RESTAURANT SERIES: Bibinger's - An authentic hidden gem

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Oct. 27, 2017

Bibinger's: An authentic hidden gem

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

CEDAR CREEK — As a high school student, Kady Gibowski worked at No-No’s Restaurant in Newburg. She did everything — washed dishes, cooked, served and hosted.

“I knew I always wanted to be a chef,” Gibowski said.

One night at No-No’s, when she was 16, she assembled a dish she called Chicken Lombari.

“It was like a real simple Italian dish,” Gibowski said.

It was a featured special one night and sold out.

This was about nine years after writing her first recipe — a dip made out of butter, lettuce and salsa — on a piece of paper with a crayon.

“It was completely disgusting,” Gibowski said. “My aunt was so sweet. She was like, ‘Oh. It’s delicious. I need the recipe.’ So I wrote it down for her.”

Today, Gibowski’s mom still has that keepsake. And since then, Gibowski has figured out the whole cooking thing.

Open for only 13 months, Bibinger’s, 3747 Cedar Creek Road, has quickly grown a following with the help of Gibowski as executive chef. It was one of the 10 recommended restaurants in Washington County as voted by Daily News readers in an informal poll.

Part of that growth was courtesy of the building’s history, housing popular establishments, including Schwai’s Country Store Tavern & Hall and Emily’s Restaurant.

“It’s kind of like a hidden gem,” said Travis Dowden, co-owner of Bibinger’s.

Another factor was the authenticity of the food.

For example, the beef is from a farm a mile down the road — Pleasant Valley Meats — on Lily Road.

Because the restaurant wasn’t completed when Dowden and co-owner Ben Anderson interviewed her, hiring her was a risk. They couldn’t test her skill set. Still, they knew her by reputation, having seen features in magazines or online.

The first dish they tried made by Gibowski was meatballs. And they were good. Very good.

“She’s just blown our minds since,” Dowden said.

And they’re not alone.

“A professionally run operation with a family feel,” said Cody Lettau of Waukesha County. “Elegant, wellprepared entrees and amazing handcrafted drinks.”

West Bend’s Jessica Swenson added, “I love the historic significance of the building and the menu is simple, delicious and the specials are always spot on.”

Dowden and Anderson, who met through mutual friends while at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, had an itch for several years to one day own a restaurant. They didn’t actively pursue it until about two years ago.

“When Ben and I looked at this place, nothing was finished, all the way down to the studs at that point with the remodel,” Dowden said. “My wife works in Hartford and she’s a dentist and we asked her, ‘Your patients. I want you to ask them if they had heard of Schwai’s or Emily’s. Do you know that building?’ Pretty much everyone said, ‘Yeah. I drive by there all the time. What’s going on with that?’” Having heard that, they pursued the idea more.

It appears to be in the middle of nowhere with no high-traffic road going by the restaurant, but Dowden and Anderson thought they had the perfect spot.

“A rural location can be tough, but it can also have its benefits,” Dowden said.

When Dowden and Anderson found the perfect person to run the kitchen with Gibowski — a West Bend native and East High School graduate — the, as Anderson put it, stars were aligned.

“Kady is extremely talented, very creative,” Dowden said. “She has a really big focus on the quality of ingredients that go into our foods.”

Gibowski has been dabbling with cooking since she was about 7 years old.

“I love food; I love to eat food,” she said. “I like making people happy, feeding them. Nothing makes me more excited than giving somebody something I made, that I created and put passion into and see their expression when they eat it.”

After high school, she went to culinary school in Minneapolis — Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts.

Her internship was at the American Club in Kohler. She also worked at Ozaukee Country Club for six years where she was the first chef below the executive chef.

Her first executive chef position was at Cafe at the Plaza, 1007 N. Cass St., Milwaukee, 2013-16.

“It was pretty exciting,” Gibowski said. “I felt pretty proud to make that jump. It was a challenge for sure, with so many great restaurants in the area.

“To stand out and we did, we had a great following for brunch. It was pretty awesome.”

That momentum carried her to Washington County, her home, which was one reason why she left a vibrant big-city restaurant scene.

“I love the fact that we’re so close to all these local farms,” Gibowski said. “Dairy and vegetables, it’s a great area for a restaurant to be because there is so much potential to utilize local ingredients.”

Among the go-to menu items is the pork schnitzel and the cheese curds.

“I don’t like really overcomplicated things,” Gibowski said. “I like things done the right way.”

