A woman clad in bicycling gear pedals slowly down the sidewalk. Across the street, the papered windows of a storefront announce, in handwritten letters, plans to sell Sloppy Joes and fountain drinks. The boarded-up windows of another nearby storefront wait their turn for new life. I sit in a plush lounge chair watching the world outsideGenerations at 5 Points.
This building has reinvented itself several times over, as many others have in Waukesha’s historic downtown, whose revival some say is happening right now. Generations, a tapas restaurant, was at various times a tea room, pizzeria and bakery. The business name refers to the current owners – three generations of one family. Like other entrepreneurs in the area, co-owner Kathy Oberholtzer and her partners were lured by the promise of a renaissance. Regardless of what happens around it, Generations has a good thing going on – the warm deportment of the staff and the menu of some 18 small plates. They shift from the familiar (bruschetta, crab cakes) to strokes of inspiration (root beer-braised ribs, homemade pot stickers).
This family seemed predestined to run a restaurant. Kathy and her mother, Delaine Nelson, had talked about opening a place for decades. Kathy’s son, Jeff, is a trained chef; her daughter, Sarah, studied hotel and restaurant management. Jeff cooked at Ruggeri’s Ristorante in Delafield until owner Andy Ruggeri – who recently pulled out of his partnership of the nearby Clarke Hotel – shuttered it. It was Ruggeri, Kathy says, who convinced the family to consider downtown Waukesha for their business.
Another connection led the family to Third Ward interior designer Greg Theiss, who tried to create a smooth flow from the front of this long, narrow space to the back, where the main dining room sits. He did that with wave-like arches (an homage to the Riverwalk a block away), a mirrored bar and various forms of glowing light.
Menu writing falls into Jeff’s dominion. Menus limited to tapas aren’t common in Waukesha, so it’s important to give diners enough direction. Two to three small plates per person are the general directive, although some tapas are more substantial than others. (And to those who come for lunch, the menu is not tapas, but sandwiches, salads and soups.)
You can order Generations’ tapas in the style of a meal. For instance, start with an antipasto plate of olive tapenade, roasted red pepper hummus and Parmesan aïoli with bread and fresh veggies ($8). Move on to a caprese salad ($6), then the Argentinean short ribs with chimichurri sauce ($10), winding down with a slice of Key lime pie ($7). Or you can mix it up, ordering what just sounds good to you.
What sounds good to me – and better yet, is good – is the seared, blackened scallops topped with pico de gallo and served on cilantro jasmine rice ($12). The texture of the dry-pack shellfish borders on perfect – firm, but creamy. Also aces is the mojo chicken, a juicy marinated breast, pan-seared and dressed with a subtly sweet Cuban orange sauce called mojo, and the same tasty al dente jasmine rice that comes with the scallops ($8). A good sidekick to them is the caprese salad, although it isn’t the traditional layers of fresh mozzarella, sliced tomato and basil leaf. Instead, the thick-sliced cheese gets its bold summer flavors from a topping of chopped tomato, onion and fresh basil, and drizzles of reduced balsamic vinegar.
Falling in line with trends, there’s a slider trio – three mini burgers topped with different condiments and made with chuck that’s ground in-house ($8). The most flavorful has a headdress of barbecue sauce, bacon and cheddar cheese. The best part about the baked prawns wrapped in applewood-smoked bacon ($9) is the creamy horseradish dipping sauce. The prawns themselves, which come three to an order, are overcooked and a bit tough.
The twin crab cakes ($10) have a soft interior, with a healthy ratio of lump blue crab, and the cornmeal and panko-crumb coating lends some crispness.
Since the restaurant opened in December of 2008, the chef has been rolling out a fresh menu on a monthly basis, although some popular items – like the lettuce wraps, with an appealing peanutty chicken filling ($7) – stay in rotation. Also permanent and quite delicious: the pot stickers – tender fried wonton pastries stuffed with a Napa cabbage/ground chicken mixture, served with veggies sautéed in Thai peanut sauce ($7). And a dish that should not go away, in my opinion, is the tender pork ribs braised in Sprecher root beer, then grilled in a jalapeño-peach barbecue sauce ($8). It’s the barbecue sauce that distinguishes it – neither too sweet nor too tangy, and garnished with fresh peach slices.
Kathy Oberholtzer takes the lead on desserts, baking everything from pound cake to Key lime pie. She makes a mean chocolate truffle cheesecake – as dense as New York-style cheesecake and as rich as chocolate mousse ($7).
Generations could be one of the places people look to as a harbinger of a revived downtown Waukesha. It certainly holds promise.
Generations at 5 Points Café & Lounge:294 W. Main St., Waukesha, 262-446-3300. Hours: L Mon-Sat 11 a.m.-2 p.m., D Tues-Sat 5-10 p.m. Prices: tapas $5-$12; desserts $7. Service: friendly and helpful. Dress: jeans appropriate. Handicap access: yes. Credit cards: M V A. Smoke-free. Reservations: recommended on weekends and for large parties.
