Mary Bergin

Special to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

ATTICA — Miles of farmland and woods surround this unincorporated community 25 miles south of Madison. You won’t find it on some road maps. Population? Likely less than two dozen, maybe half that.

Yet the town, little more than a crossroads today, was settled at least three years before Wisconsin became a state. Long-gone businesses include a small cheese factory. In the town cemetery rests at least one War of 1812 veteran.

It began as a town called Winneshiek, after a Native American leader, and it never grew much. Especially after railroad tracks were laid to bypass Attica because of its wetlands, next to the Sugar River.

“It’s pretty much a ghost town,” acknowledges Cathy Cryor Burgweger, who retired from retirement by opening a business — Franklin Grove Etc. — that few would expect to find here.

Burgweger restored an 1873 blacksmith shop, added indoor plumbing and a commercial kitchen, got the two-story stone building onto the National Register of Historic Places and since 2010 has operated it as a six-table restaurant with antiques and collectibles for sale.

“I fell in love with the building and thought it needed to be saved,” Burgweger says. “There was a lot of disrepair, but it was salvageable.” She and her husband had moved to a farm about 10 miles east in 1980, so she’s long known of Attica.

What she offers — in addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner — is a four-course high tea, by reservation only. Why high tea?

“It’s important in my business to be different,” she said, plus she was smitten by high teas she experienced during business and personal travel.

She calls these afternoon teas “an Attica-inspired interpretation” because the vibe is homey, casual, intimate and quaint. It is a high tea because the mix of food is more like a meal than dainty offerings, “with more protein and not as many sweets and carbs.”

First comes a seasonal soup, then maybe wedges of flatbread topped with nuts, greens and fruit. Add savory and sweet breads, scones.

The protein — think baked chicken salad, salmon spread with capers, sliver of quiche, deviled eggs — arrives as a one-plate assortment for each person. Dessert might be a pear tart or Key lime pie made by Burgweger, or sweets from Sugar River Bakery in nearby Brooklyn.

“Most customers take home leftovers,” she says.

All this costs $25.

Recipes are a combination of her own and others’. She makes lard crusts and tomato-sweet barbecue sauce, like her mother. A successful formula for warm radish soup “was sort of a fluke” that began as an experiment because of a surplus of the root vegetable.

Herbs come from a garden within feet of Franklin Grove’s door. A creamy nettle soup, served in spring, is a nod to Attica’s Native American heritage. Menu specials for other meals are announced on chalkboards. All are served on fine china or antique dishware.

“We’re a destination restaurant, not on the corner of a busy city street,” explains Burgweger, who wants customers to relax and linger. Expect English black tea, but a green or herbal tea is an option for groups who agree to drink the same variety.

What Burgweger tries to replicate is her fond childhood memories of another Franklin Grove, southwest of Rockford, Ill. That town is near the family farm where her family dined on Sundays, in a Victorian home where her grandmother used her best china in place settings that were perfectly arranged.

The former Credit Union National Association vice president of customer service spent 35 years with that company and the company that bought out her division of CUNA before retiring in 2007.

“I feel like I’ve retired because I do something that I enjoy,” she said, noting that she had no restaurant experience before opening Franklin Grove Etc.. “I wasn’t ready to retire. I wanted to continue being active, inspired, challenged and social. This has been my perfect solution.”

Franklin Grove Etc. is at the intersection of Green County roads C and X in the town of Brooklyn. It is closed from January to mid-March, then open Wednesday through Sunday. Make a reservation before driving; (608) 862-1161. Up to 25 diners are accommodated for private events.

She says customers come from all over the country because Green County, a cheesemaking center and home to New Glarus, attracts a lot of tourists.

The other draw in town is Attica Bar, across the street and home to free pool playing on Fridays, occasional meat raffles, house-made pizzas and Badgers sports fans.

TEA TIME AT THE PFISTER

Afternoon tea is a more formal affair on the 23rd floor of Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel, 424 E. Wisconsin Ave.

There, a tea butler describes at least one dozen choices as though they were fine wines. Whatever you choose will steep in a self-tipping teapot, similar to what was used during the 18th century. Then comes a tiered silver platter of intricate, miniature treats, with sweet and savory choices.

One of those is mini tarts filled with lemon curd. Travis Martinez, the Pfister’s executive pastry chef, shares the recipe for that curd. Although his work begins by making a dough, Martinez says premade tart shells are fine and save time for the average home cook.

Bake the shells as directed and cool. Pipe a thin layer of your favorite jam over the bottom of each shell. Set aside and make the lemon curd. Fill the tart shells with the curd while it is still hot or warm, to ensure a smooth surface on top.

Refrigerate 30 to 45 minutes, until completely cool. That’s enough time to make your favorite buttercream to pipe onto the top of the cooled tarts for an elegant finishing touch. Use a rose tip or whatever other design seems lovely.

