Days of Dining Thunder
Day 1. The Fox 6 Days of Dining
kicked off today (Thurs, Oct. 21). Similar to Downtown Dining Week,
this event features six days in which to get discounted three-course
meals at 20 local (but not strictly Downtown) restaurants – places like
Water Buffalo, Izumi’s Japanese Restaurant, Antigua Latin
Restaurant, Umami Moto, Hinterland Erie Street Gastropub, Firefly Urban
Bar & Grill, Swig and Osteria del Mondo. For instance,
a three-course lunch at Antigua could be fried plantains with Puerto
Rican sauce, tequila cream chicken with cilantro rice and a house
salad, ending with a serving of flan. A dinner at Firefly might start
with an Asian crunch salad, followed by Buffalo shrimp blue cheese
linguini, then a warm chocolate “bomb.” Most restaurants offer a choice
of two to three options within each course. Lunch $10; dinner $20-$25.
Oct. 21-26. Click here to see the menus.
Cupcake Craving
At a craft show a week ago, I
passed a table of treats. Small hilltops appeared in my peripheral
vision. My head shot around to this cupcake bewitchery. Little cakes,
topped with fanciful swirled frosting. They came in red velvet,
chocolate peanut butter chocolate, cookie dough, carrot cake and other
flavors. I couldn’t leave the show without buying a cake (which I
promptly devoured in the car on the way home). Moist, dense cake
carpeted in a cloud of buttercream. Their creator is Wauwatosan Jessica
Heenan. Her business is LeBam Bakery. Heenan doesn’t have a shop, but takes cupcake orders through her Shutterfly account: lebambakery.shutterfly.com.
She lists cake flavors such as marble, chocolate pound cake, lemon, and
apple pie cake. Frostings include peanut butter, vanilla bean and
raspberry buttercream. Many other flavors are listed, and if you don’t
see one you want, Heenan seems quite flexible about trying something
new. She bakes for everything from open houses and birthdays to
weddings and baby showers. “LeBam” is her daughter Mabel’s name
backwards.
Squash of My Heart
My Pilates instructor was eating cooked squash before a class. I will admit I’m close to O.D.-ing on squash
myself, but I’m enjoying every bite of overkill. Restaurants are on the
squash – and pumpkin – bandwagon. That’s for sure. Some examples: Charro’s Tequila Transition cocktail (includes Cointreau and squash juice); Umami Moto’s butternut squash curry (pork ragout with Shanghai noodles, topped with pumpkin seeds and butternut squash foam); Roots Restaurant’s pumpkin and house-made ricotta lasagna (get there tonight, Oct. 21; this is part of a special week-long menu); Crazy Water’s braised short ribs with butternut squash polenta; and VIA Downer’s simple butternut squash soup. And this weekend, the Street-za Pizza truck with be at the Pumpkin Pavilion
in Bay View (Humboldt Park Pavilion), offering two pumpkin pizzas. One
is sweet – pumpkin, apple, walnut and caramel. The truck is also
debuting a new savory pumpkin pizza, made with pumpkin, Gruyère and
mozzarella, sage, bacon and toasted pumpkin seeds. Oct. 22-23, 6-10
p.m.
Block Heads
Have you ever been in a cheese coma? I haven’t but I’d give it a try. Madison’s Monona Terrace is hosting an Artisan Marketplace
on Nov. 7. It’s a Sunday afternoon, and the marketplace will occupy the
late morning and early afternoon. Why drive to Madison? This is a
Milwaukee blog, isn’t it? But it’s for cheese! The event promises 50
vendors – cheesemakers, specialty food companies, wineries and artists.
In more specific terms, the wares include artisan cheeses, beer
mustards, local honey, maple syrup, fresh pesto, jams and jellies, and
chocolate. Some of the Wisconsin-based vendors on the exhibitor list: Sartori Cheese, Stump’s Hot Olives, Wollersheim Winery, Baraboo Candy Company, Carr Valley Cheese and Hidden Oaks Apiary. Nov. 7, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The tickets ($12) are only sold online, so click here to purchase them.
Look for more Dish on Dining on Tuesday!
Wait! Don’t stop reading. I’m on Twitter! Follow me @ann_christenson
If you spot any restaurant openings or closings, post it on the comments section of my column, or e-mail me directly: ann.christenson@milwaukeemagazine.com.
