What’s in the vault? A delicious place to eat

The entrance to the renown vault at The Treasury in Ripon reminds customers of its original purpose. Customers can eat in the vault, however, reservations are encouraged.  Connor Cummiskey photo

Bank turned restaurant offers unique dining options

by Connor Cummiskey

Located in the shell of a former bank, one of the more popular restaurants in Ripon, The Treasury, is the perfect place for casual fine dining.

The restaurant’s stone facade covers an elegant and comfortable dining room. It offers tapas (a variety of small dishes) and dining in The Vault, among other services.

“I think it is a beautiful fixture in the community,” Executive Chef Patrick Isajiw said. “Obviously, it is pretty breathtaking, if you ask me. I think there is a certain charm to it that is not really something you can replicate just anywhere. A lot of the fixtures are original, and it is really quite a nice layout. I am always in awe of it when I come to work.”

The restaurant is located at 114 Watson St. in downtown Ripon. It serves food Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. The building has stood since 1930, when it housed the First National Bank of Ripon, which was chartered in 1856.

A series of businesses had taken over the building in the years between when the First National Bank left and the current restaurant opened.

“It has been a restaurant a few times before us and we reopened Oct. 8, 2011,”  Isajiw said.

The history of the building combines well with the atmosphere and service of the restaurant, attracting diners from around the state and beyond.

“I think it has become a kind of destination restaurant,” Isajiw said. “People will come from Chicago through Green Lake. It just has a really great lure to it.”

One of the most famous attractions of the eatery is the room known as “The Vault.”

“A lot of the lure to here is The Vault,” Isajiw said. “People really enjoy that and is what most people talk about. It is actually the original vault and we converted it into an eight-to-10-person seating area.”

To eat in the vault, customers should make reservations. Aside from that, there is plenty of seating in the main dining hall.

The time a customer has to wait for a table can be passed by sitting at the ample bar.

The restaurant takes pride in its food specialties, making sure to use the freshest ingredients possible.

“Mainly, [we have an] emphasis on tapas, and then entrees and desserts,” Isajiw said. “We keep it local as much as possible. We change the menu once or twice a week, so it is really what is in season.”

The small size of the dishes offered at the restaurant and the regularly changing schedule are best for sampling a variety of food.

The Treasury of today is the product of a lifelong dream of the owner.

“Our owner, David [Dolata], grew up in Ripon and he was really infatuated with the building, even as a child,” Isajiw said. “He wanted to own it one day and when he had the means to do it, he bought the place and revamped it again.”

The stark, stone facade of the lounge reflects the spirit of the food served.

“It harnesses the philosophy of the restaurant where we try to create the best dishes that we can honestly and we try to use what is local and what is around us,” Isajiw said.

To make a reservation, call 920-748-2677 or visit its website at ripontreasury.com.

Mealtime will be healthier with a stop at Silver Creek Market

MANAGER JENNIFER CUMMINS, left, and owner Shirley Lenz will run Silver Creek All Natural Market and Cafe, as soon as the former Dairy Queen building’s renovations are complete later this summer.   Ian Stepleton photo

Shop, cafe will offer all-natural items at former DQ building

by Ian Stepleton
ians@riponprinters.com

Eight years ago, an area couple was ready to move on to a new chapter of their lives. The children of farmers, Jerry and Shirley Lenz passed their car dealership on to their two sons, and purchased more than 200 acres near Green Lake.

That passion led to Lenz’s Green Lake Meadows, where they have several hundred head of grass-fed cattle. Now, their dream has taken the next step.

Knowing the benefits of eating grass-fed beef, they’re hoping to share it with others at a new store in Ripon. Silver Creek All Natural Market and Cafe will open in the former Dairy Queen building, located just west of the intersection of West Fond du Lac and Union streets.

It will be managed by Jennifer Cummins, while the Lenz family owns the property and business. By June or July, the store and cafe will open, offering all-natural foods — including the grass-fed beef the Lenz’s raise — as well as serve meals that may be eaten on-site or taken to go.

So far, people have been receptive to the idea.

“We went around town, and … [one guy] couldn’t wait until we open up because his wife goes to Milwaukee for this stuff,” Shirley Lenz said. “We find a lot of people who are going, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me; my doctors don’t know what’s wrong with me,’” Cummins said. “But before you know it they start changing up their food, they get more energy, they feel better.”

Cummins got to know the Lenz’s because she, too, was seeking a healthier option.

“She started coming out to my farm and buying my meat three years ago,” Lenz said. “At first she found it at the village market in Fond du Lac.”

“Then, one day, I went out to the farm and that’s how we met,” Cummins said.

“That’s when I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got the right person here,’” Lenz said of choosing Cummins to manage the new store and cafe. “She said, ‘You know so much just from [your] own personal experience,’” Cummins said, noting she has experience shopping for such items, but also “then I also have food and restaurant skills behind it.”

When the store opens this summer, it will specialize in harder-to-find, healthy foods. Available will be the grass-fed beef from Lenz’s farm. Also sold will be all-natural pork, chickens, eggs, butter, juices, milk, cheeses and produce.

“There wasn’t anything around like this anywhere,” Lenz said. “You really have to travel to find good, all-natural food. I think people are going to appreciate what we’re going to have.” Want all-natural ice cream, too?

