1. Chow Down on a Skillet at North Avenue Grill
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
My life is filled with painful questions. What should I wear on my next first date since my favorite cargo shorts are at the dry cleaners? How many days can a man get away without showering? Why do people keep covering their noses around me? But right now, one of the most painful questions of all is simple: “Why don’t more restaurants serve breakfast all day?”
I love breakfast food – I would take a good omelet over a steak any day of the week. Yet the demanding morning schedule of a debonair man about town such as myself makes a hearty breakfast at a place that stops serving at 11 a.m. unrealistic. Consequently, I’m thrilled when a good breakfast joint is open all hours, and North Avenue Grill is one of those places. The Tosa spot is open until 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday, and they have tons of delicious, unfussy breakfast fare to choose from. I’m a Meat Lovers Skillet kind of guy myself.
2. Check Out Milwaukee Saddle Tramps’ Bike Swap
AMRITA THAKKAR, DIGITAL EDITOR
Despite the freezing temps, spring is well and truly here, and that means it’s time to break out the bikes! I bought my very first bike at the MKE Rec Bike Bazaar a couple weekends ago, and while I’m still getting the hang of it (yes, I did reach adulthood without learning how to ride a bike, somehow), I’m ready to head to every secondhand bike sale to get some gear… or at the very least, some saddlebags for my groceries.
The Saddle Tramps, a bikepacking collective based out of Milwaukee, organize biking/camping trips a few hours out of the city monthly/semi-monthly from the spring to the fall. This Wednesday, they’ll be starting out the season with a bike swap at the Pocket in Riverwest on Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. Bring your gear to sell or swap, buy some bike parts and consider whether you’re ready to combine two very outdoorsy activities this year.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
3. Make (Game-Changing) Roasted Carrots
ANN CHRISTENSON, DINING EDITOR
Roasted carrots? Move along now. Roasted carrots with whipped tahini? Hit the brakes! This great recipe was in the New York Times Cooking newsletter a few days ago – it’s minimal effort for maximum results. The keys to the safe are the whipped tahini and the gremolata topping of citrus zest, chopped pistachios and minced fresh dill. A little dusting of curry powder on the carrots, as they’re roasting, is also a nice touch. Give ’em a shot!
4. Drink a New Glarus Kid Kölsch
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
When people find out I write (seriously) about beer, their first question is usually, “What’s your favorite?” I usually try to deflect the question by saying something like, “There’s so much great beer out there” or “I don’t really think like that,” both of which are true. But whenever New Glarus releases its frequent spring-summer seasonal Kid Kölsch, as it did last week, my answer changes. This is truly one of my favorite beers, period. It’s an impossibly light, refreshing take on one of Germany’s lightest, most refreshing styles. New Glarus’ take on it brings the style’s traditional suite of malty, floral and herbal aromas and flavors but also a fleeting touch of (not traditional) candylike sweetness on the front of the sip. It’s all carried on an impossibly soft body shot through with lively carbonation and the style’s characteristic dry finish. If you’re a Spotted Cow drinker and have never had a Kid, give it a shot and thank me later.
5. Read Mood Machine: The Rise Of Spotify And The Costs Of The Perfect Playlist
EVAN MUSIL, ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR
For me at least, it’s hard to imagine a time before streaming services like Spotify made a vast expanse of songs ready to play at the press of a button. I was a teenager when these apps became mainstream, and I believe getting Apple Music fueled my desire to listen to different sounds, expand my tastes and engrain my love of music. It’s never been a secret that streaming is a poor deal for musicians, who receive fractions of a penny for each stream, but there’s at least been a sense that it’s more egalitarian – that anyone, theoretically, could blow up, build a following and therefore a career.
Journalist Liz Pelly’s book Mood Machine: The Rise Of Spotify And The Costs Of The Perfect Playlist shatters that notion. Along with dissecting the impact of streaming on musicians, labels and listeners, Pelly dishes up insider info about the workings of Spotify to prove that the platform has never been a level playing field – or even really about music. I’m only halfway through the book right now, but so far it’s enlightening. I’ve never been one to let the algorithm decide what I listen to, but the book further entrenches my love of listening to physical media – you can support the artists you love and find joy in a sacred intimacy of knowing that nothing beyond your own ears is tracking what you hear.
