The lights inside Cassis glow. Really glow. At first, I wondered about the purpose of the glossy finish on the subway-tiled walls. Just for aesthetics? But when my table was in a spot that gave me a panoramic view of the dining room and bar, I got it – soft, warm light from the sconces and ceiling pendants ricochets off the tile, bursting into sparkly little glow balls.
Inspired by French bistro culture, Cassis – glow balls and all – feels jarringly hopeful. It is beautiful and upbeat and busy. Since co-owner and chef Kyle Knall took over Birch + Butcher in 2020, rebranding it and surpassing its predecessor as simply Birch, it has felt like Knall has the Midas touch. Cassis, the culinary showpiece of the new 333 Water high-rise building kitty-corner from Milwaukee Public Market, is further proof of that.
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Although Knall and his wife and partner Meghan worked with architects (Milwaukee’s Dan Beyer and Chicago’s Kuchar) on the build-out, Meghan was the visionary for the design. With seating for 200 – in cozy nooks, or banquettes next to huge windows facing the river, or classic wooden “bistro chairs” that cluster in front of the two-sided bar that is stocked with bottles almost to the ceiling – Cassis has fulfilled its mission of transporting us to the land of great wine and steak frites.
As Knall has said since the project was announced back in 2024, he wants the “bustling and fun” qualities of a French bistro to float to the surface. “You go to these places to have a good time. Sitting around a table sharing delicious food and drinking delicious wine – that’s the root of a great restaurant,” he says. So, what was not part of the business plan was any hint of elitism or stuffiness. Or inauthenticity – Knall calls it looking “like EPCOT.” And it is far from that, thankfully.
As of press time, Cassis (the French word for blackcurrant) was planning to also serve lunch and apéro (pre-dinner drinks and snacks) every day, plus weekend brunch by early March. The Knalls are banking on this French-spot-for-everybody to bring in the crowds that pack the nearby Public Market. There’s a good chance it will, at least some of them. The food so far has been great and so has the ambiance, steeped in a joie de vivre that is so needed right now, if just for an hour or a whole evening.
Thematically, the menu bows to bistro cuisine and French cooking, mixing in classics like steak frites with lesser-knowns like pork crepinette (a sausage patty wrapped in caul fat, a kind of casing). It moves from tiny to small to larger – hors d’oeuvres to petits plats to entrée-like grands plats. Beyond them is a small section of raw delicacies (oysters) and a paper insert listing specials of the day. It feels breezy and approachable, balanced and elevated but not formal. That’s what Knall and chef de cuisine Miles Thomas were going for. I don’t have much to niggle about – just a lot of delicious things to enjoy. These are not the bright, artful looking dishes you’ll see at Birch, but rustic, hearty, and overall, simple.
There is one dish at Cassis that’s clearly inspired by Birch: the grand aioli ($19), fresh farm vegetables with a small, pristine piece of poached steelhead trout and an aioli that the mayo gods shined down on. Rich, zesty, velvety and tangy, it gives life to every cut vegetable on the plate.
It’s interesting to contrast that plate of freshness with four tiny, very rich eclairs filled with smooth foie gras mousse ($13). Or the fricassee of escargot ($20), which is a soup-like bowl of snails, roasted mushrooms, plump butter beans and herbed butter. This dish is French rustic through and through. I ask for some sliced baguette to dip in it.
There are many more contrasts. The buttery filets of raw Japanese hamachi in a light citrus oil, with toasted hazelnuts and a daub of crème fraiche ($14) against open-face beef tartare on toasted sourdough with a mustard seed celery root remoulade ($17). Both bring elements of raw, yet do it so differently – the hamachi is cold, light, bright beauty. The tartare is rich, meaty drama.
The larger plates emphasize simplicity and technique. The trout filet – lightly floured and pan-seared, topped with white wine, butter, caper sauce and sautéed Swiss chard ($38) – is so delicate and mild, rich and briny. I’m too busy removing and eating every meaty bit of fish from the skin that I forget to eat my chard.
The ravioli Dauphiné ($22) – named for the region in southeastern France – is a perforated sheet of pasta, the pillows filled with a creamy Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese/crème fraiche mixture and dusted with fresh chives. So elegant and yet so simple. Both the chicken ($33) and the steak frites ($42) are outstanding. The half-bird is spatchcocked and roasted till the skin is bronze and crackly. No need for a knife to cut the meat – it is uniformly succulent with a rich brown jus. The bavette steak is very flavorfully charry, not a chore to chew, and the frites are super skinny and crisp.
At this point of the meal, you may feel as though you are floating. There’s a dessert that matches that satiated feeling – the classic “floating island,” and Cassis’ spin (flottante au thé, $11) flavors the soft, poached meringue with Earl Grey tea on a lake of crème anglaise. It’s like eating a sweet cloud with a chaser of vanilla custard – ideal if you’re stuffed and just want a bite of something sweet.
Cassis signals the return of new-restaurant fever; it’s been a while and we’ve needed this lift. Knall has a lot riding on it, and the Wisconsin transplant continues to show he knows what we want – perhaps better than we ourselves do.
Cassis
333 N. Water St., 414-616-1177
Hours: Mon-Thurs 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun 10 a.m.-9 p.m. (Lunch and apéro hours tentative.)
Prices: Smalls $7-$20; large plates $21-$46; desserts $11-$19
Service: Knowledgeable, outgoing, attentive
Reservations: Recommended, if not essential
