Chris Drosner, Executive Editor
Sze Chuan: Ann Christenson put this Chinese restaurant in West Allis back on my radar with her 2023 Best Restaurants feature (essential reading, obviously). Multiple revisits this year confirmed its inclusion on that esteemed list, even without getting too deep into the more adventurous parts of the menu. The Chinese-American classics like beef with broccoli, Kung Pao chicken and beef with garlic sauce are everything you want, elevated with balance, fresh ingredients and delicious prep.
Dad beers: Listen, I still love my imperial stouts and West Coast IPAs and Belgian whatevers, but this year I found myself reaching for simpler, more old-school beer styles – helles, dunkel, pale ale, hefeweizen, American lager, even amber. Amber ale! In 2023! And breweries obliged, cutting back at least a little on the IPA iteration train to bring these classics back into their seasonal or permanent lineups. One of the year’s best is out now: Dad beers, an awesome Czech dark lager.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Hop water: Speaking of drinking, I started drinking these nonalcoholic hop-flavored seltzers this summer and haven’t really stopped. I’ve realized that I very much enjoy the ritual act of drinking things in social settings, so they’re useful as hydrating and refreshing stand-ins for beers to avoid getting ripped. During a Memorial Day park croquet party, it was every other, beer and hop water, for five hours with no buzz by cleanup time. Third Space Mosaic Lime was my go-to, but Minnesota’s Fair State and Chicago’s Revolution make good ones that are in my regular rotation, too.
Explore New Music: My Spotify Wrapped informed me I listened to Chat Pile, a band I’d never heard of a year ago, for 2,800 minutes this year. Nearly two days straight! I’ve said before in this space that I’d only really recommend Chat Pile’s bleak, horror-tinged brand of sludge metal to someone I know very well. But you should find your own Chat Pile. Find new music. Find local music. Go to shows that seem strange to you. You may find something you’ll wholly, unexpectedly love.
Sports Card Show at the Oak Creek Salvation Army: This card show has been around for a few years, but in the past 12 months it’s grown to the point that there’s no question it’s the best of its kind in Wisconsin and probably among the best in the Upper Midwest. It’s 100-plus dealers can satisfy any collector: classic vintage to shiny modern, dime boxes to four-figure graded gems, kids to codgers, soccer to baseball to basketball to Pokemon… show organizer Tony Gordon leaves no interest unsated. Jan. 6 and the first Saturday of each month, Salvation Army Community Center, 8853 S. Howell Ave., Oak Creek
Brianna Schubert, Associate Digital Editor
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin: This book follows two friends as they evolve and stay connected through a shared love of video games. I’m not saying it turned me into a gamer but I did get a Nintendo Switch and play Animal Crossing now, so…
Snow Angel by Renee Rapp: This is by far the best album of the year in my book. There’s not a single song I skip because they’re all fantastic. My favorite is “Pretty Girls,” though.
Barbie: I’m a Barbe girl, so what can I say? This was my favorite movie of the year. My inner child was beaming. Not sure a further explanation is needed, honestly.
Café India: My partner and I literally have our Café India orders saved in the delivery app, for those nights when we can’t bear to cook and need something delicious delivered within 20 minutes. My order? It’s basic, but heavenly. I get the butter chicken and naan.
Pomona Cider Co.: Not to be dramatic but it’s because of Pomona that I fell in love with cider this summer. It became my go-to drink all season long. Plus, they have yummy snack food and fun trivia nights.
Ann Christenson, Dining Editor
Fried Cheese Curds From Heirloom MKE: Heirloom started out as a food truck before taking over the old Lazy Susan’s spot in Bay View (2378 S. Howell Ave.) in summer of 2023. At the brick-and-mortar, they serve some of their food truck all-stars, along with new creations. Those Clock Shadow Creamery white cheddar curds are definitely a star – big, battered and crunchy outside, melty-gooey inside. They come with two sauces – roasted tomato jam and roasted jalapeño ranch – that just make it harder to stop eating them.
