Bluefront Cafe — Restaurant in Sturgeon Bay

From bodacious banh mi sandwiches to wonderful wraps, I've sampled several scrumptious dishes from Bluefront Cafe, but never have I had an experience quite so decadent as last night's dinner and wine pairing.

This six-course smorgasbord began with ceviche scallops and a scrumptious little chicken croquette. While the croquette was scrumptious and pulled a nice bit of spice from the sauce smear below, I was quite taken by the luscious little lime pillows of the ceviche.

Next came a beautifully built checkered salad comprised of cucumber, watermelon, and a Hispanic cheese called panela (similar to feta.) the feta like cheese made a wonderful pair to the melon and cucumber, a pairing that I find underutilized as a whole. The salad was tied together with a lovely vinegreta Mexicana and just a smattering of sweet jelly.

The soup was a concoction comprised of yellow corn grits, savory broth, and braised short ribs. The result had huge comfort food chops reminiscent of the filling my grandmother once used for homemade pot pies.

The bass plate was my chosen favorite as the parings were the most unexpected. Many have tried to pass off cauliflower for mashed potatoes in the past, and this is the first time I would admit that I was genuinely stunned that I had not been eating potatoes. The creamy mousse was crowned with a layer of seared spinach, a flaky fillet of bass, a sour-sweet glaze, and a crown of mint. The flavors all came together with a well-thought-out balance, but the real star here was the mint.

While many pulled the crown of mint and cast it aside as garnish, I broke mine up and enjoyed it with the fish. It added a whole new element to the flavors presently on the plate and has me considering testing mint-fish pairings in my own kitchen. I hope the chefs were as impressed with this dish as I was. Truly remarkable.

While I would say the bass was the true entree of this meal, the main event came in the form of sous vide chicken and steak. The steak was done masterfully with a heavy char to the outside and vibrant color in middle and paired well with the accompanying salsa. Sous vide chicken is hard to hate, but rolling the thigh in the garnish of Brazil nuts gave it that bit of extra pop.

The journey came to end on the sweet, sweet note of a decadent passionfruit truffle that saw a fruit layer over velvety chocolate. This was accompanied by churros with an elegant dulce de leche sauce and a shot of coffee.

It was a perfect conclusion to a wonderful night of adventurous eating. The table settings were elegant and inviting. The music was smooth and enjoyable and the wine went down easy. Service was so spectacular that nearly every sip of water was immediately replaced. It was truly a wonderful event.

I hope that they are able to host more in the future so everyone can share in...

Terrible Experience.... it runned the rest of my day.. I left stressed and speechless for what they did and how they handle the situation. The food was very bland and not worth the prices!

I ordered the walleye sandwish and I asked for gluten free bread. When they brought it, I noticed the coleslaw was inside a sandwich, so add.

I have never seen that, especially because it makes the breakd soggy. I've been and culinary and restaurant business industry and I have never seen it. Apparently it was described in the menu that the coleslaw was in the sandwich but I didn't see that, my mistake. So I asked the waitress if they would remove the coleslaw and change the bread only, saving the fish, but the waitress said no, no, is ok we will will just make you a new one sandwish all together. To my absolute surprise when they brought me the bill they charged me for the first one, 50% off and charged me for and second one also! They failed to let me know or give me the choice of letting me know they would charge me full price for the second one as well!

I probably would have said no, and have something else, as I didnt want to spend a lot on lunch. I had no intentions to spend that amount of money and felt they stole from me, I was in my own right to decide if to order a second one and be charged or not charged they never gave me that opportunity I feel completely betrayed. When I talk to the manager about it, she said she didn't want to tell me because as she didn't want to ruin my experience but went ahead and charge me twice I couldn't believe it... That was so unacceptable and they refused to remove the item and they charged twice. I ruinned my experience and the rest of the day.... I was very upset to say the least, as customer and google reviewer. It was a horrible experience, I will never returned and you should not invest time or money there. they should not be in hospitality business. A restaurant should never let a customer walk out of their business upset. That is the golden rule for every respectable restaurant...

Poor Service and Lack of Empathy

This has been a favorite of ours. But today was another story. Unfortunately, it was a very disappointing experience, especially when it came to accommodating the needs of an elderly person in my party.

From the moment we sat down, the server seemed indifferent to our requests. They were out of a number of items we attempted to order. We asked if they could substitute the bread on a sandwich with a softer option, as it was for an elderly guest who struggles with chewing. Instead of understanding and helping, the kitchen was dismissive and refused to make the simple substitution.

The only other suitable item on the menu was a children's meal. We were told by the server this was not allowed but after pushing she made the exception so I ordered 2 children's meals in hopes of 1 meal working out.

The food arrived for me, and only the PBJ sandwich. Then we had to wait an extra 10 minutes for her Grilled Cheese to arrive. It was frustrating and felt like her needs were completely overlooked.

Also, I was charged the price of an adult meal for a grilled cheese with all items removed and no sides included and also charged an additional $4 to add avocado. So in essence I paid $26 for a grilled cheese and peanut butter and jelly sandwich there were not edible.

This experience was deeply disappointing, and the lack of compassion and basic customer service was unacceptable. We won’t be returning and would not recommend this restaurant to anyone who has...