The Wright Place on 6th was ‘feast’ for eyes and palate | Wausau restaurants readers miss most
WAUSAU − Earlier this year, we asked readers which former restaurants they missed most in the Wausau area. Readers suggested almost 40 restaurants that they miss in the community. Over the next several weeks, we will highlight the top six restaurants our readers miss most, counting down from No. 6.
No. 6: The Wright Place on 6th
"The Wright Place was the right place for both ambiance and great food,” one reader wrote. “It was the only Wausau restaurant to ever exist in a historic home, and that alone made it a meal to remember.”
Patti Kay transformed the first floor of the historic Ely Wright House at 901 N. Sixth St. into a high-class eatery that opened in September 2006. The second floor remained a residence.
Kay said she worked for more than three years to determine if Wausau was ready for a fine-dining restaurant in a historic home − a trend in bigger cities at the time − but a first for the local community, according to Wausau Daily Herald archives.
The home, which was built in the Italianate style in 1881 and sat at the northeast corner of Sixth and McIndoe streets in the near east-side Andrew Warren Historic District, had undergone “monumental restoration” in 1998. But Kay’s plans for the restaurant left the home mainly untouched.
“I want you to feel just as you would be walking into someone’s home,” she told the Daily Herald at the time.
Diners were able to sit in one of the home’s three rooms, and the restaurant could seat about 50 people.
“The menu was comparable to a fancy London restaurant, and the taste and freshness of the food was beyond reproach,” another reader shared. “But, oh, the old house, the creaking stairs, the chandeliers, and the 12-foot ceilings with crown molding made it a feast for the eyes as well as the palate."
The menu included daily chef specials, steaks and a variety of French and American cuisine that would change with the seasons. Kay described it as “American contemporary with a French twist.” The restaurant also featured a full bar serving liquor and wine.
The chef, Travis Teska, studied in Denver at one of the top culinary schools in the country.
"The food was always fabulous and the waitstaff was superb,” one reader said. “The ambiance was always wonderful. Whenever I went to The Wright Place I felt like I was coming home for dinner.
“I really miss the wasabi-encrusted tuna, and the best dessert (white chocolate coconut cheesecake) I ever had was at The Wright Place."
The restaurant closed its doors in 2012.
The historic Ely Wright House is now home to the The Centre for Well-Being counseling center, which opened there June 1, 2014.
History of the Ely Wright House
Ely Wright was born in Athens, Pennsylvania, and operated an ironworks, sash, door and blinds factory in Menominee, Michigan, before coming to Wausau, according go to Daily Herald archives.
In 1874, he established Wausau Iron Works. He formed a partnership with D.J. Murray in 1879, and they changed the name to Wright & Murray. In 1881, Wright retired and Murray took over the business, renaming it D.J. Murray Manufacturing Co.
That same year, Wright bought the lot at 901 N. Sixth St. and started working on his house. Wright paid $2,500, at the time, to have his home built.
The two-story home was built in the Italianate style and features a hipped roof with wide eaves and decorative brackets under the eaves, corner pilasters, balustrades off the front entry and side bay window and a bracketed cupola.
It has been called “Wausau’s finest example of an Italianate.”
The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
More historic homes: How this couple found their dream home: The historic mansion of paper magnate D.C. Everest
More historic homes: These Wisconsin rentals offer a chance to stay in a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
Editor Jamie Rokus can be contacted at jrokus@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter at @Jamie_Rokus.
This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Wausau restaurants: The Wright Place on 6th was feast for eyes, palate