Breaking down the Brexit

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Oct. 26, 2017

Breaking down the Brexit

Financial expert attempts to explain the UK’s most controversial issue in the final installment of UW-WC’s lecture series

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

Tom Portz, a financial expert and a native of the United Kingdom, told a group of about 100 people Wednesday evening at the University of Wisconsin-Washington County he wouldn’t mind being a meteorologist in Dubai.

He said he could stand on the roof and say it’s going to be sunny and hot for at least the next 330-plus days, attributing the country’s low rain totals.

That’d be simpler than trying to explain Brexit.

Portz did the best he could in a 55-minute lecture to conclude UWWC’s six-part fall lecture series focusing on the U.K. Next year’s series will focus on Vietnam.

Simply put: Brexit is a complicated and complex issue. But, it is also an issue Americans need to pay attention to.

“I think the reason why we should care is it’s taking time and money that we should be otherwise using to deal with some pretty big global issues, the issue in North Korea,” Portz said. “China is going through a significant economic change, some of which have positive and negative implications. The issue of an emboldened Russia is a big deal. We should be spending more time in South America with the mess they’re in.”

The term “Brexit” was coined to signify the prospective withdrawal by the U.K., which includes England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, from the European Union.

“It’s been simmering for years,” Portz said.

He said, in 2015, David Cameron, then prime minister of the U.K., needed something to get voters to vote for the Conservative Party that would allow him to be prime minister of Britain. So he introduced the idea of leaving the EU and a vote took place June 23, 2016.

“There was a lot of arguing about this,” he said.

Part of Portz’s lecture detailed the voting breakdown of the referendum.

Of the eligible voters, 70 percent of them voted, asking: Should the U.K. leave the EU? Yes or no? Out of that 70 percent, 52 percent said yes.

Portz said most of those who voted yes were from “the periphery around the population centers throughout England,” the older citizens and the less-educated.

Most of those who said “no” were from central London and so-called millennials. Scotland and Northern Ireland also wanted to stay.

“This was a political disaster,” Portz said.

At this point, the U.K. is scheduled to leave the EU in March 2019.

“It’s regrettable that this is happening, period,” Portz said. “From an economic standpoint, we’d all like open trade. It’s good for the U.S. It’s good for West Bend. Slowing that down is difficult. We’re going to have to show up and spend some time working through some trade agreements.”

He added, “I just think it’s a sad waste of resources. In some respects, I think it was inevitable.”

The EU was created with the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 to establish a single-market system that’ll ensure free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the union, which consists of 28 member states. It operates like an European United States.

Portz said one of the tipping points for the UK was migration. He said roughly 13 percent of the UK’s population is foreign born.

“I think it was inevitable because it isn’t a good fit,” Portz said. “There’s an enormous amount of arrogance that the EU has. They’re not looking at Brexit as something that they’re not looking within, saying, ‘What did we do? What can we do to avoid this in the future?’ They’re taking a punishing role to avoid other Brexiteers or other countries trying to leave.”

And because of that, Portz believes the separation will be “painfully slow.”

The separation will also likely be costly.

According to Portz, Britain spends about $8.5 billion annually toward the EU. It’s economy is one of the five strongest in the world, it is a NATO member and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

Portz said some of the winners of Brexit include the U.K., but also the pound, Russia and Germany.

Ten years from now, Portz projects there will be some kind of relationship.

“I think it’s healthy if they come with some practical trade agreement,” he said. “I think it’s healthy if they can find some practical way of moving people in and out of the system. I don’t think border control is a particularly good solution.

“My $2 bet is in the years to come they’ll find some middle ground. I think it’s necessary.”

East seniors to team: ‘Continue to work hard’

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Oct. 21, 2017

East seniors to team: ‘Continue to work hard’

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

HARTFORD — The message was clear from the 16 seniors to the West Bend East underclassmen after the Suns lost 38-10 on Friday night to Hartford Union in Level 1 of the WIAA playoffs.

Don’t wait six years for the next postseason berth.

“Our seniors told them when we met, one of the first things our seniors said was they’ve got to continue to work hard, get in the weight room year-round and continue to work hard so that not only do we do this again, but we win some ball games,” East coach Jeff Rondorf said.

One week ago, the Suns (4-6) walked off the field after a 21-14 overtime loss to rival West Bend West thinking the season was over. Because there weren’t 224 teams with at least a .500 conference record, teams that finished under .500 got a chance to sneak into the playoffs.

