In the early part of this century, Slaton’s Supper Club did business for a brief time across the street from the Wednesday Journal offices, where Maya del Sol is now located. We visited Slaton’s during its first few weeks. As we sat down at our table, I asked our server, “So, what makes this a supper club?” Our server had no idea.
Summer before last, we went to Mark’s East Side in Appleton, Wisconsin, which is also billed as “supper club.” The first question I asked the bartender was, “So, what makes this a supper club.” Our bartender said, “Well, you need to have your own customized matchbooks.”
That seemed, to say the least, an inadequate description of a supper club.Â
Later that weekend, at Appleton’s History Museum at the Castle, there was an exhibit about supper clubs, and on one wall was an interactive display that asked visitors to speculate on “What makes a supper club.” There were lots of answers, affixed to the wall with Post-It notes, including “Very expensive” and “Very cheap,” as well as “Place for old people” and “Hipster hangout.”
Apparently “What makes this a supper club?” is one of the world’s least original questions, but people keep asking it because there’s apparently no clear answer. Still, I’d like to offer three defining characteristics of a supper club based on my love for both those in Wisconsin and those that are or were more local, like the legendary Horwath’s.
How do you know it’s a supper club? I have three criteria:
- There has to be a bar that’s separate from the eating area; lots of restaurants have this feature, but for a supper club, it’s imperative.
- The menu must include some traditional beverages and foods, specifically Old Fashioned cocktails (in the traditional Wisconsin supper club, it’s a Brandy Old Fashioned) and fancier seafood/beef (ideally Prime Rib, though hamburgers are common).
- It needs to be a place where you can spend most of the evening; you don’t go to a supper club and then to a movie; if you’re going to a supper club, that’s your evening right there.
With that general definition in mind, we visited Untitled Supper Club, a very large restaurant and event space under 111 W. Kinzie – that’s right: under. This place, which must be quite old, is built underneath the buildings on Hubbard Street.
So, how’d Untitled stack up against our definition of a supper club?
- Separate bar. Check. In fact, Untitled has a 500+ bottle Whiskey Library, featuring some barrels from major distillers that are unique to Untitled. Diners are encouraged to have a drink in the bar and then pass through some of the other rooms throughout the evening.
- Signature beverages and food. Check. I had an Old Fashioned, not with Brandy (this is Chicago, not Madison) but rather a whisky, Knob Creek. There’s no prime rib (so points off for that), but there are some big meat offerings (rib eye, bone-in pork chop).
- Place to spend the evening. Check. There’s a stage for jazz, which sounded very good the night we were there, as well as regular burlesque (which you’d not likely find at any Wisconsin supper club but hey, you have to change with the times).
At Untitled, we had some very un-supper club items, including fry bread, a Native American favorite that I have never seen on any other restaurant menu, but which I have seen at a few pow-wows. We did have a burger, which would not be uncommon at a traditional supper club, and this one had a whole lot of marrow churned into it, which bumped up the richness and the flavor.
As unlikely as it seems, the comment “Hipster hangout” that we saw on the wall of the supper club exhibit in Appleton seems more appropriate than I’d originally thought; Untitled is a supper club, upgraded for the twenty-first century, with some edgier food and more vibrant entertainment offerings than you’re likely to see at many of these traditional restaurants in Wisconsin. Untitled is hip.
Untitled is also an easy shot from Oak Park: Green Line to Clark & Lake and a short walk to Kinzie. Worth the trip.
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