Dish On Dining

  Logo for the new Delafield Italian restaurant. Taste of Italy Back in the ’90s, Eagle, Wis., was home to a terrific Italian restaurant called Camille’s Fattoria. The elegant establishment has been gone for some years now, its owners having moved on to other endeavors. Well, Camille DiNicola and husband/business partner Randy Piering are back – in Delafield this time. Their new restaurant, Tony & Mia’s (515 Wells St., Delafield), is not a carbon-copy of their acclaimed place in Eagle. It’s a bit more casual. The two-floor restaurant seats 28 people downstairs and 44 on the main level. The same…

  centro cafe’s new bar/lounge. More to Love You may have experienced the Euro deliciousness of Riverwest’s centro cafe (808 E. Center St., 414-455-3751). The cute little Italian storefront restaurant may be more delicious now that its new bar/lounge has opened. This is good news. The room – located behind the dining room and accessible by mounting a small flight of steps – has a bar with 10 stools (plus seating for another 15 people). That means diners now have a place to hang out while waiting for a table in the dining room. But there’s also no reason, necessarily,…

  A view of Cathedral Square Park. Keep On Trucking Do you remember a TGIF event in Cathedral Square Park last summer called Food Truck Friday? It got the weekend going a tad early, which is never a bad thing. I, for one, am looking forward to its return. And it’s back – very soon. Food Truck Friday 2011 kicks off on Friday, May 6, and will continue its Friday lunchtime run through the end of September. The mobile food vendors on board so far: Satellite Crepes, Streetza Pizza, Tigerbite (Korean tacos, egg rolls, quesadillas), The Fast Foodie (which offers…

  Smyth Restaurant at the Iron Horse Hotel. Horse Drawn Jason Gorman joined the Iron Horse Hotel (500 W. Florida St.) staff a few months ago. It was just a matter of time before the former chef at Dream Dance Steak put his own stamp on the menu of the hotel restaurant Smyth. New Wisconsin cuisine was the label used at the casino, and I see it referenced again on the menu here (although Gorman isn’t repeating himself on the menu items). The dinner menu is divvied into small and large plates. But that’s not all. A five-course tasting menu…

Fair Square Dish on Dining covers Milwaukee-area dining and food-related events. Mission statement be damned. I can’t resist mentioning that this Saturday is the opening of the Dane County Farmers Market on Capitol Square in Madison. (To my friends who get up before the crack of dawn so they can arrive in Madison at opening time: You know who you are.) This is early in the season, but you will hopefully find morels, asparagus, rhubarb, lettuces, plus meats and cheeses, cut flowers, baked goods, and specialty items like honey and maple syrup. Market manager Larry Johnson says he expects to…

Atte Boy An English pub makes me want to drink tea with my pinky raised and talk like the late Queen Mum. I think there’s quite a bit of Milwaukee to the new Attebury’s Pub & Eatery, a recent recruit to the old Carleton Grange space in St. Francis (3807 S. Packard Ave., 414-294-3800). Wisconsin beer and cheese soup and beer mac n’ cheese are two menu choices. Others, more in the English vein: fish ’n chips (cod dipped in beer batter), shepherd’s pie, a pub Reuben, and a burger served with a side of pub sauce. Still others, in…

  Diner’s Point Later this month – or some time in May – Zak’s Cafe will start serving breakfast, lunch and dinner at its recently renovated digs in Walker’s Point (231 S. Second St., 414-271-5555). Seems like I was just writing about a new restaurant in Walker’s Point. And at the beginning of this year, I was – INdustri Café, not far south of Zak’s, at 525 S. Second St. Walker’s Point – if not, Second Street in Walker’s Point – is the place to open a restaurant. Dave Swanson, who owns Braise (which connects Wisconsin farmers with chefs and…

Combing the City Restaurateur Marc Bianchini is looking for a new home for Osteria del Mondo, whose 16 years of life have been spent at 1028 E. Juneau Ave. (once the calling card of Sally’s Steakhouse). He refers to its future space as a “smaller, high-profile urban site” in Milwaukee. As Bianchini – who also operates COA and Cubanitas with his wife Marta – continues his search, he’s put an end date on Osteria’s habitation of the Knickerbocker Hotel space. He anticipates leaving those digs some time between fall 2010 and winter 2012.    Photo of Metro Bar & Cafe…

Charred Objective The new Charred Lounge & Grill inside the long-established Jake’s in Brookfield is described as rustic and elegant, vintage and contemporary. An intriguing dichotomy. Charred, which opened today (Thurs March 31), is focused on affordability. Most items are under $15. There is house-made ricotta gnocchi, yellowfin tuna tartare, and a market-price daily fish special. Also: grilled, barbecue-glazed duck wings; fresh oysters; lobster poutine (the French-Canadian poutine is typically French fries topped with gravy and cheese curds); and the J burger with aged white cheddar on a brioche bun. A bit higher on the price spectrum: braised beef short…

Hawks’ Eye The 100 East Wisconsin building has housed John Hawks Pub for 21 years. That’s two years longer than its old Broadway digs – 607 N. Broadway – where Hawks lived from 1971 to 1990. Restaurateur Brian Ward (proprietor of Ward’s House of Prime) wants to make sure the pub lives a long life in the 100 East building. Ward is buying the business from founder Robert Bell. Among Ward’s plans for the space is to remodel the dining room. His goal is to give it more of an “intimate, pub feel,” he says. More booths will be added…