Dinnertime with Schnitzel

“This week, focus on dinnertime: share a meal with us, or shoot during your dinner hour. Blogger’s choice!”

September, 2015. Natasha and Mary J enjoy their favorite meal at their favorite restaurant.

Stone Cellar is a popular brewpub and restaurant in Appleton. It also has the best Jaeger Schnitzel around. Actually, their schnitzel compares to that which my mom used to make. Mom’s own mother, who came from Germany with her husband and oldest son around the turn of the 20th century, was the master who taught youngest daughter the fine art of making schnitzel. I never learned the craft and yearned for schnitzel quite often after mom stopped cooking. I was overjoyed when I found it at Stone Cellar.

This eatery also has excellent craft beer, my favorite being the Scottish ale. Natasha chose wine over beer this night and had her knife and fork at the ready for the first bite of heaven. As it was a beautiful fall evening, we sat outside on the patio. The main restaurant is down two flights of stairs into the “stone cellar.” There are two main dining areas with stone walls, a bar, a spillover dining area and a long hallway that takes the boys and girls to their respective powder rooms. It’s both a cool and odd place.

The restaurant is in a structure originally built in 1858, the first brewery in the county. It changed a bit in 1858, after a fire, and stood vacant between 1974 and 1989, when Adler Brau and new owners came along. The current owners took over in 2004, began brewing their own beer, and connected with local farmers for organic fruit and vegetables and grass-fed beef. Their pizza, organic chicken and other menu items are delicious, but call ahead if you plan to visit for Friday night fish. It’s wall-to-wall people and a long waiting line.