Midwest SAD is one of the best bakery names ever in the history of naming bakeries. SAD stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder, what many of us know something about. What better way to treat the ennui that grips us in winter (or really any time of year) than food – comforting feel-good food. While she’s been offering her creations like champagne strawberry cake and white chocolate blondies at Hot Dish Pantry on South Howell, owner Sam Sandrin now has a home for Midwest SAD. It’s in the lower level of 770 N. Jefferson St., which houses a few other businesses including Shah Jee’s Pakistaini restaurant.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Sandrin is starting off slowly in terms of both the menu and the hours. Her grand opening menu featured sweet and savory “mainstays” – things she says she will always have in some form – such as the champagne cake with fresh strawberries and vanilla buttercream; chocolate cake with espresso buttercream and chocolate-covered coffee beans; assorted cookies and macarons; rock candy; basil pesto monkey bread; and potato salad with fresh dill and pickled mustard seeds. Orders can be placed via Cashdrop.
In the coming weeks, Sandrin plans to add some hoagie-style sandwiches to the mix – “kind of like Cousin’s but elevated,” she says.
“I want to do some breakfast pastries and stuff like that, but I’m also trying to figure out what people want in this area. So it’ll start small and ramp up,” she says. Vegan and gluten-free items will be part of the repertoire, too. “Lighter fare,” but going “really heavy on the sweets,” Sandrin says. “Anything that people essentially bring to a garage cookout or a 4th of July potluck situation is stuff that I’ll be doing.”
The hours, at least initially: Monday, Wednesday and Friday noon-8 p.m. (This week, the bakery is closed Wednesday, May 8.) Over time, she hopes to extend the hours to Monday-Friday.
And Hot Dish Pantry (4125 S. Howell Ave.) will also continue to carry her sweet treats.
