The Abbey Resort and Spa: A surprise foodie retreat in the Midwest

by Katie Hammel on

When you stay at a resort like The Abbey Resort and Spa on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, chances are that you’ll eat many of your meals at the property’s on-site restaurant. This can sometimes mean dining on uninspired dishes like rubbery “hotel chicken” or resigning yourself to the fact that you’ll be spending a fortune on each meal in order to avoid heading offsite in search of better or cheaper food.

So one of the things that impressed me most about The Abbey Resort was the clear dedication to quality food at affordable prices. Over the course of my stay, I had the chance to sample several of their signature dishes, from a hearty dinner that included grilled scallops, tender beef filet and rich espresso creme brulee to a light meal from the spa menu that featured an Asian chicken salad, fresh veggies and a dessert of grilled pound cake with strawberry puree. I’m a picky eater with a former chef for a husband, so I can be hard to please. But there was not one dish I tried that I did not like. Even more impressive: almost everything served at The Abbey is made from scratch.

The Abbey’s foodie focus extends beyond the kitchen walls though. On summer Sunday afternoons (Memorial Day to Labor Day), the resort hosts “Burning Down the Docks” -an all-day celebration of “brews, blues and BBQ”. Nearly 200 people attend each event and indulge in $2 Leinenkugel beers and BBQ straight from the onsite smoker while listing to live performances from local (and local to Chicago) blues bands.

With the season for outdoor barbecues behind them, The Abbey has moved on to a new series of culinary events for the Fall. For three weekends in October and November, The Abbey will host their third “Great Chefs at the Lake” series. Guests who pay for the package ($219 per person for two nights) will arrive on Friday for a welcome reception with that weekend’s featured chef. On Saturday, they’ll watch that chef prepare some of his or her signature meals and then enjoy a four-course dinner, with wine pairing, created by the chef specifically for the event.

The Abbey has pulled in some pretty big names in Chicago dining for the series. October 23-25 will feature the cuisine of award-winning chef Todd Stein from cibo matto and the trendy ROOF bar at The Wit hotel (and formerly of acclaimed restaurant MK). November 6-8 they’ll welcome Dudley Nieto from tapas restaurant, Eivissa. The last weekend, November 13-15, food from Coobah, helmed by chef Jimmy Madla (who is also the drummer for the band Veruca Salt), will be served.

To find out more about the strategy behind the food focus at The Abbey, I talked with Director of Operations, Michael Lucero, who previously worked as Food and Beverage Director of House of Blues in Chicago. Here’s what he had to say:

How did working at the House of Blues prepare you to run operations at The Abbey:
When first interviewing at the House of Blues, I realized that [with multiple venues in one] the operations were very similar to a resort, without the guest rooms. The main reason I joined the House of Blues [was] because of their dedication and commitment to the culture. . . They never wavered from the quality and service standards that helped build their brand. This is where I realized broader benefits of “scratch cooking.” Although it costs more to do so, the quality is always better and more consistent. It also allows creativity and this is where chefs thrive.

When I joined The Abbey, I wanted to bring that aspect to a resort setting. When compared to stand-alone restaurants, customer perceptions of hotel food tends to be lower – too expensive, inferior food, and relatively “staid” menus. We are changing those perceptions here at The Abbey. It started with our philosophy of “hiring the smile-training the skill” – bringing back service dedicated people. Then we focused on the food. Well over 70% of the menu is prepared with raw ingredients.

A great example would be our new BBQ menu in the Waterfront (restaurant). All meats and fish are butchered by our Chef, mixed with home-made ingredients, and smoked by our Pit Master on our outdoor smoker. The Pit Master is certified with the Kansas BBQ Society. This is as good as it gets. This philosophy extends throughout the kitchens in all food preparations.

