It’s time to decorate the house and then venture out to enjoy the holiday bustle of the city while searching for that perfect gift for each of our loved ones.
Wisconsin Supper Clubs
A Wisconsin supper club, loosely defined, is a family-owned restaurant offering fine dining in the most traditional sense. Most share similar menus focused on steak and seafood, enormous portions, and multiple courses. Many clubs are located on the outskirts of towns, away from the highways with its chain restaurants and big box retailers that tend to make every stretch of highway look the same. They are often found in a wooded area, along the shore of one of Wisconsin’s many picturesque lakes. They are, in fact, a destination and an experience of a simpler time when dining out meant a whole evening of classic cocktails, real food, and great company.
Featured in this Issue
Yearbook Studios
Following Yearbook Studios on Instagram feels like visiting a secret private club, part classic Ivy League dormitory, part Paris flea market, with a dash of the Gryffindor common room for magical effect. Walking through the front door I felt immediately at home. This place gets me. Now in its fourth year in business, Yearbook Studios has become a beacon of style and sophistication in the popular Forest Park business district. It was my distinct pleasure to interview Jef Anderson, one of Yearbook’s founders, to learn more about this special place.
Holiday in Geneva, Illinois
About an hour from Chicago, past the edge of the city and the sprawling western suburbs, and just before the landscape changes to endless farm fields, is a charming hamlet that feels like stepping into a vacation. In Geneva, Illinois, lovely Victorian-style homes surround a downtown historic district full of one-of-a-kind shops, cafes, and pubs that create a perfect setting for a day of holiday shopping. In December, the town is transformed into a storybook Christmas village for their nationally-acclaimed Christmas Walk and House Tour.
Faribault Woolen Mill
Faribault Woolen Mills was founded in 1865 which, as the company’s website points out for perspective, was the year that President Lincoln was assassinated and the Civil War ended. Let that sink in for a moment. Located in Faribault, Minnesota and family-owned from the start, the Faribault Woolen Mill has been producing fine blankets, throws, and other woolen products for the past 150 years.
