LACROSSE, Wis. — The new owners of Piggy’s restaurant are closing the place this weekend. The staff has been told not to come back. What’s next for one of LaCrosse’s hot haute cuisine places? Mitchel Weber and Katie Iceler are being mysterious. Existing gift cards will be honored, they say, but for what? Their only clue: “Something is simmering behind the scenes.” For years Weber and Iceler have operated a rustic Italian restaurant, classic in its own right, next to Piggy’s. They bought Piggy’s in June from long-time chef Chris Roderique. At the time they promised to stick with Piggy’s upscale American cuisine and classy and historic upstairs dining room. Roderique had prided himself on converting the Piggy’s building, an 1871 riverfront warehouse. into a gorgeous and historic showcase. His touches included:
> Back bar. Recovered from a St. Louis warehouse and transported 500 miles upriver to LaCrosse by a paddle-wheel steamboat.
> Front bar. Once an altar at a Caledonia church that was razed..
> Waiting room. Outfitted with a pew and stained glass, also salvaged from the Caledonia church.
> Private lounge. Two hanging lights from the old LaCrosse post office, which was razed in 1977.
> Foyer. Four chandeliers from the old Stoddard Hotel, razed in 1982. The Stoddard Hotel once was LaCrosse place to be. No, George Washington never slept at the Stoddard, but John Kennedy and Richard Nixon were guests, So too: Elvis Presley, Frank Lloyd Wright, Sinclair Lewis, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, and Tallulah Bankhead.
New owners. Mitchel Weber and Katie Iceler. What they cooking up?
Brandy old-fashioneds. Never tasted better than here, whether St. Louiss or LaCrosse.
Not so much the light they cast. As it is the historic elegance.