Sassy Cow Creamery will sell its cold treat at Silver Creek All Natural Market. “They’re nice, Wisconsin farmers we’d like to support …,” Cummins said. “We’ve actually met the farmers and toured the facility out of Columbus.” Renard’s Bakery will sell its breads, while the market also will carry gluten-free and allergy-sensitive items.

“All they have to do is come into our store and say, ‘Can you carry this because we go to Milwaukee for this?’” Lenz said. “We are very open to helping people. We don’t just want to put what we want on the shelf; we want them to tell us, ‘This is what I need …’ We won’t have a huge retail section, but we want to cater to those special needs as well.” “Even if you can’t eat gluten, at least you can come here and get a burger with a gluten-free bun,” Cummins said.

That will be one of many items available on the cafe side of the shop. “We’d like to have a place you can come to pick up your staples, and if you want to pick up your meat from us, we’ll cook your burger,” Cummins said, “because not everybody loves to cook.”

The menu, which is still in development, won’t be extensive but will offer a nice variety and will change from time to time. Items could include a pulled-beef sandwich, sloppy Joes and other favorites.

“They can go ahead and order their lunch; we’ll make it for them, or they can take it or eat it here,” Lenz said. “Anything from hot sandwiches to soups, salads, desserts,” Cummins said.

“We will have things sitting in the deli case you can swing in and go [as well].” It will be a few more weeks, though, before such items will be available. Lenz is still completing a major overhaul of the building. “We’ve gutted the whole building out, from top to bottom,” she said, noting they stripped the building down to the bare cement walls.

“This whole place is brand new.” Soon, the outside will be renovated as well to reflect the farm-fresh business it houses. “We were trying to make it look more like a little farm,” Cummins said. “I think there are a lot of people who are excited to see [the building get put back together]. I think it’s kind of ironic that we’ll be serving ice cream and burgers … Just a little twist on [what’s always been served here].”

Others have said they’re ready to shop at Silver Creek All Natural Market and Cafe just as soon as it opens. “We’re very excited. We’ve met some really nice people,” Lenz said. “Our insurance guy said, ‘Yeah, that’s all we eat,’” Cummins added. “I’m surprised at the open arms to this. We just went out for lunch around town and talked to people who said, ‘We’re so excited; we can’t wait.’ Wow! “… It’s really reassuring,” she said.

Want to know more about the business as it gets ready to open?

For now, the best way to keep tabs on Silver Creek All Natural Market and Cafe is to follow it on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SilverCreekAllNaturalMarket.

Harbor Lights Takes on a Nautical Theme

Kristian Andersen, a local freelance artist at the town square, lays down the undercoating for the new design at  Sea Critters Cafe at Harbor Lights.   Connor Cummiskey photo

Downtown GL restaurant’s name changes to ‘Sea Critters Cafe at Harbor Lights’

by Connor Cummiskey

The newly named Sea Critters Cafe at Harbor Lights is facing a dilemma.

How does it attract new customers without alienating its regulars?

To do this, the restaurant, which had been known as “Harbor Lights,” is bringing its classic 1950s and ’60s atmosphere in line with a livelier 21st-century theme through a series of renovations.

For companies in the hospitality business, such as Sea Critters Cafe, keeping up to date with modern living is necessary to stay open.

“It is incumbent upon a [restaurant owner] to recognize that and make changes that are necessary,” consultant Tom Giombetti said. “So we just feel that a makeover is necessary.”

The balance between old and new is already evident in the menu.

“We are putting in our daily fresh catch of the day along with different, fresh seafood items that were never on the menu here,” Giombetti said. “But we are going to maintain some of the traditional items such as the Friday night fish fry that is quintessential with the state of Wisconsin.”

One part of the restaurant’s overall menu change is the addition of its Little Critters kids’ menu.

“We feel confident that grandparents can bring their grandchildren in here,” Giombetti said. “We feel confident that parents can bring their children in here. We feel that with some of the menu items and the ambiance of the interior it will attract multiple generations.”

The restaurant is going through this transformation in a way that will be most appealing to the majority of its customers, both old and new.

“We want the changes to be subtle, but we also want them to be something positive that will go along with our décor and our menu,” Giombetti said.

The atmosphere of the restaurant will remain similar so regulars can be comfortable.

“The underlying presentation will be the same,” Giombetti said.

The new concepts that are being integrated into the restaurant are coming from another Sea Critters Cafe in Florida, which also is run by the owners of the restaurant in Green Lake.

“We are incorporating the menu items that are successful to the extent that when people from

Wisconsin come down to eat at our restaurant they love it,” Giombetti said. “So now they will not have to travel all the way down to [Florida].”

Though the design of the restaurant and its theme are changing, the service aims to remain as good as usual.

“We are going to deliver our menu items in the finest fashion that we know how to do,” Giombetti said.

The changes are being done in phases and they are organized primarily by room — with the dining room, the lounge and the exterior all being their own phases.

These steps also include the repainting of the entrance and the interior room to an aqua and yellow color scheme. As well as putting in new hardwood floors and pulling up old carpet.

“We are doing the renovations in phases because we want to keep the restaurant open,” Giombetti said.

Overall, Sea Critters Cafe at Harbor Lights is hoping to strike that successful balance between maintaining its roots and accepting change.

“We certainly plan to cater to all our clientele that we have dealt with in the past and as we market this restaurant, we hope to bring new customers in and perhaps [for] this [to become] a destination restaurant,” Giombetti said.

The restaurant is located at 506 Hill St. in downtown Green Lake. It is open seven days a week, starting at 3 p.m.