Photo of Roots’ peanut butter-banana dessert by Adam Ryan Morris

Cutting Off the Roots
Last Wednesday, members of the Milwaukee chapter of the American Institute of Wine & Food had a five-course farm-to-table dinner at Roots Restaurant and Cellar. Little did these members of a local fine dining club know it would be the last big affair at Roots before its closing – after brunch service – on Sunday, Sept. 16. The restaurant has been on Milwaukee Magazine’s top restaurants list since its opening in 2004. Owner John Raymond had previously been at the helm of the former Brady-and-Arlington restaurant Vinifera. The official PR statement, from marketing consultant Company B, is that Raymond chose to close the restaurant to “focus on other opportunities, including his farm in Cedarburg.” Developer Tim Dixon owns the building that housed Roots and will open a new restaurant to replace it. Chef Dan Jacobs, whose tenure at Roots has been a mere nine months, is helming the kitchen at the new joint. In a phone conversation this afternoon, Jacobs revealed little about the restaurant-to-come, only shooting down the rumor that it will be a pizzeria. The new joint will offer a “more approachable menu,” reads the press release. Its rollout date is Oct. 31.