Food/Dining : Ellison Bay

T. Ashwell’s
11976 Mink River Road
Ellison Bay
920-854-4306

In what was once the Ellison Bay Lodge, and more recently, the Griffin Inn B&B, in a home that was built around 1910, comes T. Ashwell's fine dining restaurant which opened its doors on this old home around May of 1999.

Enter as though you are walking into someone living room, with some couches and comfy chairs for you, and a full bar along the back wall, where you may find a bartender tending to your libation needs. A baby grand sometimes played by a real piano player, and sometimes by its own onboard system, greats you with pleasant music.

The main dining room is small and comfortable, with turn-of-the century green walls. Off to the left is a small dining room, for a party of about 6 - this is where we dined. Also, there is seating on the enclosed porch, which looked cozy.
The dinner-only menu offered some unusual things like a chilled curried carrot coconut soup, or a Rhode Island clam chowder. It’s “Rhode Island” because it’s somewhere in between Manhattan and Boston clam chowder – clever. You can also order a whole grain and fruit salad. We can’t describe all of the inventive things offered here, but let us say owner Tom Ashwell Smith brings creativity and flair to the offerings.   Things will change on the menu as far as what is offered, but this gives you an idea of the type of terrific offerings that are made.
Entrees can include such temptations as Beef Tenderloin Diane which is Angus Beef grilled with a veal demi, cream, cognac, and green peppercorn sauce – wow; or a Fruited Pork tenderloin, a Duet of Duck, A New Zealand Lamb Rack Mahi Mahi and more.  There’s even a Vegetarian tasting.

Our taste testers of 4 adults sat down to enjoy a fine dinner. Many wines are offered by the glass or by the bottle – some very excellent selections - the wine list is awesome and is a 2006 Wine Spectator Award Winning Menu of wine!  There are about 30 varieties offered by the glass – we love to see such a variety offered in a fine dining restaurant like this.  You will find a wine you love – or your wait staff will be glad to make recommendations, based upon your entrée selection.

The Meal
When we were there, they had Tenderloin Medallions, Pork Tenderloin, and two portions of the fresh fish (since none of us had heard of it): Skatewing, which is in the ray family of salt-water fishes. Dinners came with a choice of soup or a house salad.   Again, see their current menu offering for what may be offered today!  This just gives you an idea of how creative, and how good this can be!
We had to taste test the Chilled Curried Carrot Coconut soup. On a hot day, a cold soup can be wonderful . . . and this was such an odd combination, we had to try it. The bowl was heavy in yellow color against the stark white bowl. But the flavor was very clean, and not overpowered by curry. The edges of the bowl were sprinkled with coconut, while the curry-carrot favoring was just delicious.
The house salads, with a choice of home made dressings like a blueberry or balsamic vinaigrette, or a bleu cheese. We tasted them all – the blueberry vinaigrette was tasty even though you wouldn’t normally think of this combination as a salad dressing. If you like bleu cheese, you’ll like this one, and the standard balsamic was rich, spicy and good.

Main Courses
The Tenderloin Medallions is a full 9 ounces of Certified Angus Beef, which is grilled to your specifications with a peppercorn-Marsala sauce, sea-salt mashed potatoes and a vegetable of the day. The white plate offered a nice contrast to the two large medallions, a cone-pile of mashed potatoes, and a mixed vegetable of red cabbage, peas, and more. The presentation was superb – it really could have been a photo shoot for a gourmet food and dining magazine. Even a whole strawberry had a sprig of rosemary adding to its tempting color, and a real flower adorned the edge of the plate. And better yet, the medallions, covered with caramelized baby onions and the special peppercorn-Marsala sauce was mouth-perfection. The meat melted in your mouth, and the flavor combo of the sauce and caramelized onions was something to write home about. (About $30).

The pork tenderloin was also done to our test tasters liking, and was equally well presented. Grilled medium, it is served with a garlic, raisin and port chutney sauce. (About $23).

The Skatewing fresh fish is unusual, but wonderful. It is something of a cross between a lobster type meat and something else – both our tasters loved the dish, and thought it was great. It was sautéed with a sage brown butter, served with a rice pilaf. Again, unusual, but excellent! (About $26).
In general, entrees range from about $20 - $35, with preludes and soups and salads additional.

We were totally full from our great meal. So we ordered two desserts to sample: a flourless chocolate cake, whose plate was drizzled with a raspberry sauce and sprinkled with powdered sugar – very good indeed! The second was a simple, light marble angel food cake with blueberries with a liquor. All desserts are made at the restaurant, and continue the fine dining experience in both presentation and taste.  Again, these may not be offered now, but we are confident that any dessert you order here will be spectacular.

The service was courteous, polite, efficient and friendly. Wood tables, no tablecloths (a surprise). For the above meal, which included 2 glasses of wine and a couple of mixed drinks, the bill was about $160 plus tip. Always check with the restaurant (call) or their website for current prices and offerings.  This is an adult, fine dining restaurant - you will not find many children here.  It would be hard not to enjoy this place if you are looking for some fine dining in Door County. Make T. Ashwell's a stop, and please tell them that DoorCountyNavigator.com sent you!

T. Ashwell’s is easy to find:

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