Hill Valley Dairy, the Wisconsin cheesemaker that moved into the old Clock Shadow Creamery space (138 W. Bruce St.) is putting fun into the cheese experience. Not that Clock Shadow, which left Walker’s Point last year, wasn’t cool. But “fun and flavorful” is  Hill Valley Dairy’s cheese credo.

The company’s cheddar lineup features garlic dill, bacon, black pepper, whiskey and tomato basil varieties. Owners Ron and Josie Henningfeld use milk from the family farm in East Troy to produce the aforementioned cheddars, along with a couple of Goudas and three flavors of cheese curds. Ron was Clock Shadow’s cheesemaker and manager during its first three years in Walker’s Point. After taking a short break from cheesemaking, he and his wife started their Hill Valley Dairy in 2016, selling cheese at local markets in the Burlington/East Troy area. They also own a retail shop and cheese bar in downtown Lake Geneva where customers can sit down and order a cheese board and some wine or beer to go with it. 

Their goal for the Milwaukee brick-and-mortar – which is open for business and offers the full product line for sale – is “to have some kind of cheese experience where we can look at and talk about the cheese production area and taste some cheeses as well,” says Ron. They were still “sorting through the possibilities” back in February, but you can bet it will be fun.

A new cookbook out this month pays homage to the 50th anniversary of “Happy Days,” that nostalgia-laced sitcom set in Milwaukee. Happy Days: The Official Cookbook has over 90 recipes, including Mr. C’s Weekend Hash with Poached Eggs, and sprinkles of show trivia. Local author Christina Ward developed the recipes to be “very cookable,” she says. To bring an authentic Milwaukee connection to them, she was inspired by real Cream City businesses. Her Big Bopper burger uses two kinds of ground beef (with different fat content percentages) as a nod to the Nite Owl, the burger joint on Layton Avenue. “Happy Days” fans should be pleased to know the book also has a recipe immortalizing the famous episode that became an entry in the pop culture lexicon. That would be the Jump the Shark Candy Sushi – a Rice Krispie treat and gummy shark wrapped in a fruit roll-up. The $30 book will be available for purchase at Boswell Book Co. and Amazon.

Favorite Spring Ingredient

“From flavorful infused oils to tangy pickled bulbs, ramps offer a world of possibilities. But what truly excites me is heading out to harvest them myself, connecting with nature and bringing them straight to my kitchen. Cooking with ramps feels like a celebration of spring with every dish.”

– Alex Sazama, Corporate Executive Chef, Benson’s Restaurant Group (Onesto, The Bridgewater, etc.)

Following Damascus Gate’s (807 W. Historic Mitchell St.) closing last year, a Puerto Rican restaurant called La Ventanita has popped up in its place, serving sandwiches and savory fried turnovers.  •  Downtown’s new Carbon Steak (725 N. Milwaukee St.) added a “Bubbles & Bumps” happy hour to its offerings. The “bump” refers to a small clump of caviar eaten off the back of one’s hand.  •  Closed for remodeling since February, Café Benelux (346 N. Broadway) was expected to reopen this month with a much larger “reimagined” bar and three tap beer towers.  •  Washington Heights’ Vennture Brew Co. was set to open its second taproom and cafe in the former Biloba Brewing (2970 N. Brookfield Rd., Brookfield) in March. Biloba co-founders Gordon and Jean Lane have retired.