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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Dale Hanson checks the progress of a Pizza de la Casa in his wood-fired oven from Italy. DaLou’s Bistro is one of the gems of downtown Washburn.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Fresh, often local ingredients enhance DaLou’s meals.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Louie Hanson is the “Lou” in DaLou’s Pizza.
At DaLou’s Bistro in Washburn, virtually everything is handcrafted by Dale and Louie Hanson using fresh ingredients often obtained from local farms and businesses.
The sweet sausage that Dale uses in the pizza is ground by a local butcher, and “we season it and cook it here,” he explains. In the middle of summer, look for fresh blueberries and raspberries in the salads and desserts.
How is the pizza here different?
“The number one thing is it’s a wood-fired oven. Duluth is probably the closest for real Italian-made, wood-fired pizza,” Dale says, in a nod to Vitta Pizza in Duluth’s Canal Park (and which he calls “great pizza”).
DaLou’s oven (like Vitta Pizza’s) was imported from Italy. It cooks pizza evenly from all sides and instills a distinctive smoky flavor.
“Our pizzas are a little charred. We call it a fire kiss,” Dale says. “It does surprise some people” to find the crust a tad charred.
DaLou’s Bistro, which also has charming patio seating, has been open more than three years and is popular with locals and tourists. It’s packed when there are performances at the nearby StageNorth, and it’s drawing glowing comments on food review websites like Urbanspoon.
“A stunning find, in what many might consider the middle of nowhere in far northern Wisconsin. While Washburn, Wisconsin, might not come to mind when cataloging the world’s great pizza restaurants, DaLou’s Bistro stakes out territory that is well-deserved,” a fan writes, calling the pizza with charred thin crust “flawless.”
Desserts also earn praise. “The wood-fired pizza was wonderful, but it was the homemade gelato that makes this a must-return restaurant for me,” writes another guest.
Dale has about 30 years of cooking experience, including 13 years at Maggie’s in Bayfield and a stint at Majestic Oaks Golf Club in the Twin Cities. Louie, whose mother was a pastry chef, creates her own mouth-watering desserts from scratch, including gelato (four flavors each day), citrus olive oil cake, coconut mousse cake and crème brûlée.
On a recent visit, my wife and I devoured the splendid Pizza de la Casa – tomato sauce, housemade sausage, onion, black olives and mozzarella on a thin, tasty crust (authentically charred). The delicious salad of mixed greens, local blueberries and raspberries, cashews, gorgonzola cheese and black olives was enhanced with maple balsamic dressing. For dessert, we shared dutch chocolate gelato and raspberry chambord layer cake – both were exquisite and memorable.
DaLou’s Bistro, one of the gems in Washburn, is sandwiched between the Snug bar and Karlyn’s Gallery. It opens at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday year-round.
Remember, of course, to leave room for dessert.
DaLou’s Bistro, 310 West Bayfield Street, Washburn, WI. 715-373-1125. dalousbistro.com