Ch-ch-changes
Envoy is the Ambassador Hotel’s attractive art deco restaurant. (The circa-1927 hotel, you might recall, underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation, completed in 2005.) Chefs come and they go. Executive chef Dan Smith, who opened the restaurant, has left. The new chef, Jason Ferrero, comes with some notable experience. In Milwaukee, he was the chef de cuisine at Bjonda in Wauwatosa and an executive pastry chef at the Pfister Hotel. The 32-year-old was also the executive sous chef at Envoy when it opened. Later, he moved to Las Vegas for a position at the Platinum Hotel (which opened last June and is owned by Marcus Corporation, which also owns the Pfister and two other hotels in Milwaukee). Meanwhile, Ferraro has made some menu changes. If you’re fond of the carnitas or curried rack of lamb, have no fear. They’re still on the Envoy menu. A few new items: escolar with tandoori glaze, Portobello mushrooms, mustard greens in Madras curry broth ($20); Korean braised shortribs with sticky rice, kimchi and Asian greens ($22). The brunch menu is also a bit sexier, including new stuff like the Elvis pancakes (peanut butter, bacon and banana) and Mexican chorizo nachos ($10 each). 2308 W. Wisconsin Ave., 345-5015.
View to a Meal
The Milwaukee Art Museum has changed the name of its restaurant to Cafe Calatrava. There’s a nice alliteration going on there. The menu has a twist right now, courtesy of the Francis Bacon exhibit (which closes on April 15th). Special, limited-time offerings are the bacon, onion and fresh cheese pizza; bacon and goat cheese terrine salad; bacon and green chile quiche; and bacon, turkey and cheddar melt. Not into bacon? Well, then, options include cornmeal pancakes topped with sautéed shrimp, fried green tomatoes with a pan-seared scallop, Thai salad with seared ahi tuna, mac and cheese, tuna melt, fish tacos, flourless chocolate cake and pecan bourbon pie. The cafe is open every day, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (700 N. Art Museum Dr., 224-3200).
Meditations on Poultry
The Humane Society of the United States is on a big cage-free kick. It makes sense to me – chickens clucking around in a cage-free environment seems like a more humane way to live (provided you don’t think about the inevitable). If this means something to you and you’re into cheesecake, Suzy’s Cream Cheesecakes, made here in Milwaukee, is using cage-free eggs for its products. The company also says its cheesecakes are trans-fat-free. (But you don’t want to know about the general fat content of cheesecake. It’s listed on Suzy’s Web site, www.suzys.com. Some things, you just don’t need to know.) I’ll never forget the cheesecake taste test we had here in the Milwaukee Magazine offices for a “Best of Milwaukee” story. It makes me wistful. And hungry. Let’s keep our cheesecake humane.
Franco Files
Paging through the spring class schedule for Alliance Française de Milwaukee (the local organization for Francophiles), I noticed a call-out to the foodies in our midst. The Alliance has a new series of French cooking classes. All are demos – in other words, you observe, not participate. But you’ll dine on the results. The classes are on three separate nights with three different instructors – Andy Schneider of Harlequin Bakery; Catherine Miller, a local food writer; and David Swanson, who owns Braise on the Go traveling cooking school.Classes are $60 each; $150 for all three. Schneider’s class is April 18, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Miller’s: April 25, 6:30-8:30 p.m. (Her theme is French cooking with eggs, so expect a soufflé.) Swanson’s: May 2, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Check out www.afmilwaukee.org for more. Classes, held at Gilda’s Club (4050 N. Oakland Ave.), will benefit Alliance Francaise and Gilda’s Club.
A Long-delayed Gripe
Have you missed my dining irritations? I think it’s more tantalizing when I offer them without a particular schedule. Here’s something that’s had my goat forever. To me, good service is when all your needs are met and you hardly notice the server at all. (Sometimes, you have to, of course.) I’ve never liked a server’s hands in my lap (for the napkin placement popular in some restaurants). I always have my mouth full when I’m asked how the food is. More often lately, I also have the “too much” server – making too much small talk, interrupting at awkward times, just basically getting in my face. I don’t want a server who leans in too close or sits next to me on a banquette. Now, I’m not asking to be ignored. Attentive doesn’t need to mean smothering. And sometimes when I feel smothered, it lasts until the entrées arrive, then suddenly… the server is AWOL.
Can’t get enough dining? I chat about restaurants every Friday with Jane Matenaer and Kidd O’Shea on “The Mix.” Listen between 8 and 9 a.m. on March 23. That’s 99.1 WMYX-FM.
And check out our Events Editor Julie Sensat Waldren’s picks for the best events in arts and entertainment on This Weekend.
