Pucker Up

Fans of the 1970s rock band KISS flocked to Potawatomi Casino Hotel this summer for the opening of Rock & Brews, the first Wisconsin location of a chain of American-style restaurants co-founded by two of the band’s most recognizable members. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were in town for the opening kickoff, which drew a long line out of the door. Milwaukee “has always been so hospitable … so, so welcoming,” Stanley told our own Archer Parquette, who attended the event – and scarfed down the restaurant’s gastropub burger and “hamburger rolls.” Festivities included music by PRISS, a KISS tribute band, and the first chance for the public to sample the menu, with fare like the Demon Chicken Sandwich (a favorite of Simmons), beer-battered fish and chips, “extreme” pepperoni pizza and chimichurri steak ($9-$26). The interior has a rock music theme, which weaves in a wall-display homage to Wisconsin musicians like Les Paul. The massive eatery – 6,000 square feet with seating for 200 and a stage – is part of Potawatomi’s $190 million renovation. The casino also reopened both Dream Dance Steakhouse and RuYi sushi bar earlier this year, and the tribe also broke ground on a second Rock & Brews at their Carter Casino in Wabeno in early September.

Fave Fall Ingredient

Caitlin Cullen of Kinship Community Food Center adores sage. She’ll roast “whatever winter squash I stumble upon, sauté a little dinosaur kale, brown up some butter and add the sage right before I take [the butter] off the heat to infuse it,” then tosses it all with store-bought gnocchi.

Second Time Around

At Paloma in Washington Heights (5419 W. North Ave.), fancyish tacos are the cornerstone of the menu. Now, owner Pattie Ford is planning to spread that deliciousness to a different part of town, with Paloma Bay View slated to open in 2024. The space lies on the ground level of the KinetiK building (2154 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.), and Ford is working with the same design group, Three Sixty, as with her first location. She intends to be open seven days a week with a small brunch menu offered on certain days. The menu will likely be similar to the original location, although additions such as enchiladas are possible. The place is a little larger than the Heights digs and will also offer patio dining. Alfresco tables have been a godsend at the often-busy 24-seat Heights restaurant in the milder weather months. So this is welcome news: Paloma’s new four-seasons room – adding 16 seats at the original location – was expected to open in September.

Vier North, which replaced the East Side institution Vitucci’s, is expected to have a bar that runs nearly the length of the building, making it one of the longest in the city.  •  A cocktail lounge pop-up recently debuted on Friday and Saturday nights inside Discourse Coffee’s Downtown cafe, offering both boozy and sober-friendly libations.  •  After 12 low-profile years, The Noble in Walker’s Point shut down in August, the owners saying that COVID made them reevaluate “life priorities and our future.”  •  The Bridgewater Modern Grill now offers daily brunch service, with chicken and waffles and less expected eats like lobster rolls.  •  Wisconsin native, New York Times writer and former MilMag contributor Robert Simonson’s latest imbibing book, The Encyclopedia of Cocktails, hits shelves on Oct. 17.