AnnMarie Hilton|Sheboygan Press
SHEBOYGAN - Sometimes as early in the week as Wednesday, Sharon Batkiewicz is taking calls at Bread and Bean Eatery that go something like this:
"Can I order twoperch dinners for curbside pickup on Friday night?"
Batkiewicz said people have learned to call in advance because, over the past year,Friday night fish frys have had a tendency to sell out.
She and her husband, Warren, own Bread and Bean Eateryin Sheboygan Falls and said their Friday night fish fry has grown so much over the past year that some weeks it alone pays the bills.
Fish frys are a staple on Friday nights in Wisconsin, especially during Lent — which starts Wednesday. Restaurants are normally overflowing with people who don't eat meat on Fridays and instead indulgein battered fish and hearty sides.
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With restaurants still facing capacity limits and the ongoing pandemic, fish frys might look different this year. Rather than sitting in a crowded restaurant, people are calling in advance to order and then taking their fish to be enjoyed at home.
In a three-hour period, Bread and Bean Eaterysells around 100 fish dinners on Fridays. They are open for dine-in withlimited capacity, but 90% of the fish dinners are sold curbside, Sharon said.
Curbside orders have nearly doubled the number of fish dinners they serve each week. Some people have ordered every single Friday night since last March, Sharon said.
Bread and Bean offers two hand-breaded fish frys, but it may add a third option for Lent. Their walleye is coated in a pretzel crust and served with mashed potatoes, coleslaw and tartar sauce. The "Tackle Box Perch" is covered in a Panko crust and comes with the choice of french fries ormashed potatoes.
Warren and Sharon have their curbside service down to a science, serving food that is usuallystill hot by the time people get home.
People call in their orders, and then, when they arrive, Sharon and Warren's son Erik runs the orders out to customers. He's been helping them over the past year and has even learned the cars of some of the regular customers.
Even though Bread and Bean has sold out of fish some weeks, they haven't run into any issues getting perch, despite reported shortages in recent years.
Leslie Winter is the manager of Schwarz Fish Market and part of the fourth generation of the Schwarz family. She said Mother Nature is the ultimate authority, but there shouldn't be a problem with fish supply this year.
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Fishing production was good through the fall, she said, so there is plenty in their freezers, but supply of fresh fish is not as ample. Smaller fish are also in a greater supply than large fish, she said.
The wholesale division of Schwarz provides perch and walleye to many of the local restaurants, Winter said, with perch being the most common.
"It's an old-school tradition that when people say they are going out for Friday night fish frythey mean perch," she said.
Schwarz does offer its own Friday night fish fry, but Winter said there are really no bad options to get a fish dinner in the area.
Schwarz has been using the same recipe to prepare its perch dinner for 75 years. It's served with french fries and coleslaw. During Lent, Winter said they sell about 300 fish dinners on a Friday night.
Scenic Bar and Restaurant also expects to be turning out 300 to 350 fish dinners every Friday night once Lent starts. Owner Kurt Wolf expects the majority of those to be curbside orders.
The fish is made to order, and Wolf said they can manage about four orders every 10minutes, so they try to book orders so each person can have a hot meal. Even outside of Lent— when they are doing about 150 to 200 orders each Friday night—Wolf encourages people to preorder on Thursday or call earlier in the day on Friday to book a timeslot.
Scenic offersbeer-battered cod every day, but on Fridays,it also offers perch, pike, shrimp and scallops. Perch is the best-selling option, but Wolf said people enjoy the beer-battered cod because of its light breading and flaky texture.
Each fish dinner comes with a choice of potato, including the option of German potato salad made from scratch, and either coleslaw or applesauce. It's alsoserved with bread from Westside Bakery and tartar sauce.
While Wolf hasn't had much issue getting his 30 to 40 pounds of perch each week, he did have to switch suppliers after the shortage last year because of a steep price increase.
Reach AnnMarie Hilton at ahilton@gannett.com or (920) 242-3032. Follow her on Twitter at @hilton_annmarie.
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