Now Open or Soon-to-Be…
• Dan Sidner and Joe Muench pretty much have no free time. Restaurant owners never do, right? But while their Maxie’s Southern Comfort (6732 W. Fairview Ave., 414-292-3969) caters to the dinner crowd, their brand-new (yes, it sure is open) Blue’s Egg is centered on breakfast and lunch (317 N. 76th St., 299-3180). Between the two restaurants, they can take care of every meal of the day. The breakfast options are pretty much endless – stratas, omelets, mixed-grain pancakes, Benedicts, berry-smothered French toast, homemade corned beef hash, steak and eggs, smoked salmon crêpes, three-egg sandwich ($5.50-$10.95), plus a smattering of hash browns (Blue’s browns, they’re called), stuffed browns, even skinny browns (made with curried tofu or extra-virgin olive oil, arugula and frisée), $2.95-$5.95. The lunch menu incorporates more than half of the breakfast menu, like the corned beef hash and the Benedicts. But it’s also a hothouse of lunchy dishes – from spinach and mushroom salad to Blue’s egg salad sandwich, veal meatloaf to a third-pound steak burger ($5.95-$12.95). Should you care to imbibe, the list of cocktails (two Bloody Marys), beers and wine is not insubstantial, either. Find more at www.bluesegg.com. Blue’s hours: daily 7 a.m.-2 p.m.
• The Bartolotta clan has been busy in the architectural phase of Harbor House, the much-anticipated replacement for Pieces of Eight. And they expect to make the July 15 projected opening date for the restaurant (550 N. Harbor Dr., 414-395-4900). Seafood is the name of the game here. There will be a raw bar, featuring oysters and clams, plus ceviche, whole crab and a seafood tower. Appetizers range from mussels in spicy tomato broth ($12.95) to shrimp scampi ($13.95) and Maryland crab cakes ($10.95). More: tuna niçoise salad ($17.95), fried clam roll ($11.95), Maine lobster roll ($16.95), cioppino ($26.95), Alaskan halibut in white wine-tomato sauce ($28.95), Australian Barramundi with radish and citrus ($28.95), New England clam bake ($26.95) and crab-stuffed lobster ($38.95). Those items are a very small part of a very large menu. If you’re intolerant of fish and seafood, the menu also includes various steaks and chops.
•Sounds like you’ll be seeing more pho (Vietnamese soup) in the months to come. Besides Pho 43 (located in a strip mall on Milwaukee Park Way) and Bay View’s new Hue, coming soon soon to the South Side is Pho 27 (4756 S. 27th St., 414-282-9990). The restaurant’s Lia Yang estimates the opening to be about two weeks from now. Besides beef, chicken and seafood varieties of pho ($6.95-$8.75), Pho 27’s menu includes soft and crisp Cantonese rice dishes ($8.25-$11), specialty fried rice ($6.50-$7.75) and Vietnamese-style hot-and-sour soup ($11.95-$14.95). Hours will be Tues-Sun 9 a.m.-10 p.m.; www.pho27.com
Bourdain and Milwaukee
Restaurateur Joe Bartolotta and executive chef/James Beard Award-winner Adam Siegel figure prominently in the teaser for Monday night’s episode of “No Reservations,” which includes footage from host Anthony Bourdain’s visit to Milwaukee earlier this year. You’ll also see a couple seconds’ worth of Larry’s Brown Deer Market on the Travel Channel show. Check this clip out:
Next Tuesday, Bacchus will start running a small plates menu inspired by the dishes Siegel made for Bourdain and Bartolotta. They include Strauss free-raised veal tartare with grainy mustard, cornichons and quail egg yolk ($12); classic Wisconsin beer-cheese soup with maple-glazed pork belly ($7); Wisconsin rainbow trout with wild mushroom stuffing and braised red cabbage ($11); and foie gras sauté with Door County cherries, French toast and sage ($17). As for Bourdain’s Milwaukee visit, the “Heartland” episode airs at 9 p.m., central time, July 12 (Monday) on the Travel Channel.
A Little More Bartolotta-related News
Nick Kosevich and Ira Koplowitz, the talented mixologists who spent the first six months of 2010 making classic cocktails at Bacchus (925 E. Wells St.), are no longer working at the Bartolotta-owned restaurant. Under the name Bittercube (www.bittercube.com), Kosevich and Koplowitz produce a line of products – bitters, liqueurs, tonics, etc. We’ll hopefully see these guys around town soon making cocktails more fun than you thought possible.
Chili on Fire
Just before Summerfest had its 10-day smackdown, Jay Schiek made the old Holiday House restaurant space alive again with the opening of Chili Lili’s (525 E. Menomonee St., 414-897-0555). He started with a pared down version of the menu to carry him through the first days. Now the full menu is out. I’m looking a copy on my desk. It is a chili bar menu, but isn’t limited to chili. If it’s chili you want, though, you can have Cincinnati, Texas, Buffalo, vegetarian, spicy pizza and Southwest roasted corn-chicken. These are all chili varieties. Then, there’s the chili nachos, chili burrito, chili flatbread, chili parfait (a “Mount Everest” of chili, the menu reads), chili dog and chili burger ($5-$9.50). Your chili can come over cornbread, garlic bread, or mac and cheese. If you dare to conquer the rest of the menu, you could venture into uncharted territory with a turkey burger, Kobe beef burger or chicken BLT salad ($8-$12). An interesting detail to note is that when Schiek managed the former .300 Club Restaurant at Miller Park, he got to know chef Andy Tenaglia, who now owns Lagniappe Brasserie in New Berlin. Tenaglia helped created the menu. See the menu goods for yourself by clicking here .
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If you spot any restaurant openings or closings, don’t hesitate to post them on my column, or e-mail me directly: ann.christenson@milwaukeemagazine.com.
