Jessie and Pete Ignatiev are masters of the pivot. They jump from planning a physical restaurant (which the pandemic kills) to launching a successful food truck to being just weeks shy of opening the much-yearned-for brick-and-mortar when the food truck (their livelihood) goes up in flames. And as though the last three years had made the couple bionic, they actually open their restaurant, Heirloom MKE, in August, a month ahead of schedule.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
But of course they’re really not bionic; they’re just working hard and pumping out good food. Heirloom is not immune to an off night, though. Of my three visits, two were very good, sandwiched around one so-so. But I’d expect a few bumps, given all the transitions. Fact is, I love so much about Heirloom, whose name reflects its ethos – seasonal, soulful and local farmer-supporting.
This quirky-cool spot on Howell features a sea-green and pale-lavender color palette, retro wallpaper, midcentury modern chairs and framed landscapes. It sounds hodgepodge but feels happy.
The menu reflects what the Ignatievs are passionate about. It reads like a closet full of clothes with different patterns, but I don’t mind. They make some of the best beer-battered fried cheese curds ($13), served with roasted tomato jam and jalapeno ranch, that I’ve eaten in recent memory – huge, stretchy, with a nice crunchy shell. Contrast that with beautifully tender charred octopus with roasted fingerlings and roasted red pepper purée ($18), and the “royal” eggs ($10) – that is, breaded and deep-fried with mayo-mustard yolk filling and a topping of fried chicken rind and everything bagel seasoning. It’s like the offspring of a Scotch and deviled egg, and it’s delicious. One of their food truck signatures, the hand-stretched burrata with a locally grown salad ($16), is still a star – a supple ball of creamy-luscious mozzarella curd dressed in seasonal finery like fall’s apple-arugula salad with pumpkin seeds, candied pecans and coriander vinaigrette.
I like Heirloom’s handhelds a lot – the burger, a seared Niman Ranch beef patty with melted Carr Valley cheese on a brioche bun ($18), is worth all the succulent, falls-out-of-the-bun mess. I’ve ordered the braised beef short ribs ($28) twice – once on that problematic second visit, when there wasn’t enough meat and the masa cake served under it was raw; the second time when it was like a dream, all delicious shreddy hunks of tender meat, creamy cheddar polenta, pickly onions and smoky blackstrap molasses BBQ sauce. Then there’s the cioppino ($38), which I rarely see in restaurants at all and when I do, the seafood is often overcooked – and on that second visit the fish was indeed overcooked.
But that same night as the cioppino, I turned to comfort – Heirloom’s mac and cheese ($20), a decadent bowl of pasta in Carr Valley cheddar and gouda sauce hidden under a quilt of sweet onion BBQ, chile crema and toasted breadcrumbs. And that, I reckon, is a fitting, redemptive ending.
Heirloom MKE
2378 S. HOWELL AVE., 262-229-1157
Hours: Wed-Sun 4-9 p.m.; Fri-Sat 4-10 p.m.; Sun 4-8 p.m.
Prices: Starters $10-$18; handhelds $16-$19; entrées $20-$39
Service: Well-trained – efficient, affable and welcoming
Reservations: Recommended but walk-ins also taken
