If you are young (like me) and on a budget (like me) yet still crave the new, fantastic and fabulous things that Milwaukee has to offer (that’s very me), here’s how to do Hinterland, laid-back and cheap style.
Walk in and ask the hostess if you can sit in the back room, also referred to as “the lounge.” She’ll either say sure go ahead (if you look like you’ve been there before) or she’ll escort you. You’ll enter a small, dimly lit haven where everything from Gnarles Barkley and Alicia Keys to Pink Floyd and Carole King will be spinning on the turntable.
I love sitting at the bar, so that is what I generally do. However, you should also try the over-stuffed couches or the comfy high-backed chairs. Because here, putting your feet up is always permitted.
My lovely companion and I took our seats at the end of the bar and received prompt service. We kept it simple at the beginning: sapphire and tonic for me and pale ale for him.
Hinterland isn’t just a restaurant or a bar: it’s a brewery. The brewing operations take place at their Green Bay location, but down here you still have access to their full selection of fresh brews: Pale Ale, Weizen, Luna Stout, Imperial IPA, Amber Ale, Bock, Honey Wheat, Pub Draught, Oktoberfest and a Raspberry Rye. Hinterland pours pure magic every time they lift the tap handle.
Like all of their beers, the pale ale was stylistically correct. It was not overly hoppy and tasted fresh, both of which are factors that many commercial pale ales fail to deliver.
After we finished our first drinks, we decided to share an eight-beer tasting flight (extremely good idea, by the way) for $10. All of the beers were well-balanced and smooth. Even the stout, as dark and full-bodied as it was, had small hints of coffee in it. Instead of puckering (like I tend to do when sipping on any stout) I perked up in my chair, wondering if I just downed a shot of espresso or taken a hearty sip of beer.
After cleansing my palette with a couple glasses of water and a few appetizers on the comfort-chic bar menu, I decided I was in a red wine mood.
Don’t get scared of the wine list, it only looks intimidating. Hinterland admits to having spent many agonizing weeks just on the creation of the wine list before they opened late last year. They decided to put a little something on the list for everyone. Whether it was the wine snob who is jet-lagged from his recent trip out to Napa, the mom from the suburbs looking to celebrate a big birthday with the family, or the young 20-something who swirls, sniffs and sips generally with no avail, you will fall in love with a wine on the list, guaranteed.
After my companion pleaded with me (actually, he practically twisted my arm) to order a glass of the Frederic Mabileau Cabernet Franc ($15.75) by saying, “You need to try it. I know you’ll love it. Just do it,” I gave into the vine-ripened peer pressure and ordered the glass. The bartender looked at me and said, “You will love it, I promise.”
It was a take-a-sip-and-automatically-close-your-eyes-and-smile kind of moment. You may think this sounds weird, but most Cab Franc’s (the good ones anyway) smell like a freshly sharpened pencil in the nose and have a deep blackberry flavor. So a blackberry pencil is the best way to describe the big, beautiful wine.
As I was getting down to the last sip of my wine, I barely noticed that my companion had an almost full pint of beer. The bartender, who we had chatted with for a couple of hours at this point, slid my Reidel toward him, took out the Frederic Mabileau bottle and poured the remainder of its contents into my glass.
“Don’t want you sitting there with an empty glass while he finishes his,” he said to me as I thanked him for his gracious comp; with my rosy cheeks, loud laugh and all.
The service that Hinterland exemplified that Saturday evening was so refreshing. It wasn’t the free glass of the best wine in the house, it was the effortless compassion that was parlayed to just a couple of customers, sitting at a bar and looking for a good time.
And we got that good time we were looking for by sitting in, presumably, the worst seats in the house.
Vanity Ultra Lounge – 324 E. Mason St.
If you only do one thing this weekend you must go to the newest and hottest club in Milwaukee, Vanity Ultra Lounge. Thursday is Ladies night, Friday is flashback night with music from the ’80s and ’90s and Saturday is Euro night. Don’t have enough time this weekend? Well, you are in luck. Vanity is open seven days a week. Head down on Sunday for their S.I.N. night or sit back and relax while listening to a little Frankie S. on mellow-mood Monday.
Trocadero – 1758 N. Water St.
This Thursday, join Trocadero for their 7th annual Nouveau Night. There will be music, a special menu and great deals on wine all night long. Come celebrate this city’s only Wine Holiday in style.
Jackalope Lounj – 343 N. Broadway
Don’t forget about the Blotto Bee this Thursday, either. Registration begins at 7 p.m. and the bee starts promptly at 8 p.m. Six dollars will make you an official bee participant and every time it’s your turn to spell, you’ll get a special shot that you must take before you know what your word is. A word to the wise, the Blotto Bee is the hottest thing in Milwaukee right now. Everyone is talking about it so get there early to sign up if you want to secure a spot; I know I will be!
