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| Smyth Restaurant at the Iron Horse Hotel. |
Horse Drawn
Jason Gorman joined the Iron Horse Hotel (500 W. Florida St.) staff a few months ago. It was just a matter of time before the former chef at Dream Dance Steak put his own stamp on the menu of the hotel restaurant Smyth. New Wisconsin cuisine was the label used at the casino, and I see it referenced again on the menu here (although Gorman isn’t repeating himself on the menu items). The dinner menu is divvied into small and large plates. But that’s not all. A five-course tasting menu – emphasizing seasonal, local ingredients – is offered with wine ($90 per person) and without ($75 per person). Among the small plates: salt and pepper crispy calamari, Strauss veal short rib, rock shrimp-Usinger’s Hungarian soup, a Wisconsin cheese ambassador’s selection (harkening to Gorman’s days at Dream Dance) and a naan bread made with lamb from Wisconsin’s Pinn-Oak Ridge Farms ($9-$19). Large plates include these: maple smoked Alaskan halibut, seared sea scallops with Meyer lemon sabayon, and Imperial Wagyu sirloin steak ($26-$48).
Weekend Chow
Brunching is to spring what a Bloody Mary is to Sundays. What a runny egg yolk is to a piece of toast? You just can’t separate them. In the case of Bay View’s Palomino (2492 S. Superior St., 414-747-1007), which serves brunch on Saturdays and Sundays 10 a.m.-3 p.m., I am enjoying the names of the menu items. Mason-Dixon Waistline is chicken-fried steak with two eggs, grits and sausage gravy; the Benedict Pig is two pieces of chipotle-cheddar cornbread smothered in pulled pork (BBQ seitan for vegetarians), topped with two fried eggs and Hollandaise sauce. Other brunch selections include Ace of Steaks (grilled steak, eggs, buttermilk biscuit, cheddar grits, Hollandaise) and Skillet-ton – an egg-hash brown-cheese-veggie concoction. You can call your cardiologist later.
And incidentally, the website Serious Eats offers its take on burgers and other edibles at Palomino. Check that out here. (Scroll down the page to find it.)
Resort Dining
Planning some R&R at The American Club? The Kohler resort (an hour north of Milwaukee) is prepared to feed you when you arrive. The Wisconsin Room has recently started serving lunch (daily, 12-2:30 p.m.). The two- and three-course menus offer some choices. Your lunch could look like this: whitefish cakes with napa slaw, followed by a grilled tenderloin sandwich with rosemary pommes frites, ending with crème fraîche apple pie. Prices: two-courses $19.50; three courses $22. For reservations, call 800-344-2838.
And although it doesn’t feel like the beginning of golf season – to me, anyway – Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run are open – and importantly, to Dish in Dining – serving meals. Beginning this Friday (April 22), both clubhouses will serve dinner – daily, 5-10 p.m. Should you choose dinner in Whistling Straits’ dining room, you can order Muscovy duck breast with butternut squash risotto ($26), applewood smoked lamb shank braised in Guinness beer and honey ($36) or seared Alaskan halibut with wild rice pilaf ($27). At Blackwolf Run, the entrées include chicken saltimbocca ($19), mushroom and Boursin cheese-stuffed flat-iron steak ($29) and Port wine and cherry braised boneless beef short rib ($24). Note that both restaurants are open to the general public, not just those carrying putters.
Scales and Shells
Do you perk up at the sound of the words “halibut,” “raw oyster” and/or “scallop”? You need to read the cover story of our May issue, “Seafood Crazy.” It covers everything from great local restaurants for fish and seafood, the wholesalers that supply to these restaurants, and the local stores where you can buy fresh catches to cook at home. Milwaukee Magazine’s May issue hits newsstands this week.
Look for more Dish on Dining on Thursday!
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If you spot a restaurant opening or closing, post it on the comments section of my column, or e-mail me directly: ann.christenson@milwaukeemagazine.com
