When The Bartolotta Restaurants opens its newest fine dining restaurant and event venue on the shores of Delafield’s Nagawicka Lake this spring, it will mark somewhat of a “coming of age” for Lake Country’s dining scene in its evolution from early days of lakeside resorts, private yacht clubs and high-end supper clubs, to its reputation today as a burgeoning culinary destination for diners across the state.
“I think from the Lake Country perspective, the perception was always, in order to find a fine dining restaurant, you would have to drive to the Milwaukee metropolitan area or to some other location. … That has changed a lot,” said Bob Duffy, director of economic development for the City of Oconomowoc and a Lake Country native.
The new wave
The Commodore will breathe new life into a historic waterfront property that first opened in the early 1900s as the Pleasant View Hotel and Resort and was most recently home to Weissgerber’s Seven Seas Restaurant, which closed in 2020 after four decades in business. David Herro and Jay Franke of HF Hospitality Group purchased the property and enlisted the Milwaukee-based restaurant group as its operating partner.
Described by chef and owner Paul Bartolotta as a “living time capsule of Nagawicka Lake and the Lake Country community surrounding it,” the 27,000-square-foot, multi-story venue has been restored to honor the past – its main-level dining room was designed to look and feel like a 1920s-era yacht club – while also embracing modern-day Lake Country culture and preserving the physical longevity of the 3.9-acre property.
The Commodore will join a host of other new, independent restaurant establishments – from fine dining and farm-to-table to pub-style and lakeside-casual – that have popped up in recent years around Lake Country, particularly in its community’s downtown areas, as the population in northwestern Waukesha County continues to grow, said Duffy. Spots like Coco’s Seafood & Steakhouse, Lago Su Bella and Sobie’s Restaurant in Oconomowoc, Belfre Kitchen and i.d. in Delafield, along with the soon-to-open La Tavola on the Beach in Pewaukee and The Inn in Hartland are all part of a recent wave of culinary attractions that have helped raised Lake Country’s profile as a dining destination for locals and visitors alike.
Preserving the past
On the other side of the spectrum, Lake Country is home to a handful of Wisconsin’s most iconic – and longest-running – restaurants that have stood the test of time as destinations in and of themselves.
Nashotah’s Red Circle Inn, for instance, is considered Wisconsin’s oldest restaurant, with origins dating back to 1848 and past owners who include Frederick Pabst and later Aat Groenevelt, the owner and founder of Provimi Veal. The fine dining establishment and event venue is now owned by Beloit-based Geronimo Hospitality Group, which purchased it in 2022 from Norman and Martha Eckstaedt after nearly three decades of ownership and invested in interior and exterior improvements throughout the property. Geronimo Hospitality Group is an affiliate of Hendricks Commercial Properties, founded by billionaire Diane Hendricks.
It was a similar situation for local entrepreneur Jim Lindenberg, who purchased the Union House (opened as a hotel in 1861) in Genesee Depot four years ago, with intentions of upholding the top-notch reputation its former owners had cultivated over 30 years and giving the building a needed facelift. He’s stuck to that plan, and then some. Since purchasing the fine dining restaurant in 2020, both sales and hiring have increased annually. Saturdays are typically sold out and demand for its 50-person upper-level event space is on the rise, said Lindenberg.
“People like the location, they like the history and they like the consistent high-quality food,” he said, adding another big draw for longtime customers is familiarity with the front-of-house staff, some of whom have worked there for 15 to 30 years.
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Outdoor seating at The Golden Mast, with a view of Okauchee Lake.
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Carrying on tradition
The Golden Mast Inn on Okauchee Lake is another longstanding Lake Country dining mainstay, thanks to a family legacy now spanning three generations. German immigrants Hans and Maria Weissgerber opened the Golden Mast in 1967, followed by the Seven Seas Restaurant in 1981 and Gasthaus in Waukesha in 1983.
Today, as the only remaining property in the Weissgerber family empire, the Golden Mast is owned by Hans Weissgerber Jr. and operated by his daughter, Lisa Weissgerber-Marks, who is carrying the family business into its third generation.
These days, that means toeing the line between tradition and innovation. For example, the menu at the Golden Mast still features a handful of German dishes from Hans Sr.’s old-world family recipes. But in order to appease the varying tastes, preference and dietary restrictions of modern-day diners, the restaurant also offers a variety of small plates and casual fare, said Weissgerber-Marks.
Plus, with food costs on the rise – making dining out more expensive – the restaurant has had to get creative, offering year-round events such as pig roasts, wine tastings, summertime cocktail cruises and a new “dinner and a show” series.
“We try to do all different kinds of things that caters to all different kinds of age groups to continue to come out here,” said Weissgerber-Marks. “Our biggest draw is obviously driving out to the lake.”
Given the scarcity of available lakeside property – especially following a surge in demand for Lake Country real estate amid the COVID-19 pandemic – she said it meant a lot to her family that the Seven Seas property was preserved for its original use and will continue to serve the public for years to come.
“Once these places close out on the lakes, you don’t get them back,” she said. “So, to have somebody come along and want to preserve that and be able to still offer the public the opportunity to dine on the lake out here, that’s awesome.”
