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Family thrives in house that Wally builtBy Pamela Cotant
Obois and her husband, Wally, wound up stopping at five but they got good helpers who started with jobs like wrapping baking potatoes in foil and folding towels. Eventually the kids got other assignments. "I had the lowly job of wiping off the chairs at one time," Mark Obois said about his job when he was around 5. As the Obois clan got older, they progressively went on to other jobs - dishes, bussing, waitressing, bartending, and cooking. The youngest two, Mike Obois, now 45, and Mark Obois, 42, became chefs, studying at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, which has helped the restaurant set high standards. The two also serve as managers and share the long hours that distinguish the supper club, which is open from 4:30 to at least 10:30 p.m., and later in the summer, every day but Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. "We're in for the marathon. It's not a sprint," Mark Obois said. The oldest daughter in the family, Linda Brown, 50, is in her 35th year of waitressing, now working weekends. The middle daughter, Deb Christensen, 48, has a business degree and works days as the bookkeeper. The third daughter in the family, Mary, 47, is a jazz saxophonist who lives in California and occasionally returns to perform for restaurant guests as she did when she was younger. Two in the next generation of six, who range in age from 11 to 7 months, are already pitching in occasionally. Having family members work continuously in the business "allows the restaurant to have more consistency," said Mark Obois. Wally Obois, who was born in Austria, came to the United States when he was 10 and eventually served in the Navy and went to school for electronics before taking up bartending. He met his future wife when he worked as a bartender at Jimmy's Dell Bar and she was hired as a waitress. They were married and had three young daughters when a rib place, The Barbecue, went up for sale across the street at 935 Wisconsin Dells Parkway. They purchased it and opened Wally's House of Embers in 1959 with a hired chef. In the early days, Wally Obois entertained customers with his sense of humor as he ran the bar. He also did the books and some prep work in the kitchen, mostly cutting the meat and smoking the ribs. Barbara Obois ran the dining room and did some cooking when needed. Barbara Obois' mother, Lou Stettin, played piano Sunday nights at the restaurant for decades. Mike and Mark Obois and their sister Deb bought out their parents in late 1998, changing the name from Wally's House of Embers to simply House of Embers. But on weekends, Wally, 79, can still be found behind the bar and Barbara, 72, works as a hostess. The familiar faces of the family, along with the classic look of the restaurant, is a steadying force in a tourist town known for seasonal help and an ever-changing landscape of building facades that scream for attention along the main drag winding through town. The House of Embers, set back from the road, has a few eye-catching neon signs. The main sign has flames that flicker. A neon martini-shaped sign is attached to one of four stone chimneys. The signs are so important that the restaurant spends a couple thousand dollars a year to maintain them. Eating establishments, including those found in hotels, number about a hundred in the Dells, making competition stiff. The House of Embers is mostly known for its ribs, which are hickory smoked in the kitchen, and its charbroiled steaks and extensive martini list. All the desserts, bread, soups, sauces and salad dressings are made from scratch, one of the ways the restaurant distinguishes itself. A signature of the restaurant is unfrosted cinnamon rolls - Barbara's Buns - that come before the meal along with other bread. "They (customers) liked them so well we were thinking at one time of marketing them to go," said Barbara Obois, who originated them. The House of Embers has adjusted its menu as the market has changed, offering more lighter fare like salads and sandwiches, which it calls "classy casual," in the summer, Mike Obois said. For a catchy ad to show the restaurant's professionalism yet fun side, Mike and Mark Obois dipped their faces in chocolate while wearing their white chef uniforms. In 1976, the Obois family erected a new, bigger building directly behind the old worn one. In hindsight, the Oboises think now that was a mistake because businesses on each side of them were built closer toward the road, reducing the restaurant's presence on a now four-lane road lined with businesses each designed to catch the attention of motorists. In 1992, the family put on an airy six-sided addition, pushing the restaurant a little closer to the road. The addition has the feel of a garden room with windows covering each wall, skylights in the tall ceiling, light woodwork, hanging plants, decorative bird cages, wicker seating and a second bar. The outside patio, dubbed Barbara's Veranda, was expanded last summer. The addition provided a more casual space that's a sharp contrast to the more darkly lit, 1976 portion of the sprawling restaurant. It has the feel of an old-time supper club with two massive floor-to-ceiling stone fireplaces. Vintage wrought iron chandeliers and stained glass lamps hang from the ceilings. Old stained glass windows lit from behind serve as ceiling panels in some areas of the restaurant. When the new restaurant was opened, a private dining room for two called the Omar Sharif Room was created in a spot destined for a coat room but unneeded then because the weather was warm. It was so popular that around 1980 the restaurant carved out part of the beer room to make the Valentino Room for groups of four to eight. Then in 1990 the Humphrey Bogart Room was created for parties of two in an alcove of the restaurant. The special rooms, which can be reserved for $10, are another way the House of Embers has established itself as a one-of-a-kind place, which in this town is key to survival. pcotant@mailbag.com madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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