Eight Day
One of my co-workers returned to the office this afternoon very well-sated from a lunch at Sabor Brazilian Churrascaria, one of 40-plus local restaurants serving prix fixe, sensibly priced menus under the gastronomically correct title Downtown Dining Week (through Thursday, June 9). A three-course lunch for $10? Dinner – including appetizer, entrée and dessert – for $20 or $30? You better believe it. (Note, these prices do not include drinks or tip.) If you’ve been keeping your bank account happier lately than your restaurant-loving stomach, this might be the time to get out and dine. Just keep in mind these places are going to be crowded. Some participants: The Capital Grille, Coquette Cafe, Kil@wat, Metro Bar & Cafe, The Knick, Sake Tumi, Tulip, Swig and Zaafaran. DDW runs June 2-9. Get the full list of restaurants and menus right here.
Close Encounters
Just seven days separate us from the opening of Cafe Benelux (346 N. Broadway, Third Ward), the new restaurant from the owners of Cafe Hollander, Trocadero and Cafe Centraal. D-Day is June 9 (which is also the last day of Downtown Dining Week). Anchoring the corner of Broadway and St. Paul, across the street from The Wicked Hop, Benelux is going to have, well, presence. Consider that there will be a rooftop deck seating 120 people. The cafe – offering dishes like pannenkoeken (a filled pancake or crêpe) and poutine (a French-Canadian snack of French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy) – will be joined by the Benelux market. So you’ll be able to sip a Belgian beer, eat pancakes and shop. The market wares will include imported meats, cheeses and beers, as well as products from local companies like Alterra Coffee, Rishi (tea) and Indulgence Chocolatiers. As for the restaurant part of Benelux, it’ll also offer the much-needed weekday breakfast starting at 7 a.m. (open at 8 a.m. on weekends). If heights aren’t your thing, the sidewalk outside Benelux will also be used for dining. Wherever you sit, there will be access to the beer menu – 200-plus bottles and 30 draught lines. The full menu will be served daily until midnight.
Truck Stop
Nothing like eating your lunch outside – whether seated on a park bench surrounded by flowering foliage or on a blanket thrown over a smooth carpet of grass. So nice. Food Truck Friday makes things pretty flexible. That would be the lunch extravaganza happening in Cathedral Square Park every Friday (11 a.m.-2 p.m.). You buy your meal from the vendors parked there, then find a place to sit in the park, Bradford Beach, your car or wherever. A few vendors you’ll find are Streetza Pizza, Tiger Bite (home of the Korean BBQ taco) and the new mobile form of Haute Taco. The HT trucks are run by Jake and Karen Replogle (owners of both Haute Taco in Brookfield and Jake’s Restaurant in Pewaukee). Aside from selling burritos, tacos, yuzu shrimp ceviche, a torta of the day and other items ($2.50-$9), the trucks – the Replogles have two right now and plan for more – hit Brookfield on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Saturdays, one truck will service the Bradford Beach area by day, another will feed Milwaukee Street at night. Read more about the Haute Taco trucks here. And by the way, I’m famished…
What are you doing next week? Reading Dish on Dining, right? This twice-weekly column features new info and updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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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
