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Critique of the Summit By: Dennis Getto There were so many things to like at The Summit Restaurant, located just west of Racine. I can still taste the garlic-stuffed filet mignon ($16.95) wrapped in bacon that opened cool and pink - perfectly medium rare - when I cut into it. There was the house chicken noodle soup that was so rich I was tempted to sop up its last drops with a slice of warm Italian bread. There were fresh mushrooms, stuffed with crab and cream cheese ($5.95), grilled and served with a tarragon-rich bÈarnaise sauce. Then there was a pastry table at the Sunday brunch that showcased all the great Danish pastry for which Racine is famous. There were kringles filled with nuts and fruit laid out beside blueberry, cherry and turtle coffee cakes, apple and cherry pie, pecan rolls and marble cake. And in the middle was my favorite, a coffee cake called the Seven Sisters, topped with a layer of custard and toasted almonds. If you've lived in southeastern Wisconsin for any length of time, chances are that you've tasted kringle. the delightful Danish pastry rings are routinely laid out at breakfast tables and in break rooms all over town and are recognized as the pride of Racine. Never before had I seen such a concentration of them as I did at the Sunday brunch ($12.50) at The Summit. The only problem that I had was trying to sample them after tasting a made-to-order omelet (with Swiss cheese, ham and onions), sliced roast beef, whole smoked trout, fresh fruit (cantaloupe, watermelon and pineapple), homemade pasta and potato salads, Texas toast, onion soups, chicken wings and fresh made waffles. That's not counting the entrees (we chose a pork chop grilled with onions and peppers and turkey baked with spaetzle dumplings) that our waitress served to our table. If you haven't guessed by now, The Summit is one of the top places to keep in mind for Sunday brunch, especially if you're in the mood for a drive in these last few weeks of fall. It's also a place to mark down as a great stop on your way to or from Chicago. Though its current name is only five years old, The Summit's history goes back to the 1980s, when the building just west of Racine was the Packing House, owned by Keith Wiken. Five years ago, his nephew, David Ellsworth, took over and renamed the restaurant. With its to two-level ceilings and modernistic center sculptures, The Summit offers a serene setting for fine dining: White tablecloths and reprints of famous European liqueur posters give the room an elegant feel. A world map just inside the entrance has pins to show that The Summit's diners have come from as far away as Japan and South America. Some dishes on the menu, such as the luscious garlic-stuffed filet that I mentioned earlier and an excellent rendition of beef Wellington ($13.95). are reminiscent of the Packing House days. but Ellsworth and head chef Tom Wilke have developed a number of other strong suits as well. One of them is veal, which is available breaded ($15.50), Parmesan ($15.95), Oscar ($17.95) and Marsala ($16.95). We picked that last preparation and were impressed with the three cutlets, perfectly sautÈed then covered with a rich, wine-enriched sauce that livened up the pasta served on the side. Another is seafood. The salmon steak ($14.95) that we ordered blackened had all the right attributes: a spicy dark crust and a creamy, flavorful center. The two chicken entrees we tried were both rich with flavor. A nightly special, chicken Kiev ($12.95) delivered a boneless breast fillet wrapped around a buttery filling and sautÈed. Chicken Oscar ($14.95), with its lively bÈarnaise sauce and flaky crab meat on the side, earned a sinfully rich but nonetheless delicious rating. The mark of a great restaurant is attention to detail, and it showed in everything from perfectly prepared escargot in garlic butter ($6.95) to banana cream pie ($2.75). Salads were lively blends of iceberg and mesclun lettuce with carrots, croutons, red cabbage and homemade dressings, and the bread was freshly baked and served hot. Chicken noodle and black bean soups were both cookbook-perfect, although the cheese on the French onion soup ($3.95) was stringy and tasted like mozzarella rather than Swiss. Service at all three meals was very good. A few items on the buffet, like pre-breaded shrimp and puffing desserts, seemed a little out of place considering the quality of the other items. But the nice thing about a buffet is that everything is optional. And where else could I have tried so many of Racine's finest Danish pastries? |