Savoy Tavern & Bistro

• Savoy Website (Citysearch)
  
• Location: SE Clinton area
• Cost to fill up two people: About $40

Bunch of us were down in the SE Clinton district on Saturday night, looking for a quiet place to talk and eat. Somehow we wound up in Wisconsin (or at least the northwestern version of Wisconsin) at the Savoy Tavern & Bistro.

Outwardly, the Savoy looks like any other semifunky tiny Northwestern cafe. There were a couple of wrought iron tables outside (with the requisite cute baby and dog), about six small tables inside, and a small, select menu of sandwiches, savories, and entrees that included deep-fried cheese curds.

Cheese curds are salty, milky, tofu-like nuggets, an interim step between milk and cheese, and they squeak against your teeth. They’re pretty common in the Great Lakes states of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and hard to find if there’s not a cheese factory nearby. The waitress explained that the restaurant owner’s from Wisconsin.

In any case, we opted for the olive salad as an appetizer (it was good), and burgers with Wisconsin cheese. The service was lovely, the waitress extremely patient with the vagaries of a bunch of art types. Interestingly, the wines were mostly French, definitely NOT from the Great Lakes.

Tip: If the waitress sets a small bowl of creamy goop next to your salad, do NOT assume it’s the salad dressing. Taste before applying to your greens, because it may in fact be your tablemate’s very spicy honey mustard, capable of setting your nose on fire. (ask me how I know this)