Tonight is opening night at my favorite local restaurant, Fisher’s Club in Avon. They have been around for 78 years. They are known for their walleye, but I think they have some of the best barbeque ribs I’ve ever had. Great, balanced sauce and fall-off-the-bone tender.
I’m reprinting some history of the place posted in an e-mail by Gary Osberg, my local NPR sales rep, below:
George “Showboat” Fisher retired from major league baseball in 1932. He had played for the Washington Senators and the St. Louis Cardinals. He had no desire to get tied down with a year-round job so he opened Fisher’s Club on the northeast shore of Middle Spunk Lake. A savvy nightclub owner from St. Cloud suggested that George try selling walleye and so he created a secret breading recipe and the legendary Fisher’s Famous Walleye was born.
After a couple of years of being closed at the end of World War 11, Fisher’s reopened in the summer of 1946. They decided to make it a “bottle club.” It remains a bottle club, so if you want a hard drink, you will have to bring your own bottle. The liquor inspectors made the new ownership stop the practice of allowing patrons to store their bottles in the lockers built into the wall. The lockers are still there with the names on the doors. They do serve wine and beer. [note: I’ve always heard it described as a “set-up” club, where you bring your own bottle and purchase the “set-up,” i.e., bring your gin and buy a glass of tonic with a lime.]
In 2005, Garrison Keillor and some of his local friends purchased Fisher’s Club and it re-opened in the summer of 2006. “Spending hot summer nights on the lake with fine friends, good food and a cool beverage is what Fisher’s has always been about.” Check them out at www.fishersclub.com or call for reservations 320-356-7372. Be sure to try the Bee Bop A Ree Bop Rhubarb Pie for dessert.”
It’s a great place– though awfully rainy today, so I don’t think we’ll make the opening. Our friends Nancy, Susan and Joe have a band called “Random Road” that is playing there May 22, however, and we’ll definitely be there then!
photo credits: interior above is from and rhubarb pie from The Mommy Files blog of SF Gate.
That's cool. I've been there but didn't realize Fisher was a baseball player. For us non-Midwesterners, you may want to add a post describng how it differs from the supper club down the dirt path. (I believe I have a picture of the Hamm's beer sign by the lake I could send you).
I would have taken more photos but I was asked to leave the vicinty by supper club security. I retreated to “Upper” Spunk Lake where I was accepted with open arms.
Thanks, Bob! Those thugs at the supper club can get out of hand. You may also remember that Archie “Moonlight” Graham from Field of Dreams was a Minnesota baseball player. Baseball is HUGE around here, with each small town still having its own team– Cold Spring Springers and Rockville Rockies are among my faves and played in a lighted stadium in Cold Spring, a town of 3,000. (Need to do a whole entry on that.) I'll find out more about supper clubs…
I did remember that about Moonlight Graham but frankly thought I was confusing fact and fiction. The boutique in downtown Chishom to this day is probably still stocking ladies' hats for when moonlight strolls by.
According to the Internet, it was Lancaster's last film appearance. He was also great in “Atlantic City” from around that time, stealing away with Susan Sarandon in an Atlantic City Expressway motel.
You should definitely do an entry about the Springers with some photos.