1. Celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
This year marks the 39th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration in Milwaukee, one of the longest-running in the country. Today from 4-6 p.m. at the Marcus Center, there’ll be a free event honoring King’s legacy with performances and tributes. The event also highlights students who won the program’s art, writing and speech contests. This Milwaukee tradition is something to look forward to every year.
2. Do Some Ax Throwing
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
I’ve been around axes my whole life – half of the pictures of my early childhood have axes, mauls or chainsaws in them, part of growing up mostly at a family cabin – but I’d never used them for recreation. That run came to an end last weekend with my wife’s company holiday party, which included a 75-minute session of competition that’s kind of a mashup of darts and bowling – with, of course, a sharper edge. Our session at Falls Axe (N80 W14942 Appleton Ave., Menomonee Falls) included dynamic projected targets, a bunch of game variants, cross-lane competitions and plenty of drinks – a great time even if you’re struggling to stick the blade.
ENTER OUR HOME & DESIGN AWARDS
We want to see your best work. Architects, interior designers, renovation experts and landscapers: Enter your residential projects in Milwaukee Magazine’s new design competition.
3. Cook with Two Chefs Tosa
ANN CHRISTENSON, SENIOR DINING EDITOR
You’ll find a mention of the meal delivery service Two Chefs Tosa in Milwaukee Magazine’s February 2023 issue. In the meantime, here’s a digital shoutout. Some dear friends of mine and I recently gave this business – owned by savory chef John Raymond (who once owned Roots Restaurant and Cellar in Brewers Hill) and pastry chef Carla Raymond-Haas – a try and had a really lovely dinner of brussels sprout risotto and coq au vin, along with chocolate damnation cookies and mini key lime pie for dessert. Think of it as a personal caterer. The couple prepares their creations from scratch (the menu changes weekly), packages it up and delivers it to your home. All you do is heat and serve. Rustic and rich, the coq au vin had me at “lardon” – the tender hunks of fatty bacon that accented this dish. The risotto was unexpectedly hearty and a very satisfying vegetarian dish. Desserts were good, too – the pie tart, creamy and light; the cookies, thick and luxuriously fudgy.
4. Explore Watercolor Wisconsin
ALLI WATTERS, DIGITAL & CULTURE EDITOR
Every year, the Racine Art Museum shows off statewide talent in their Watercolor Wisconsin exhibition. The show features 106 works by 95 Wisconsin artists, and I stopped by RAM’s Wustum Museum (2519 Northwestern Ave., Racine) to check out this year’s collection for our Spring Arts Preview coming out in the February issue of Milwaukee Magazine. The works I reviewed were highly intricate, engaging and wonderfully diverse. I highly recommend exploring the exhibit during the show’s run through April 15.
5. Read Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
BRIANNA SCHUBERT, ASSOCIATE DIGITAL EDITOR
This novel came out in 2015, but has gained a lot of attention on social media (read: TikTok) in the last year or so. I’m always interested in keeping up with the buzzy books, so I decided to see what the hype around this one was all about. Well let me tell you – it’s good. It’s about a café that has a special chair where the person sitting in it can go back in time, but they can only stay in the past as long as their coffee is still warm. They have to return before the coffee gets cold. The novel follows four café regulars’ time in the chair, each sitting in it for different reasons. It was emotional, reflective and thoughtful, a perfect read for the beginning of a new year.
