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| Rendering of Bay View Project from the Alterra website. |
World Domination
By summer of 2012, the hub of Bay View will be the corner of Kinnickinnic, Lincoln and Howell. It is quite hub-like now, but just wait until the Alterra Bay View Project is finished. Demolition of the old Maritime Savings Bank building will start the first week of June. Then comes the construction of a 13,000-square-foot building, which will incorporate reclaimed materials from the bank building. The new/old structure will contain not simply an Alterra cafe but the bakery/commissary. Another component of this development is that it’ll have a progressive water conservation and runoff management system. The renderings on Alterra’s website show a building surrounded by friendlier pedestrian walkways than the area has now. Check it out here.
Lux Life
Working in the Third Ward has its benefits. It’s convenient to take a little jaunt past the developing Benelux Cafe and Grand Market – in the one-time Good Harvest Market (346 N. Broadway) – and watch its journey to completion. The cafe – which I’ve heard described as the offspring of (sister restaurants) Trocadero and Cafe Hollander – will serve everything from pannekoeken (Dutch pancakes, served sweet or savory) and a burger topped with a duck fat-fried egg to a Rupena’s sausage sandwich with tomato jam, pesto aïoli and pickled onions. It will serve weekday breakfasts starting at 7 a.m. What will make Benelux a market, as well, are the things you’ll be able to buy to bring home – imported meats, cheeses and sauces; Alterra coffees and Rishi teas; travel books and bicycle-related collectibles. The seating will also be rather eclectic – indoors at a table or the bar, on the rooftop patio, or along the sidewalk patio. The projected D-Day for Benelux is June 7. More details soon to come.
Free Racer
Wednesday is in the unique position to be called “Hump Day.” But that’s not the only good thing about it (provided you think that is good). Each Wednesday in May, Cafe Racer – one of the restaurants at the Harley-Davidson Museum – is doing two freebies. In the morning (9-11 a.m.), it’s free coffee. In the afternoon (3-5 p.m.), it’s free frozen custard. There are two more Wednesdays – May 18 and 25 – to get in on these deals. Cafe Racer recently debuted a new menu with a $7.95 half-sandwich/soup combo and frozen custard offered by the scoop, or as a shake or “asphalt” (similar to a Blizzard). Also: new kids options like grilled cheese and flatbread pizza. Hours: Sun-Wed, Fri-Sat 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thurs 9 a.m.-8 p.m. (extended hours for coffee, pastries and custard). (400 W. Canal St., 414-287-2778)
Summer Savories
Coatless/open-toe shoe weather is on my Crave List. Maybe our regional atmosphere will get on the stick when there are important local developments like the new spring-summer menu at Tess. As you ponder your pedicure, you can have salt and pepper calamari, a wedge salad topped with peanuts and orange-ginger dressing, and one of five new entrées – grilled salmon with green pea horseradish cream sauce ($19), pan-seared scallops with lemongrass-scented black jasmine rice ($23), tamarind peanut noodle bowl ($17), Gorgonzola walnut chicken ($19) or grilled mahi mahi with mango-avocado salsa ($24). With these balmy sounding dishes, I trust the weather will respond accordingly…. Yeah, keep dreaming, Ann. (2499 N. Bartlett Ave., 414-964-8377)
Snail Mail
Snails? Yeah, snails! May 24 is National Escargot Day. (Everybody knows that, right? Hah.) And to honor the gastropod mollusk with the pretty spiral shell, Tosa’s Le Rêve Patisserie & Cafe is offering a four-course snail menu. It’s $45 to order the full menu, but you can also order the courses individually. They include garlic glazed French snails ($9.95), seared halibut with Pernod-poached escargot ($15.95), and lightly smoked duck breast with mozzarella ravioli and snail Bolognese ($15.95). Available 5-9 p.m. And if you don’t eat snails but still want to hit Le Rêve that night, the regular dinner menu – bouillabaisse, porc à la Dijonaise and many other choices – will be served as well. (7610 Harwood Ave., 414-778-3333)
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