By Dennis R. Getto
Journal Sentinel dining critic

Published: February 23, 2003

No one ever told me that Friday was my lucky day.

But on that day a few weeks ago, I got some good news: I could get a table for two at 7 p.m. at the Colony House in Kenosha County.

True, it was in the restaurant's lower level dining room, not as charming as the upstairs one. But few restaurants take reservations on fish fry night, so I bit.

And, I learned later from a bartender, calling so late in the week usually gets a very early or very late reservation - the popular times are long gone, reserved by people looking for one of southeastern Wisconsin's better fish fries.

Good fish forms the foundation of a good fish fry. At Colony House, both the Icelandic cod ($8.25) and the lake perch ($11.95) were sweet and flaked nicely after frying. They had been dipped into a beer batter, then plunged into the fryer just long enough for the batter to turn the color of ripe wheat. Then they were hurried onto a platter and delivered to our table still steaming.

Four more ingredients are necessary to make a classic Wisconsin fish fry a success.

Rye bread was light, freshly baked and served warm. Coleslaw was homemade and fresh, not too sweet and with just a touch of onion. Tartar sauce was plentiful. The only detail that saddened me was the potato pancakes, which had been left on the grill a little too long. I had to cut off their blackened edges before I could enjoy them.

I wasn't alone. At 7 p.m., both of the dining rooms and the bar were filled with people either eating or waiting to eat.

A charming spot

It's hard to miss this charming restaurant in the small community of Trevor, just north of the Illinois state line. From the outside, it resembles a large country house. The original structure that now houses the bar was built in the early 1900s; the restaurant's 94-seat dining room was added in the 1940s.

The French doors, sunroom and large expanses of windows in the upstairs dining room made me a little sorry I visited in winter, when dark comes so early. I could imagine dinner in the sunroom with a pink evening sky as the backdrop.

But even in winter, the Colony House's main dining room had a homey feel, thanks to antique tables and chairs and a large fireplace blazing away.

The restaurant, owned by Eugene and Karen Stevens (Eugene is the chef) and Bruce and Lisa Francart, reminded me of Wisconsin restaurants I'd visited 20 years ago. Dinners began with a basket of crackers and a small scoop of cheese spread, and came with the traditional complements: both soup and salad, a side vegetable and a starch, along with a loaf of freshly baked bread.

The menu is pretty traditional as well, though 11 of 31 entrees listed are fish.

It was from that 11 that my dining companion and I chose what proved to be the best of four entrees I sampled - Dover Sole Veronique ($21.75). Prized for its sweetness and light flavor, Dover sole appears on the menu of only a few restaurants in southeastern Wisconsin, and the Colony House kitchen had done a fine job with it. The fish had been lightly floured, sauteed and served with green grapes, toasted almond slivers and white wine. I overlooked the fact that most traditional Veronique recipes don't contain almonds.

Veal Oscar ($20.95) also tasted great, though it wasn't perfect. Two veal cutlets had been breaded and perfectly sauteed, then were topped with fat asparagus spears, sweet crabmeat and bearnaise sauce. The problem was that the tarragon-laced sauce needed more thickening.

Beginnings are best

The kitchen's approach to lamb chops ($20.95) was more straightforward. Two 11/2-inch-thick chops had been flavored with thyme and other spices, then grilled. Ordered medium, they had the appropriate warm, pink centers and delivered plenty of flavor.

Roast duck ($17.75) was the weakest of the entrees I tried. I liked the Colony House approach - serving the duck with half a baked apple and a cinnamon-apple glaze. The problem was the duck itself. A somewhat stale taste in the meat beneath the crisp skin led me to believe it had been precooked, stored and reheated at the time of the dinner rather than being baked earlier in the day.

The appetizers actually outshone the entrees. I often order an appetizer-size portion of ribs ($8.50) to find out whether ordering a full rack at a later meal is a good idea.

It is. The ribs were plenty tender, and while I personally like a chewier texture, their smoky barbecue sauce kept me interested. Even better was the house artichoke-cheese dip ($5.95) that featured plenty of tender chokes cooked in a bubbling mass of silky melted cheese. I didn't think the tortilla chips served with them went well with the spread (the corn flavor was too strong), but I loved the way those cheeses and chokes tasted with the freshly baked bread served with dinner.

Shrimp de Jonghe ($9.50) was a little disappointing. There were plenty of shrimp, along with butter, bread crumbs and a splash of white wine, but not enough of one vital ingredient - garlic.

For salads, I liked the choice of spinach over tossed because of its hot bacon dressing. I've never been a fan of tomato soup (one of three soups offered), but this rich, sweet version could have qualified as bisque and had me re-examining my old prejudices (I think I had one too many bowls of Campbell's when I was a kid).

The Colony House dessert tray is impressive. The orange layer cake ($3.75) I tried, like just about everything at Colony House, mixed good and mediocre. The mediocre: its commercial whipped topping. The good: orange zest sprinkled between its layers. That fresh, sharp citrus note was just what I needed after a Friday night dinner of well-fried fish.