Speaking of your Pit Master, Matt Whiteford, how did you select him as The Abbey’s BBQ master?
Matt was the perfect person to do the grilling. Our goal was to create a menu and an experience unique to our dockside location, a destination that locals can enjoy frequently, and a dining scenario where all guests would share in the gospel of great BBQ. We realized a great opportunity to align the resort with an award-winning Pit Master. [Matt] has competed for the last five years nationally. . his process was exactly what we were looking for. His “layers of flavors” technique, applying spice rubs and various marinades and glazes during the cooking process, followed by one of Whiteford’s gourmet BBQ sauces [which the resort sells], delivers exceptionally tender and delicious BBQ. He truly has a passion for BBQ and his personality is perfect, always interacting with the guests as they enjoy their food.

I didn’t get a chance to watch Matt in action (or try his famous pulled pork), but I did chat with him for a few minutes and it’s true, his love for what he does is immediately apparent. It’s that obsession with quality food that I think makes The Abbey stand out among other Midwest resorts. They not only serve delicious meals at a variety of price points, they recognize that their guests have a passion for creative cuisine too.

Disclosure: The Abbey Resort and Spa did cover the cost of my stay, but the views expressed within my post are entirely my own. Gratis or not, the food here was delicious and I’m carrying the extra five pounds to prove it.

Felony Franks and other restaurants help ex-cons help you

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If nobody hires ex-cons, then we shouldn’t be shocked when they return to lives of crime. So, for the good of Chicago, go pick up a couple of hotdogs at Felony Franks. James Andrews, who owns the West Side dog joint, makes it a point to hire people who have done time, seeing it as a service to a community that’s been struggling with crime for quite a while. There has been some pushback from the community, but Andrews stands by his mission.

The menu is pretty straightforward: hotdogs, sausages, steak sandwiches and French fries – the real deal, from raw potatoes. Orders are take from behind bulletproof glass (common in the neighborhood, unfortunately), but in the spirit of fun, customers are asked, “Are you ready to plead your case?” Also, an adaptation f the Miranda warning hangs on the wall, proclaiming your “right to remain hungry” – as if you’d want to!

If you’re jonesing for a “Misdemeanor Wiener” but don’t live in Chicago, there are restaurants around the country that help the recently released start fresh.

West Coast
Delancey Street: this San Francisco eatery is run by a foundation that helps ex-cons, drug addicts and the homeless get back on their feet.

East Coast
Mates Inn: the Trenton, New Jersey joint is on the state corrections department’s campus.

Andrews must be doing something right. Since opening, sales have reached $30,000 a month, and more than a thousand former inmates have applied for jobs.

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Get out and go: Events around the world (October 15-18)

by Brenda Yun on

Happy Hump Day, Gadling’ers! It’s time to look at the festivals and events happening around the world, and this week has a particularly international selection of happenings. If you’re close and have time, then you have no excuse to get out and go!

  • Islamabad – The Hot Air Ballooning Competition in Pakistan begins this Thursday, October 15 and ends on the 18th.
  • Malawi – Lake of Stars: This special music festival takes place on the shores of Lake Malawi. The festival begins on Thursday, October 15 and lasts through the 18th.
  • New Zealand – Wanakafest 2009: The Wanakafest, a fun festival that includes urban downhill biking, bike back flips, snowboard rail jam, music, waterfront events, a fashion show, a food and wine fair and a street parade among other things begins this Thursday, October 15 and ends on the 18th.
  • Pittsburgh – International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival: Pittsburgh’s an annual celebration of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered writers, directors, actors and their work begins this Friday, October 16, and continues until October 25th.
  • Delhi – Diwalli, the Festival of Lights, will be held this Saturday, October 17. It is a colorful celebration of the victory of the good within people over evil. Traditionally people give gifts to family, friends and employees, making Delhi a bustling marketplace.
  • Shanghai – The 10th Annual China Shanghai International Arts Festival begins this Sunday, October 18 and runs until the 23rd. The performing arts fair, a major sector of the festival, is the largest and most effective performing arts market of its kind in China.
  • Sao Paolo – Grande Premio do Brasil: Brazil’s featured Formula 1 car race will be held this Sunday, October 18 at 2 p.m.

