This column will occasionally include information about restaurants from the past or which evoke memories of the past. This is a personal favorite as you will see.
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It was my first job interview.
I had just turned 16 in the mid-1970s when Dad took me to the Dutch Mill restaurant to help me apply for a job. I had never worked anywhere and the Dutch Mill was a well-known, popular restaurant in our hometown of Bluffton, Indiana. It had a labyrinth of rooms — 12 — and was estimated that it could seat up to 500 people. It seemed intimidating to think of working there.
People drove for miles to eat at the Dutch Mill. Decades later, as a travel writer/ blogger, I appreciated what that meant as customers were willing to latch on to a successful restaurant in a small town and become regular customers.
My mom was a teacher and claimed she needed a night off from cooking so our family of five ate there on Thursday nights. The occasion was formal and we dressed as though for church, sitting throughout the meal with napkins on our laps. You could say my two sisters and I learned manners at the Dutch Mill.
The Mill had been built in 1930s on a strip of land overlooking the banks of the Wabash River. A few people owned it before Glen Moser purchased it in 1948.
The restaurant was known for serving family-style in the dining room. This meant trays loaded with moist broasted chicken, chicken fried steak, vegetables, and dessert were passed from person to person. Businessmen were served shrimp cocktails and civic clubs met regularly for lunch meetings.
Just a few years later, my husband and I would hold our wedding rehearsal there.
After ballgames, groups of teens showed up to order lemon and cherry cokes, Dutch Boy and Dutch Girl sandwiches (ingredients similar to those found in today’s fast-food restaurants and made with fresh ground meat) and fries.
In the middle of the massive building was a small take-out section called the Cupboard where meals were phoned in and picked up. On the north end of the building was the drive-in. A couple of my friends worked there and I hoped to join them in what many people, including myself, thought of as the ‘coolest’ section of the restaurant.
During our interview with Glen Moser, he listened as Dad regaled him with my qualifications, short though they may have been (a few years earlier, my sister and I had run a dog boarding business – nothing to do with food other than dog food).
Mr. Moser hired me on the spot and said I could work that night. Dad left, saying he’d pick me up later that evening.
As I followed Mr. Moser into the deep recesses of the restaurant, I wondered if he would expect me to cook. Hopefully not! I had never cooked anything in my life.
Maybe I would be assigned as a car hop! After watching some 1950s movies, I thought that looked like a glamorous job — only in good weather, of course.
He led me to the Cupboard where I was assigned as the ‘runner.’ When a customer wanted a meal, including steak and a side of mashed potatoes and gravy, I ‘ran’ to the front of the building where these items were prepared, waited for them to be plated up and carried them carefully back to the Cupboard.
Making this trek dozens of times during a shift was good exercise and left me plenty hungry at the end of a shift for a piece of chicken or pie that a cook might feel like sharing.
The Dutch Mill was probably the fanciest restaurant in the area — maybe even in northeast Indiana – but its prices were well within our community’s standards. I think the real reason for the Mill’s success was its food. It was absolutely the best!
The pies were renowned. Almost everyone who ate there ordered a piece of pie to finish off their meal. Each morning, the base for banana cream, pecan cream, and coconut cream was cooked and poured into dozens of pie shells. Strawberry was another favorite flavor, but probably the most popular was sugar cream.
My grandma had made this kind of pie often so it was familiar to me. The Dutch Mill made it nearly as good — sweet, velvety, and always cooked to perfection. Sugar cream is considered by many to be Indiana’s state pie.
Other culinary favorites of the Dutch Mill were fruit salad with sherbet, vinegar slaw, giant (plate-size) sugar cookies, pizza burgers, and more.
Over time, I graduated to helping with parties in a banquet room. These could range in size from 12 to several dozen people. One day, while serving a family of 30 with two other servers, I spilled French salad dressing on a man’s suit. I was mortified, nearly crying as I stuttered an apology. ‘That’s the end of this job!’ I told myself.
Mr. Moser offered to dry clean the man’s suit and didn’t say anything more to me about it. I guess he believed accidents happen. That taught me much about patience and forgiveness.
In 1997, a tragedy struck our community when the Dutch Mill burned to the ground. The cause of the fire was thought to be faulty wiring. Thankfully, it was early morning so it was not open and few employees were inside.
It was devastating to our community and the thousands of people who enjoyed eating there.
By that time, Glen Moser had retired and sold the restaurant to Mr. Kenneth Steffen who had worked there since the age of 13. Mr. Steffen decided not to rebuild.
Today, this area, renamed the Dutch Mill Plaza, has a scattering of businesses located there.
Recently, I joined a couple of other members of the cookbook club at the Wells County Public Library in re-creating a meal reminiscent of the Dutch Mill. It was made easier as one of the members to help was a daughter of Glen Moser.
Laura Bertsch prepared chicken and noodles for the 20 or so attendees. She also created the Mill’s famous French dressing which we used on salad (yes, I shared my French dressing debacle with the group!).
I brought green beans made with onions and bacon bits and sugar cookies. A third member, Brenda Barkdull, made sugar cream pies – her first attempt she claimed. They were delicious!
Laura further enhanced the event by bringing menus used in the Mill and other souvenirs stamped with the name. She also shared trivia and behind-the-scenes information.
There is a book about The Dutch Mill written by members of our community – Doris Brinneman Chartier and Rhonda Johns Ryan. Title: The Dutch Mill (what else?).
It was such a fun evening. Everyone had a memory about the restaurant. It was a privilege to work with Laura and Brenda on the food.
Some people claim to have held on to the pie recipes used by the cooks of the Dutch Mill. This recipe may or may not be the actual one for sugar cream, but it will evoke a homey feeling about living in Indiana.
Do you have memories about the Dutch Mill or another favorite restaurant from the past?
Please share in the comments below.
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Sugar Cream Pie
Tip: It is done when a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Enjoy!
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup flour (a good 1/2 cup, not level)
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions:
Whisk sugars, flour, salt & milk until foamy. Fold in whip cream and vanilla. Pour into pie shell. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake 400 degrees until firm on top.
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Vintage Eats of Kayleen Reusser 
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