That’s how the Suns got in, with the help of their strength of schedule.

Six North Shore Conference teams made the playoffs and East beat one (Port Washington), while losing by one possession to two others (Slinger and Hartford).

All week, the Suns’ players and coaches approached Friday’s game as a second chance.

For that reason, despite the 28point loss to the Orioles (8-2), it was a thrill to play a 10th game.

“It meant the world to me,” East senior quarterback Tony Bland said. “I was obviously down after losing to West, thinking we were out. And to know that we had another chance, another opportunity to come out (and play).

“Obviously we didn’t get here the way we wanted to get here losing to West. But we made it to the playoffs.”

It was only the second playoff game for the Suns

played since losing in Level 2 to Kaukauna in 2008. The other postseason appearance was in 2011.

From that game forward, East was 7-37 heading into this season. After this game, the Suns hope those losing ways are over with. “For us to make it here, it just proves to the underclassmen, East Suns football is capable of the playoffs and capable of getting further than just Level 1,” Bland said. Slinger went through a stretch between 2006-2012 with one playoff appearance. Now the Owls have four in the last five years.

Hartford Union, after a long run of postseason berths, went into a funk. From 2011-15, the Orioles went to the playoffs once. Now the Orioles are in the playoffs in back-to-back years.

Then there is Kewaskum. The Indians missed the playoffs in 2003 and 2004, but haven’t missed the postseason since. That’s 13 straight appearances.

“We have, fifth through 12th grade, quality coaches, quality kids,” Rondorf said. “For our seniors to set that expectation to be in the playoffs every year, it’s certainly an attainable goal for the talent we have coming into the program. Our program is on the upswing.” Unfortunately it wasn’t the outcome the Suns envisioned heading into Friday’s game.

Hartford Union had 508 yards of total offense, including 355 rushing. The Orioles got 233 yards rushing from Logan Broker, plus four touchdowns runs, and 123 yards rushing and one score from Richard Smith.

For the Suns, running back Kyle Yochem finished the game with 52 yards rushing and a touchdown to push his final season total to 1,104. Big picture, Rondorf, his staff and the program hope this is the turning-the-corner moment it has longed for.

“I knew it was something they wouldn’t appreciate until it actually happened,” Rondorf said.

RESTAURANT SERIES: The Norbert: Adapt, adopt, improve

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Oct. 20, 2017

The Norbert: Adapt, adopt, improve

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

A large sign hangs above the entrance to the kitchen from the house at The Norbert, a restaurant in downtown West Bend.

In big, colorful letters it reads “Adaptation.”

Owner and chef Tony Koebel said it is the perfect definition for what goes on at The Norbert, 115 S. Main St.

“That’s always been the word here. Since Day 1,” Koebel said. “Can we move, change, can we adapt what the market is asking for? Can each of us adapt to changes that are being made in the market and the customers and the food?”

He added, pointing to five of 20 staff members, “And, can I adapt to the brainpower that these people have? Can we make it work?”

So far, yes.

The Norbert was one of the 10 recommended restaurants within Washington County by Daily News readers in a recent, informal poll.

“There’s no person who is the star of the show,” Koebel said. “I believe in a cooperative effort.

“As much as it would be nice to have a set menu and set ideas and set scheduling, I believe that a restaurant can run under chaos, can run under many ideas.”

And those ideas often come in the hours before the restaurant in the former Januli’s opens at 4 p.m. for dinner.

On Oct. 7, cooks at The Norbert put together a root vegetable medley — roasted beets and potatoes, carrot ribbons, radishes, honey lime vinaigrette and edible flowers.

“It just came out of nowhere,” Koebel said.

However, it was hugely popular, selling out that night. That ability to come up with something, almost on a whim, is what The Norbert’s customers love most.

“There is something always new at The Norbert,” one survey respondent said. “And it’s always creative and delicious.”

West Bend’s Ashley Remmert said, “The Norbert is my favorite because they do a lot for the community and the food is amazing and they are always changing

up their menu.”

The only original items still on The Norbert menu when it opened in September 2014 are the coconut shrimp, steak sliders and fish tacos.

Sam Zielinski, a staff member, said The Norbert’s “originality” is what she believes helps separate it from other restaurants.

“The menu is always changing,” Koebel said.

And Koebel is not a stranger to changing, adapting at the proverbial snap of a finger.

