Openings, Closings and a Resuscitation
• You’ve probably heard it. Pandl’s in Bayside is going past tense. Your last chance to experience the salad bar and omelet station is at brunch this Sunday. (But I hear it’s completely booked.) If you want a last fix, there’s always lunch and dinner – until Saturday, that is. (8825 N. Lake Dr., 414-352-7300)
• Riverwest’s Cafe Corazón is open, but it won’t be serving food – a Latin-influenced menu – until November. The hours are currently 3 p.m.-1 a.m. (3129 N. Bremen St., 414-810-3941)
• The 3-year-old Caribbean restaurant Good Life (1935 N. Water St.) is reportedly no longer among the living.
• Cedarburg was down a pizza place when Tomaso’s (W63N688 Washington Ave.) closed temporarily due to a fire in one of the apartments located above it. The repairs made, Tomaso’s is back in business. Hours: Mon-Thurs, Sun 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-11 p.m. (262-377-7630)
• JC’s Pub and Grill (628 N. Water St.), the restaurant that replaced the unfortunate Edgar’s Calypso, has been dark for a while. The phone number is “temporarily disconnected.”
Party With (the Ghost of) Lombardi
Vince Lombardi once said, and I quote, “There’s only one way to succeed at anything, and that is to give it everything.…” With adages like that, it’s no wonder Lombardi has a food event named in his honor. The sixth Lombardi Food & Wine Experience, held this weekend at various Milwaukee locales, includes a Tasting Gala (Nov. 13, Pfister Hotel) and Celebrity Chef & Wine Dinner (Nov. 14, University Club). The Tasting Gala is a big to-do, with some 30 vineyards and 20 regional restaurants participating. Among the local restaurants: Dream Dance Steak, Mason Street Grill, Jake’s Restaurant and Zarletti. Wineries range from Stone’s Throw to Sonoma-Cutrer. New this year: breweries like Lakefront, Bell’s, Sierra Nevada and Unibroue. Tickets are $95 per person. The Celebrity Chef dinner’s man of the hour is Beau MacMillan, chef of the Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain in Arizona. Courses planned include honey, five-spice, glazed kurobuta pork belly with candied yams and toasted cashews; and American Kobe beef short rib with salsify fondue, Brussels sprouts and black garlic cherry glaze. $225 per person. Nov. 14, 6:30-10 p.m. Call 414-649-7015 for reservations.
Hungry Buffalo
After six weeks of menu tasting – testing and perfecting – Water Buffalo has rolled out its fall/winter menu (249 N. Water St., 414-431-1133). There’s some pretty significant changes here, and they start with liquid. A handful of new specialty drinks (Manuka Bulldog, with 42 Below Manuka honey vodka, Kahlua, cream and splash of Cream City cola), and a wine list doubled in size. Menu additions are in every category – starters (almond-crusted calamari, $9.25), salads (butternut sprinkle salad, $9.50), sandwiches (Jose’s Super Secret salmon burger with mango-cucumber chutney, $9.50) and entrées (braised swordfish with maple sugar glaze, served over Israeli couscous, $17). Check out the full menu on Water Buffalo’s Web site.
Down the Hatch
You could take it upon yourself to be the town crier. Run down the streets of Milwaukee on Nov. 19th, announcing the release of the Beaujolais Nouveau, the French red wine meant to be consumed while it’s young. If filling your shopping cart with bottles from the liquor store isn’t enough, there are events going on here to celebrate. At Chez Jacques (1022 S. First St.), the party starts at 5 p.m. and lasts until the bottles are empty. The restaurant will serve a three-course meal – house salad, choice of entrée (boeuf Bourguignon, roasted chicken or whitefish Provençal), mousse or chocolate and a half-bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau. The cost is $50 per person. The 6 p.m. toast is mandatory, sort of. Thurs. Nov. 19th. Reservations: call 414-672-1040.
Bottles of vin will go down smoothly, easily at Alliance Française de Milwaukee’s Fete du Beaujolais Nouveau. It’s held on none other than the traditional third Thursday of November. Local businesses like Larry’s Market, Shully’s Catering, Mason Street Grill and Le Rêve are supplying everything from the cheeses and pâtés to croissants and dessert. The scene of this mass consumption: Manpower’s headquarters (100 Manpower Place). The time: 6:30-9:30 p.m. Admission is $47 ($37 for Alliance members). Call 414-964-3855.
Thanksgiving = No Cooking
Williams-Sonoma will deliver a deep-fried turkey to your door just in time for the big day. Yeah, $95. The bird arrives in an oven bag designed to keep the meat moist. You just have to eat it within four days. Maybe this sounds like the bomb to you. Maybe you’re one of the people who wrote to me asking for names of local restaurants open for Thanksgiving, because Williams-Sonoma just ain’t your style. Well, then, here are some options for dining on Nov. 26:
1. Kil@wat (Intercontinental Milwaukee Hotel, 139 E. Kilbourn Ave., 414-291-4793): Open for dinner, 4:30-10 p.m. Menu features pork loin with blue cheese apricot stuffing and crispy green bean casserole ($24).
2. Smyth (Iron Horse Hotel, 500 W. Florida St., 414-831-4615): Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Besides a traditional turkey dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy ($25), Smyth will have rack of lamb with cauliflower-parsnip puree ($42).
3. Karl Ratzsch’s (320 E. Mason St., 414-276-2720): Hours: 12-6 p.m. The special menu has 15 entrées, including roast turkey with dressing and cranberry sauce, roast duck with dressing and wild rice, roast goose, and turkey schnitzel ($19.25-$29.50). Separate children’s menu, too.
4. Mason Street Grill (Pfister Hotel, 425 E. Mason St., 414-298-3131) is open 1-7 p.m. The special menu is traditional – roast turkey, sausage stuffing, sweet corn soufflé, mashed potatoes and giblet gravy, maple syrup candied yams, pumpkin cheesecake ($33 per person). The regular restaurant menu is available as well.
5. Maggiano’s (2500 N. Mayfair Rd., 414-978-1000): The spread at this chain Italian restaurant features turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and pumpkin praline cheesecake. Hours: 12-7 p.m.
6. Mader’s (1041 N. Old World Third St., 414-271-3377): The Thanksgiving deal here is a buffet, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Adults $24.95; kids under 12 $11.95. It’ll have Bavarian sauerbraten, Kassler Rippchen (German-style smoked pork loin with sauerkraut), roast turkey with Dijon giblet gravy and lots more. The Schnitzel Station kicks in from 4 to 6 p.m. Schnitzels galore – Wiener schnitzel, Count Esterhazy schnitzel, Franconian chicken schnitzel and Ritter schnitzel ($27.95).
Don’t miss this week’s Shopaholic to learn about new stores and events in the world of local retail.
If you spot any restaurant openings or closings out there, don’t hesitate to post it on my column, or e-mail me directly: ann.christenson@milwaukeemagazine.com
