Next year Riverwest will have its very own “skinny pancake” shop. A Milwaukee native who set down roots – and opened a creperie – in Kansas City, Mo., is returning to the neighborhood where her family has roots to open a sister restaurant.
Kate Bryan signed a lease on the building that formerly housed Dino’s (808 E. Chambers St.) and is just cracking the surface on refreshing the look. Seven Swans Crêperie in Riverwest will have a very similar menu to its Kansas City sibling, which serves savory and sweet crepes, some changing by the season. To Bryan, crepes equal comfort and one of the creations on her regular menu, Dad’s Skinny Pancake, is inspired by her childhood. When her brother tasted the restaurant version of this crepe, he told her, “This tastes exactly like Mom didn’t want to make dinner.”
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The thread of comfort runs through other items, from those that feel like a meal (Goodfellas, with white cheddar, bacon, strawberry preserves and a sunnyside-up egg) to a dessert (Earl Grey, filled with Earl Grey custard and topped with caramel, Stroopwafel cookie and whipped cream).
Bryan’s opening ETA is fluid but she’s hoping early next year. The building is very different from Kansas City’s (which has lofty ceilings and exposed pipes) and she intends to play up the cozy vibe of the old Dino’s.
The Riverside High School grad had initially thought she’d do a rebrand for her second creperie but ended up determining the name Seven Swans signified something particularly fitting – the floating bird procession her mother saw one day here in MKE. “So [keeping the name] feels like coming full circle,” she says.
