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| Benelux’s rooftop patio. |
Whip My Hair
If you were seated on the rooftop patio at Benelux Grand Cafe & Market today, there would be some hair whipping back and forth, that’s for sure. The sister of Trocadero, Cafe Centraal and two Cafe Hollanders has been open a mere few hours – officially, that is. Patio to the sky notwithstanding, the new restaurant/bar probably has enough attractions inside – the bar’s 200-bottle beer list and the food menu I’m looking at right now. If you’re a fan of the other Lowlands Group restaurants, the mussels, bitterballen, and frites with dipping sauces will ring familiar. Other choices from the lunch/dinner menu: tater tots with bacon and blue cheese; poutine (French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy); “sprocket” burger with duck-fat fried egg, tomato jam and garlic aioli; pasta Bolognese; bacon-wrapped Benelux meatloaf; and five kinds of pannenkoeken (a crêpe-like pancake with sweet or savory toppings), $4.95-$20.95. Early weekday breakfast is hard to come by in the Third Ward. But Benelux is on it. The weekday breakfast menu (from 7 a.m.) sports quiche Lorraine, breakfast tacos, cinnamon vanilla French toast, a ham and cheese omelet and of course, pannenkoeken ($4.95-$11.95). The menu is larger for weekend brunch, which starts at 8 a.m. (346 N. Broadway, 414-501-2500) Hours: Mon-Fri 7 a.m.-close; Sat-Sun 8 a.m.-close.
Food Truck Spotlight
It’s raining food trucks! Enter two new ones: Red Truck Sliders and the Chubby Cheese Truck. The slider vehicle is a fire-engine red GMC truck, which can be found from time to time at Food Truck Fridays (Cathedral Square, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.) and at the new Take-Out Tuesdays (Schlitz Park, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.). The slider truck offers several variations on the mini burger, including a version with Gorgonzola, bacon and Creole sauce ($2-$2.50). To keep your fingers extra busy, the truck also sells spicy fries ($2.50 and $4) with ranch, BBQ, curry or Creole sauces or with homemade mustard. The red rig will also run specials like chicken sliders. As for the Chubby truck, it’s traveling to cities from Madison to Grafton and making Milwaukee stops (including future local Tuesday and Friday food truck events). The Neenah-based ladies who drive this Dodge Sprinter wagon put the emphasis on that Wisconsin staple food, cheese. (And make that, an emphasis on Wisconsin products. They sell Sprecher and Black Bear sodas and use Wisconsin meats and cheeses with their Wisconsin-baked breads.) Order a mac and cheese sandwich, ham and Swiss, American “cheese” on Wonder Bread, or the Chubby Bubby – mac and cheese, smoked chicken, onion and BBQ sauce layered between two slices of bread. Not content with just this? The ambulating business also fixes up tomato soup and four salads for sale.
Hitting the Town
The last night! Downtown Dining Week winds up this evening (Thursday, June 9). The eight-day event puts price and quantity in the spotlight: $10 three-course lunches and $20 (or $30) dinners at more than 40 Downtown restaurants. To scan the list of venues and to check out their menus, click here.
What are you doing next week? Reading Dish on Dining, right? This twice-weekly column features new info and updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Wait! Don’t stop reading. I’m on Twitter! Follow me @ann_christenson
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
