The Creamery is in very good hands.
The hospitality landmark in Downsville, Wis., switched ownership last year, and new mortgagees Terry and Paula Vajgrt have energized every inch of this lovely rural getaway. The extensive gardens, the serene dining room, the slick coffee bar (a handy pit stop for bicyclists pedaling the adjacent Red Cedar Bike Trail) and the roomy screened patio -- they've never looked better.
Chef Brian Griep understands destination dining, gathering from the region's plentiful larder and then skillfully unlocking the ingredients' best qualities. Dining here is pure pleasure, starting with a winning array of local cheeses and tangy pickled trout, a stunner of a beet salad, lavishly embellished bison mini-burgers and a trout cake that could make a person forget their allegiance to crab cakes. Walleye, beef, boar, duck, lamb and chicken headline a long entree list, seasonal side dishes show off the prowess of local vegetable farmers and prices are refreshingly sane. Given the name on the door, dessert is a no-brainer: fabulous house-made ice creams.
RICK NELSON
