Just Ducky
I had some odd food in the deli of the old Future Green in Bay View (2352 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.). That business, which sold all kinds of eco-friendly goods and offered a raw food deli menu, is no more. But the storefront is not empty. There is plenty of action happening in the way of construction: staining wooden doors, patching the floor, attaching barnwood to the sides (and adding cork to the top) of the bar. The purpose is to complete a restaurant project called Odd Duck. Co-owner Melissa Buchholz has told me about the 28-foot bar that will seat 16 people. The 15 tables. The lunch menu that will offer soups, sandwiches and salads. And the dinner menu that will have all that, plus small and large plates that utilize seasonal, farm-sourced ingredients. What I don’t have is a definitive roll-out date, although early April is possible. Menu info to come. Because of course I need a reason for you to come back to Dish.
Eating Irish
In other news-you-can-use, Coquette Cafe is running a timely set of dishes for its March Coquette’s Travels menu. The three-course menu ($32) includes an Irish oat salmon cake with dill hazelnut aioli; Porter braised corned beef with colcannon mashed potatoes, braised cabbage and bacon; and Guinness chocolate cake with Jameson “kissed” fruit compote. The menu starts this Thursday, March 1.
The restaurant is also a little more than a month away from the first arrival in its Spring Cooking Class series. Each class ($59) is demonstration in nature, held on a Tuesday night (6:30-8:30 p.m.), and will offer plentiful samples. (And I do mean plentiful.) As for the content… Tahitian cuisine? Gluten-free cooking? Yup, on the schedule. The first class is April 3: Puerto Rico; dishes prepared include sofrito shrimp with tostones and cassava root; grilled red snapper with arroz con gandules; and Puerto Rican rum cake. Other classes: Chef’s Favorites (April 17), which includes beef satay with chilled soba noodles, and pan-seared halibut with sweet corn and shiitake mushroom ragout. All Gluten Free (May 1) features spicy tomato and blue cheese soup; pan-seared salmon with pistachio and lemon quinoa; and cherry almond clafoutis; and Tahiti (May 15): Tahitian squash bisque; taro-dusted shrimp in coconut-vanilla sauce; and Tahitian banana nut cake. (316 N. Milwaukee St., 414-291-2655)
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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
