Filled wall to wall with chatty, drink-swilling patrons and servers jamming to get fried cheese curds and homemade pastas from the kitchen window behind the bar out to diners, this cool little spot occupies an 1862 Victorian that’s about as old a building as you can find out there. It has restored tin walls and ceiling, hardwood floors and a sweet bar. But it’s also cacophonic when busy. That adds to the fun, but makes talking a challenge.
Pastas are definitely something you should try here. Wilson’s noodles hit the high bar established by Sheboygan’s Trattoria Stefano, where he started his restaurant career as a teenage busboy. But first things first. From the concise menu, dig into a nest of breaded, fried cheese curds and cauliflower, served with chile aioli and buttermilk ranch ($8).
Move on to the braised pork/mascarpone-stuffed half-moon mezzaluna pasta sprinkled with garlic bread crumbs and served with an out-of-sight spicy tomato sauce with giardiniera ($17).
Other highlights include the flake-tender beef short ribs in a pool of creamy wild mushroom risotto ($26), a wonderful skin-on roast chicken with sage honey glaze, roasted carrots, white cheddar polenta and Calabrian chiles ($19) or almost-creamy pan-seared whitefish whose sides – roasted Brussels sprouts and fingerling potatoes – are made for sopping up a very good, tangy dill pickle remoulade ($20).
Brandywine Restaurant
W61N480 Washington Ave.
262-618-4683
HOURS: Dinner Tues-Sat
PRICES: Pastas $16-$17, large plates $14-$28
SERVICE: Attentive, the calm in the storm
RESERVATIONS: Accepted and recommended