To make the buttercream “extra yummy,” Martinez suggests mixing in, at the end, a little of the same jam that is on the bottom of the tarts. “Just make sure you strain any seeds out so they don’t get stuck” during the piping.

The Pfister’s afternoon tea began in 1993 to celebrate the hotel's centennial. Moved to the 23rd story BLU lounge about 10 years ago, the tea happens from 12:30 to 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays from early September until the end of April. Reservations are required; (414) 273-8222 or thepfisterhotel.com. Cost is $54 ($29 for a simplified menu for children). Gluten-free and vegetarian options can be arranged.

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When testing this recipe, we used fresh lemon juice and opted to use the lemon curd as a garnish for cheesecake with blueberries. We refrigerated what wasn’t used and later microwaved the lemon curd for 10 seconds, just enough time to soften it for easy, smooth spooning.

Lemon Curd

Recipe tested by Mary Bergin

Makes ½ cup

½ cup sugar

4 egg yolks

¼ cup lemon juice

7 tablespoons unsalted butter

Combine all ingredients except butter. Place in top of a double boiler and whisk often over low heat. Cook about 5 minutes, or until mixture is very thick. Remove from heat and whisk in butter. Fill desired vessel. Chill.

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MORE SPOTS TO TAKE TEA

Winning a 2011 America’s Classics award — a lifetime achievement honor — from the James Beard Foundation didn’t prevent Watts Tea Room from closing at the end of 2016 in Milwaukee. It was above Watts Tea Shop, whose specialties since 1870 were crystal to china.

Having afternoon tea or a meal at Watts meant indulging in longtime specialties, which included olive spread, chicken salad and citrus-flavored Sunshine Cake with boiled frosting.

Here are five other places in Wisconsin that serve a formal tea with tiers of treats.

Chateau St. Rita, Boyceville: Choose the color and type of china setting for tea and treats, booked for groups of at least six and by appointment only. The setting is rural hills and a vineyard, 40 miles northeast of Eau Claire. Closed on Sundays. (715) 643-2211 or takingtimefortea.com

Johanna May’s Fine Teas, Weston: Serving a four-course formal tea in a converted storage shed that is furnished with antiques, nine miles southeast of Wausau. Open Wednesday through Sunday. Reservations required. johannamaysfineteas.com

Legacy House Imports, Madison: Choose from a three-tier, sweet-savory assortment to a plate of six tea sandwiches or petite desserts. Reservations advised, but walk-ins accepted. Closed Mondays. (715) 355-6816 or legacyhouseimports.com

Schuster Mansion Bed and Breakfast, Milwaukee: Serving high tea and low tea on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Low tea is tea and pastries. Reservations required; (414) 342-3210 or schustermansion.com

Westby House, Westby: Break up a drive into Wisconsin’s Driftless Area with a tea room visit from mid April to early October, by reservation only. About 25 curvy miles southeast of La Crosse. (608) 634-4112 or westbyhouse.com

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TEA TALLIES

80% of U.S. households contain tea.

87% of millennials drink tea.

86% of the tea we consume is black tea.

80% of the tea we consume is iced.

159 million Americans drink tea on any given day.

The U.S. is the world’s third largest importer of tea (after Russia and Pakistan).

The tea bag was invented in the U.S. in 1904.

People who drink at least one cup of black tea daily reduce their risk of heart attack by 44%.

Scientific studies link tea consumption to additional health benefits, lower blood pressure to lower risk for some types of cancer.

Source: Tea Association of the United States, teausa.com

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NO-BAKE FLATBREAD

High tea at Franklin Grove often includes this recipe. Buy the flatbread base and balsamic glaze, to make quick work out of preparation.

We used a 7-by-9-inch two-pack of naan bread when testing this recipe, to make sure the flatbread was sturdy enough to hold other ingredients. Slices of the finished product are eaten by hand.

We toasted the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently for 1 to 2 minutes, until they smell toasted. We cut the flatbread into pieces before adding the arugula and balsamic glaze.

Red Grape Flatbread

Recipe tested by Mary Bergin

Makes 4 to 6 servings

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 teaspoons herbes de Provence

1 cup red, seedless grapes

½ cup walnut pieces, toasted

1 ½ cups arugula

2 oblong pieces of flatbread

¼ cup balsamic glaze, or more

Use electric mixer to blend herbs into cream cheese until smooth.

Cut each grape in half.

Briefly heat flatbread on a grill pan, about 1 minute per side. Spread cream cheese blend evenly over warm flatbread. Arrange grapes, walnuts and arugula on top.

Cover and chill up to 4 hours, if you’d like, but bring to room temperature before serving. Drizzle with balsamic glaze right before cutting and serving.