Three years ago, he hoped to open a barbecue restaurant where Dublin’s is today on Wisconsin Street in West Bend. But the deal fell through.

So, Koebel accepted a job and was 33 days away from moving from his native West Bend to Atlanta to continue in the restaurant business. At the time, he was with Poplar Inn for about seven years.

Koebel had ditched just about all of his belongings, minus a few articles of clothing and shoes.

Then one day his phone rang.

“Julie Sears, who used to own Januli’s, she called me, 33 days before I was leaving for Georgia,” Koebel said, adding he was also planning to work with Habitat for Humanity’s international hub in Atlanta.

“She came in with a screamin’ deal and I changed everything. I said, ‘OK. I’m going to do it. I’m going to stay in West Bend.’” The other reason as to why he wanted to move to Atlanta was because he was ready for a shift in his life.

“I literally threw away everything I own, except for some Tshirts and Converse All-Stars and some jeans,” Koebel said. “Yearbooks, baby pictures, you name it. I was through with it. I wanted a change in my life.

“I had a place in Atlanta. I was dead set and then Julie called me.”

He was also out of money and knew getting help from banks to open up a new restaurant was difficult. But his friends and anyone else he could think of stepped up and helped him open The Norbert.

Januli’s closed in April 2014 after nearly 13 years in business. On May 7, 2014, Koebel got the keys to the building. On Sept. 10, 2014, The Norbert opened, maybe prematurely. But, Koebel had to, he said.

“I nickel-and-dimed this all together,” Koebel

said, adding when the restaurant opened in September 2014, there were still power tools scattered in spots throughout the establishment.

The design and construction of the restaurant was all through Koebel’s vision and a vast collection of recycled material. He did so because he admitted he was a carpenter at heart, which is why he was and remains involved in Habitat for Humanity.

“Years and years ago, West Bend Company made an exercise product called The Total Gym,” Koebel said. “When West Bend Company closed, they liquidated everything for pennies on the dollar and my dad, somehow, ended up with 77 pieces of that stock that helped build The Total Gyms. I used every piece. All 77 pieces are in this restaurant.”

The restaurant has come a long way since.

The Norbert, led by Koebel, is also involved in the community.

Each year, it has a community Thanksgiving dinner. No reservations are required and customers pay what they can.

“This place has seen extreme growth,” Koebel said. “And we’re still on a trajectory that maybe I’m not even ready for.”

And that’s something the Koebel and his staff are used to: change and adaptation. It’s just the way they like it.

“It’s been pretty wild,” Koebel said.

Town of Kewaskum home devastated by fire

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Oct. 19, 2017

Town of Kewaskum home devastated by fire

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

TOWN OF KEWASKUM — No injuries were reported and no residents were home when a fire tore through a two-story home Wednesday afternoon at 8975 Highland Drive, near the Highway H intersection west of Kewaskum.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said, in a news release, the home is likely a total loss.

James Warnkey, 1st captain for the Kewaskum Fire Department, said upon the department’s arrival, smoke and flames were visible and the call was upgraded to a Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, or MABAS — a call to request for assistance.

Fire departments from West Bend, Allenton, Kohlsville, Jackson, Boltonville, Fillmore, St. Lawrence, Slinger, Newburg and Campbellsport responded and assisted the Kewaskum Fire Department.

The Sheriff’s Office assisted with the closure of Highland Avenue, which was shut down to allow the fire departments to work. We Energies also

responded.

The Sheriff’s Office said the call came at 12:09 p.m.

Later, Warnkey said a second call for assistance was made for additional water and labor resources.

Warnkey said there was extensive fire damage to the second floor and there was also damage in the basement. The ground floor of the home had smoke and water damage.

High winds coming from the southwest, Warnkey said, played a factor in the fire and the firefighters’ attempt to extinguish the blaze. There was also concern for the two tall trees that are next to the home.

“(The wind) progressed things quickly,” he said.

According to the Sheriff’s Department, an investigation revealed there was work being done on the roof by a contractor who had been grinding, which produced some sparks. The contractor left and one of his colleagues, the caller, stayed behind. A while later, smoke and flames were seen from the area where the work was being done.

The fire was extinguished at about 1:52 p.m.

Warnkey said it took the personnel on scene about an hour to get the fire under control.

Estimated damages for the single-family home with two residents was not available.

Warnkey said the fire was accidental and no further investigation will take place.