(First published in the March 8, 2018 issue of City Pages)
The owner of the popular Plover restaurant A-Soshel plans a new restaurant in Weston
Mike Masgay sits at his restaurant A-Soshel in Plover. He plans to open another restaurant in Weston this year called Tine and Cellar.
There’s a reason A-Soshel restaurant in Plover is a visual experience that leaves an impression: The decor was shaped by Randy Verhasselt of Evolutions in Design in Wausau. Verhasselt had a hand in all the businesses A-Soshel owner Mike Masgay is involved in, and that includes a new restaurant planned for Weston, Tine and Cellar.
Work on that restaurant—construction of a new building at 3806 Schofield Ave., near the development that includes Dunkin Donuts—is slated to begin this spring, in partnership with Lokre Development. Masgay hopes to open Tine and Cellar in the fall.
It’s an ambitious schedule for a pretty ambitious restaurant that includes a high-tech GeN2 tap system that keeps beer fresher with less loss. That system, mostly found in larger cities, will house 100 taps, making it one of, if not the largest in the region. Servers will be sent to cicerone training—similar to sommelier training for wine servers. “Beer snobs will nerd out over this,” Masgay says, “but even the average customer will appreciate it.”
The cellar part of the name refers to the planned space where the restaurant will age beers—also uncommon in the Wausau area except privately among dedicated beer snobs.
That level of detail goes into mixed drinks too. A-Soshel (pronounced like social) brews its own bitters and syrups, and creates fancy cocktails, but Masgay avoids the term mixology. The drinks don’t take ten minutes to make, he says.
Food at the new restaurant will be inspired by eastern and central European cuisine. Masgay likes to create his menus around a theme, but not with strict adherence. Think oyster bar, but with herring and vodka pairings. Menu items currently at A-Soshel, for example, include dishes such as pork belly with gouda mac and cheese, citrus salmon, Portuguese sea scallops and seared pancetta sandwiches.
Masgay also is part owner of Mikey’s Bar and Grill in Plover and once was a part owner in Schofield’s Mickey’s Billiards and Pizzeria, which is now Sconni’s. Verhasselt had a hand in designing the interior and exterior of all those establishment, Masgay says, and gave them a signature flourish that livens the atmosphere. At A-Soshel, booths with white cloth canopies line the side of the restaurant; hanging strings of lights add color and atmosphere; a horseshoe-shaped bar that allows for better conversation. Masgay hopes to have a similar bar shape in Tine and Cellar.
A-Soshel has surged in popularity since it opened a year and a half ago, next to O’so Brewing Co.’s tap room and Christian’s Bistro. That area in Plover has become a hub of food and drink, and Tine and Cellar would add the same feel in Weston, joining the newly opened Patron, Becca’s Café and newish Wasabi on that stretch of Schofield Avenue.
