Savory and Vine: Fresh new tastes coming to downtown Ripon

By Katelyn Van Swol

In the mood for figs and goat cheese? How about roasted bone marrow (They say it’s delicious)? Or maybe a traditional Wisconsin Friday fish fry? A new restaurant, Savory & Vine in downtown Ripon, has this and more on the menu.

Owner, Keith Kornburger, a long-time resident in the area, wanted to create a new direction for the space formerly known as the Treasury, which was a fine dining establishment.

Instead of fine dining, Kornburger wished to create a casual dining experience that is completely different from other places around town. “My goal is to challenge people’s concepts of family casual dining by putting a fresh spin on classic dishes,” Kornburger said, adding that he wants to “broaden people’s horizons to new things that might be a little more exotic than the same specials you see everywhere else”.

In order to do this, Kornburger began implementing several different plans. “Nothing comes from a can or a bag, everything is fresh and local if possible,” he said.

A wood-fire grill was installed, enabling Savory & Vine to smoke and cook all the meat right in the restaurant, along with bake its own bread and other treats for their Sunday brunches. Kornburger has plans to flip the entire menu twice a year in order to keep things fresh and different for customers.

Another draw will be the full bar with 20 beers on tap, all craft beers from the Wisconsin area, that will rotate throughout the year to ensure people are getting a different experience every time. Along with this, there are different house wines and Kornburger said that even the mixed drinks are always fresh as no syrups will be used.

One thing that Kornburger emphasized: “Fine dining is not the overall goal. Prices for everything are right in line with other restaurants in the area, and I wanted to create a family atmosphere.” He hopes that when Ripon students have their families visit, they consider Savory & Vine as a place to sit down and relax, and get away from all the stresses of school.

As the restaurant draws in more business and creates a presence in the area, Kornburger hopes to get involved in different events throughout the community, create longer business hours, and host different events such as wine and beer tastings.