Street of Open Restaurants
Milwaukee Street has earned the name “Restaurant Row,” just as the Downtown strip has been known for late-night imbibing at clubs like Eve and Kenadee’s. But now that bar owner Tom Wackman has closed Eve and its sibling across the street, Tangerine, “Restaurant Row” is sounding more and more apt. Wackman has partnered up with Carnevor’s Omar Shaikh and Michael Polaski (who has a place on Jefferson Street called Mi-key’s) to create Umami Moto in Eve’s old space (718 N. Milwaukee St.). Umami Moto, due to open July 11, is itself a sibling. The Brookfield location of Umami Moto (at 178th and Blue Mound) opened last February. Shaikh hired 30-year-old Chicago native Dominic Zumpano to work the helm with a singular Asian-fusion menu. Zumpano’s creations include pot stickers filled with lobster mousse; calamari “curly fries”; veal loin with wild rice congee, pistachio and bacon; and diver scallops with cauliflower puree and lobster salad. (Entrées are $11-$27.) All visual traces of Eve are gone, the metal-sculptural look replaced with modern, clean lines, and the colors (mostly recently blood-red) changed to emerald green, white and black. The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner. Web site: www.umamimoto.com/milwaukee/
South Side Steak
In the last year, there have been a lot of changes at the South Side steakhouse The Porterhouse (800 W. Layton Ave., 414-744-1750). Last summer, I wrote about owners Jerry and Marie Arenas selling the business to their GM, Kevin Murphy. In August 2007, Murphy talked about revamping the building. Now with its new, modern look, Murphy is gone, and Janis Forkes, whose background includes stints at Steven Wade’s Cafe and Sticks and Stones, is covering day-to-day operations. The restaurant is now going by the name J. Roberts Porterhouse. The mantra is value. Whatever entrée you order – 20-ounce prime rib ($32), double pork chops ($18) or pound of Alaskan king crab legs ($37) – you’ll get soup, salad and dessert with it. And there’s a special almost every night – Sunday’s prime rib ($20), Monday’s crab legs ($30), Tuesday’s full rack of barbecued ribs ($20), Wednesday’s 14-ounce Porterhouse ($23), Thursday’s half roasted duck ($18) and the obligatory night fish fry on Fridays ($10 and $14).
Summer Nights
It’s warm and sticky outside. I really feel like that plate of short ribs with mashed potatoes. Not. I love salads and all, but it’s easy to get burned out on them. The Third Ward’s Hinterland Erie StreetGastropub (222 E. Erie St., 414-727-9300) has a solution: a $25, four-course tasting menu offered on Monday and Tuesday nights. I can’t tell you anything about the courses, because they’re up to the chef. But if you’re pretty much willing to try anything, this could be a blast. Pair your food with one of the $5 wine flights.
Cracker Jack and Bottled Water, Anyone?
The June issue of Condé Nast Portfolio has a two-page story looking at the health-code violations at 11 baseball stadiums – from high-profile ballparks like New York’s Yankee Stadium to, yes, Milwaukee’s Miller Park. The highest code violations (2007 figures) were at Angel Stadium in Los Angeles, which had 732 violations. That stadium’s revenue was $200 million. New York’s Yankee Stadium (revenue at $327 million) had 45 health-code violations in ’07, which seems paltry in comparison. And what about Miller Park, which the magazine reported took in $158 million last year? According to Portfolio, the stadium had 36 health-code violations. Two were for mice droppings near a food-preparation area and mold in the ice machines.
Can’t get enough dining? I chat about restaurants every week with Jane Matenaer and Kidd O’Shea on “The Mix.” Listen between 8 and 9 a.m. on Thursday, July 10. That’s 99.1 WMYX-FM.
