next seasonal drinks menu. Patzer is already thinking about summer — a Coney Island theme, maybe.
Contact dining critic Carol Deptolla at carol.deptolla@jrn.com or (414) 224-2841, or through the Journal Sentinel Food & Home page on Facebook. Follow her on Twitter at @mkediner or Instagram at @mke_diner.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Supper club is the cocktail theme at Station No. 06 in West Allis