If you make it to one of these events, let us know how it was, or if you know of an even that’s coming up, please let us here at Gadling know and we’ll be sure to include it in the next “Get out and go” round-up.

‘Til next week, have a great weekend — the first of October!

The best from the world of overpriced minibar items

by Scott Carmichael on

I’d be insulting your intelligence if I asked whether you knew that the hotel minibar was overpriced. It is something we all just take for granted. However, every now and then the hotel tries to take things to the next level. Take for example this “couples pleasure kit”. It is pretty normal for a hotel to charge $20 for a cardboard box and two $1 condoms, but the Gild Hall hotel in New York city actually has the guts to demand $195 for their kit.

Sure, you’ll get a vibrator, handcuffs, condoms and lube, but seriously – $195? That scores an A+ on the ripoff meter.
$10 imported Scottish water

Water is the biggest scam in any hotel minibar. Hotels market their water perfectly – putting it right next to your bed, in the hope that you’ll arrive parched and might miss the price tag assuming the water is free.

In recent years, hotels have discovered premium water brands, and traded the $3 generic bottle for a bottle of eau de euverpriced. The Mansfield Hotel in New York City offers guests a large bottle of imported Scottish water. For $10. You need to be a special kind of thirsty to drop ten bucks on a bottle of water.

$14 Gummi bears

Minibar candy sucks. You’ll rarely find a good old Snickers bar, but there is never a shortage of overpriced organic weirdness. Or, like at the Omni Berkshire Place, a metal container with gummi bears. $14 gets you about 30 of the little bears, which means you’ll be paying just under 50 cents for each of them. Better eat them slowly.


Dealing with bad breath can save you $14

At the W hotel – The Tuscany, in New York City, the overpriced selection includes a $14 toothbrush and toothpaste. Even though a small dental set is offered for free at most decent hotels, the upscale W thought you’d have plenty of cash left to pay for their set.

Pricey water – in three sizes

The Amalfi Hotel in Chicago is another of those properties that discovered the money making machine that is water. Thankfully, they cater to all kinds of thirst with three different bottles. If you are “two large gulps” thirsty, that will be $5. If you are “need expensive imported water” thirsty, it’ll cost $7. All three bottles cost just $19. Which is about $15 more than the price you’d pay in a retail store.

(Many thanks to Oyster Hotel Reviews for providing some of the content for this article!)

Japanese restaurant’s unusual rule: You get what the person before you ordered.

by Aaron Hotfelder on

“If you wander around anywhere in Japan for a little bit,” writes blogger Cabel Sasser, “you will come across something interesting.

Providing even more evidence for the veracity of that statement, as if more were needed, is the Kashiwa Mystery Cafe in southern Japan. What’s so unusual about this restaurant?

Well, I’ll let Cabel Sasser explain it: “At this cafe, you get what the person before you ordered. The next person gets what you ordered.”

What a wonderful, bizarre idea (especially if you ignore the unresolved question of what the first customer of the day receives.) When you order, say, an ice cream and coffee, you pay for them and find a seat. In a few minutes, you’re called to the counter where you pick up, you guessed it, not an ice cream and coffee. You receive whatever the person before you in line ordered.

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So what’s to keep people from ordering an inexpensive item and hoping the person before them was a high-roller? Well, I guess shame. Also, the cafe has a few rules. Among them:

  • Treat the next person. What to treat them with? It’s your choice.
  • No buying twice in a row.
  • Please enjoy what you get, even if you hate it. (If you really, really hate it, quietly give it to another while saying, “It’s my treat…”)

Like the long tables at German beer halls where sitting with strangers is expected, this is an idea that Sasser says “encouraged communication between total strangers or, in this case, members of the Kashiwa community and a couple of weird guys from Oregon.” He says it “forced one to ‘let go’, just for a brief moment, of the total control we’re so used to exerting through commerce. It led you to taste something new, that you might not normally have ordered. It was a delight.”

Read about the experience here.