It may be true that all happy families are alike, but for sure all successful restaurants are not alike. You have to start with consistently good food and competent management, and your share of luck, but challenging as those are they’re not really enough.
Some chefs and managers try to lead trends, some try to respond to them as their skills and clients may allow, and some stick to what they do well, hoping that time doesn’t leave them behind. As you might guess from the picture above, I’m talking about one that has worked it’s formula since the 1950’s and sees no reason to change.
Clearman’s Golden Cock Restaurant was one of my family’s legendary places. My parents talked about eating there when dating in the ‘50s, and in the ‘70s they took all of us there once a year or so for a treat. It seemed weird and old-timey even then, but the food was not just good, not just in enormous quantity, but presented in a memorable way with a lot of tableside service.
First they’d bring the cheese bread. Not just placed on the table; the waiter would serve everyone a piece and then leave another basket. Then salad would be served and dressed at the table; basic iceberg lettuce with choice of 3 dressings. The waiter would always suggest that mixing the Italian and blue cheese dressings was the best (it was). I think the other option was Thousand Island.
The entrees would come out on a cart and be plated at the table. The meat would be on a warmer, which meant for the family, 6 of us all eating chicken, 3 fried chickens piled up there. The waiter would splash on a shot of brandy and flame it and then serve out the meat. Enormous baked potatoes would be dressed there, with your choice of butter, sour cream, gravy, cheese sauce, or all of the above. And they had awesome creamed spinach, which I remember being seasoned with a ton of sage.
The Golden Cock closed down a while ago, but it’s brother the North Woods Inn is still going strong with pretty much the same formula. Less labor-intensive presentation, and no creamed spinach, but the same ever-popular cheese bread.
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Anyway, that’s a long intro for my idea that many successful restaurants have some kind of signature dish that people remember and try to figure out the recipe for. At the North Woods Inn the entrees are basically broiled meat (and my fave fried chicken), but there are two notable side dishes: cheese bread and red cabbage salad. Both have been analyzed and reproductions published, and I assure you they’re worth eating.
Clearman’s Cheese Bread
My combination of clone recipes from food.com and jamhands. This makes at least 20 servings of the spread; it can be refrigerated and saved.
This one illustrates the challenge of copying recipes, and of using recipes you find on the web. At food.com half the commenters love that recipe and half criticize it; I mostly side with the critics. The jamhands writer correctly got the important step of whipping the butter, and reducing the ratio of cheese to butter, both yielding a smoother and more spreadable cheese.
1⁄2 lb butter or margarine, softened
1⁄2 lb cheddar cheese, grated
3 ounces romano cheese, grated
1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 drops Tabasco sauce
1 slice per serving french or sourdough bread
In a kitchen aid style mixer, whip the room temperature butter for a few minutes, until nearly doubled in size and light in color.
Add Cheddar cheese, Romano cheese, garlic powder, paprika, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce to the whipped butter. Mix until combined. Can be made ahead; store in an airtight container in the fridge then let it come to room temperature to be more spreadable.
Preheat oven broiler. Spread a tablespoon or so of cheese mixture on each slice of bread and place on baking sheet. Broil until browned and bubbly, watching carefully.
Red Cabbage Salad
In Germany this wouldn’t be anything special, but in California it’s different and memorable. The key thing is to remember that unlike a lettuce salad, cabbage is better soaked in the dressing for a while. Clone recipe from L.A. Times. 6 to 8 servings.
1/2 head red cabbage, cored
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt, or more to taste
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Shred the cabbage so it is irregular, with some fine and some coarse shreds, and place in a large nonaluminum bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, seasoned salt, pepper and onion powder. Add to the cabbage and mix well.
Cover the salad and let stand several hours to allow the flavors to mellow and the cabbage to achieve a deep red color.
ninkasi23’s mac + cheese diary a couple weeks ago inspired me to make some, so dinner tonight is leftover mac + cheese with the red cabbage salad.
What’s for dinner at your place? Think about sharing it with us for a future WFD, message ninkasi23 if you can.