Arepas de Choclo From La Cocina del Sur: La Cocina (701 E. Keefe Ave.) is undoubtedly one of my favorite restaurant openings of 2023, and like Heirloom MKE, it grew out of a food truck – in this case, Pedro’s South American food. Empanadas are a big deal at La Cocina, as are arepas – corn cakes filled or topped with all sorts of deliciousness, like pulled pork, cheese, slaw, pickled onions and cilantro. They’re popular in Colombia and Venezuela, and when I think of them, it fuels instantaneous desire.
Basil Pesto: I was slightly dubious. How good could this pesto be? Agreed there’s nothing like fresh-made pesto. But this pesto… Made by hydroponic urban Milwaukee farm Hundred Acre and Fresh Chef MKE, it captures summer so beautifully. It’s made and packaged fresh here in MKE and sold at the Outpost Natural Foods stores. It isn’t pasteurized, which means it doesn’t last forever in your fridge. And it shouldn’t. I quickly went through one container, then bought another for which I seem to be finding more uses – lately I’ve being putting it on roasted sweet potatoes. This stuff instantly brightens a dish.
Snacking Bakes by Yossy Arefi: I’ve long been a fan of Brooklyn-based baker Yossy Arefi’s recipes, which first flowed my way on Instagram. Her 2023 release Snacking Bakes features recipes for cookies, bars, blondies and more. They’re straightforward and uncomplicated but also offer something extra, something special. I’ve baked a bunch of things from her 2020 book, Snacking Cakes, which makes cake-making fun and unapproachable. I feel like the new one will get just as much rotation in my baking.
Gochujang Caramel Cookie recipe from The New York Times: Holiday cookies are a passion of mine. I never think, “Oh, I’ve made too many cookies this year.” Nope, quite the opposite. There are cookies I have to make – because my family would disown me if I didn’t – and ones I want to make. And the want-to-makes are often totally new to me. This year I got around to making these gochujang caramel cookies, which I’d first seen a year ago, and wow, these are something. It’s basically a butter cookie with swirls of a kind of caramel made from butter, brown sugar and gochujang (Korean fermented red chile paste). They’re sweet and savory – the gochujang adds this unmistakable umami flavor but it’s restrained. I loved these right out of the oven, when they were chewy-slightly gooey, and found they lost their luster by day three or so. Fresh-made is best.
Paring Knife From MadeIn: Growing up, my family’s kitchen wasn’t set up for any serious cooking. Finding a decent knife to slice a tomato or chop onions was virtually impossible. Our knives were just not sharp. So now, I really appreciate a good kitchen knife. It may sound weird to gift yourself a knife for Christmas but I did that this year and I’m pretty happy about it. This company MadeIn makes chef-quality cookware and, yes, knives. I have a really good chef knife (from Wusthof) but I wanted something smaller and easier for my small hands to maneuver. So I ordered this paring knife and it is exactly what I was looking for – an everyday core apples/chop carrots kind of knife.
Archer Parquette, Managing Editor
Anodyne Walker’s Point Roastery: This past year, I worked out of a lot of coffee shops, and this Anodyne’s gotta be my favorite. unbeatable atmosphere, super nice baristas, good coffee and lots of space to spread out.
Kawa Ramen: I first sampled this ramen at Crossroads Collective on one of many lonely, unpleasant nights this year. And hot damn, it fixed me right up. The giant bowl has just the right balance of ingredients and a broth so tasty I had to restrain myself from slurpin’ at the end.
Explorium Brewpub: Earlier this year, I visited this brewery’s Greendale location, where I developed a strong affinity for its sours and fruity beers (PB&J all the way). But I more recently tried the food at their Third Ward location, and it’s delicious! Way better than you expect from a brewery. The Sconnie Cheese is the best.
Supermoon Beer Co.: This Bay View brewery feels like visiting grandma’s house to me. I would argue that it’s the coziest brewery in the city by a mile (and the beer’s good, too). Perfect for winter. If you’re looking for a quiet night and some cold beer with pals, this is the place
Elsa’s on the Park: After hearing hearty recommendations about this Cathedral Square destination for years, I finally tried it, and it lived up to the hype. Its delicious food, attentive staff, and quirky atmosphere really won me over. My next late night on the town, I’ll be there.
