Ms. Elaine Kneeous

It's About Time!

Posted by Jennifer Fischer on Sept. 8, 2012

Supper Clubs, in their original form, are before my time.  I might be OK with that, except that I’m firmly convinced I was born in the wrong decade and belong more in Laura Petrie-style capris or cocktail dresses than I do in jeans or anything from Land’s End.  I’m an Old Fashioned in a world of Cosmopolitans.  However, there seems to be a “retro renaissance” in restaurants these days and I’m incredibly grateful.  Supper Clubs are back, although some never really left:

I love living in my little city of Franklin, although “Top Dining Destination” is clearly not among our list of awards.  In my mind we have one – count ‘em ONE – nice restaurant (Casa Di Giorgio) that offers our population of 35,000 some great Italian fare.  Nearly in our back yard, we go there so frequently that Kyla’s photo is displayed lovingly behind the hostess stand.  (Think I’m kidding?  Go there.  Ask the owner, Rex, who his best customer is.)  Clearly there’s room for more options in our little Southeast corner of the state.

In steps the well-known – oh heck, FAMOUS – restaurateur Joe Bartolotta.   Finally we have something with his signature stamp on OUR side of town!  Sure, there’s the amazing Sunday Brunch & Friday Fish Fry’s at Boerner Botanical Gardens.  (Of course I’m partial to their wedding opportunities too!)  But until very recently (8 days ago as of this post!) when you wanted one of their delicious dining experiences, you needed to head to Downtown Milwaukee or out to Brookfield.  Not any more.

Retro taste buds, rejoice!  Not only do you have a fabulous restaurant in picturesque Greendale village, you have Joe’s outstanding interpretation of the supper club.  Too new to be included on the main Bartolotta Restaurant Group website, Joey Gerard’s does have a Facebook page.  We were eager to try their latest and greatest in the location that used to be The Harmony Inn.

You might think that a location that has only been open one week would have “bugs” to work out, but we encountered nothing of the sort.  Our servers were excellent, the food was delicious, my Sidecars were outstanding, and Kyla was treated like a princess.  Kevin ordered a veal chop, of course.  I enjoyed Steak Diane, and Kyla was thrilled with her chicken tenders.  Knowing it is one of my favorites my darling husband also surprised me by ordering Schaum Torte for dessert.  From the moment we were warmly greeted at the hostess stand until our last enthusiastic good-byes from the attentive staff, everything was perfect.  We even enjoyed a chat with Joe himself, and expressed our sincere thanks for his oasis in our dining option desert.

Joe Bartolotta knows only one way of doing restaurants:  the right way.  Joey Gerard’s outstanding supper club experience is one more shining example.