1. Catch the Beer Dinner Revival Wave
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Are … are beer dinners back? They never really went away, but without providing any actual evidence, my read on the city’s beer scene is that these events featuring intentional and curated beer-dish pairings are coming up at a frequency I haven’t seen since their heyday well before the pandemic. I’m excited for one this Friday – Battle of the Bites at Pilot Project Milwaukee (1128 N. Ninth St.), featuring small plates from six chefs and five beers (full pours – which seems like a lot!) for an $80 ticket price.
2. Take a Trip to the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center
EVAN MUSIL, ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
This Saturday – the one day I get to sleep in – I’ll instead wake at the break of dawn to start a new hobby, to eagerly embark on an expedition of the avian sort. Once a month, the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center holds free Saturday Morning Bird Walks, meant for beginners to practice and learn more about birding. Birding has always appealed to me – the idea of slowing down and taking notice and appreciation of the world around me – but besides reading stories and doing some occasional spotting while walking the dog, I hadn’t set aside time for it until now.
And I’m pumped. I’ve had this marked on my calendar for months, and evidently many others have, too, as the registration for this month’s walk is filled up. But that doesn’t mean you can’t spend a crisp early spring day wandering these woods with an eye out for woodpeckers – the nature center is open every day from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
3. Get Pie at Honeypie for Pi Day
BRIANNA SCHUBERT, ASSOCIATE DIGITAL EDITOR
Honeypie’s (2569 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.) pie is fantastic. And what better excuse to go grab a slice than on Pi Day (March 14… 3/14… 3.14… get it?) this Thursday. My personal favorite is the chocolate silk, but if I’m being honest… anything with chocolate in it will do.
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4. Watch The Zone of Interest
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
Last night, I watched the Oscars. It was predictably boring, every five minutes punctuated with another commercial. Also, they did this new thing where they had past actor/actress winners introduce each of this year’s nominees individually that was truly insufferable. Anyway, I’m in a great mood. What was I writing this for? Oh, yeah, an editor’s pick. I think the greatest movie from this year’s Best Picture lineup was The Zone of Interest. Fair warning – it’s heavy. The movie follows the commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, who lives with his wife and children in a garden home directly outside the camp wall. It’s a masterful look at the banality of evil and how easily one can become complicit and turn a blind eye on unimaginable cruelty. It won last night for sound design, and that was richly deserved – the movie uses sound in a remarkable, haunting way. I very much recommend.
5. Make Cast-iron Pan Pizza
ANN CHRISTENSON, DINING EDITOR
On my bucket list of bakes – for a long time now – is the cast-iron pan pizza from food writer J. Kenji López-Alt, the former managing culinary director at food blog Serious Eats. This pizza has attracted me for many reasons, the first and foremost being that López-Alt calls it “foolproof.” I’ve also come lately to the cast-iron pan fan club and am using every opportunity to use mine. The crust is as easy as can be. It just takes time. Unless you’re up for making dough at the crack of dawn, I’d recommend making it the night before you want to eat it. Did I say the dough was a breeze? Is it ever. The recipe makes two crusts, one of which I wrapped up and tossed in the freezer. A pizza like this is only as good as its ingredients. Pick a good tomato sauce and don’t be stingy when applying it. I like Rao’s. Same with the cheese. I used a mix of whole-milk mozzarella and asiago, then topped it with some fresh basil. Simple. The instructions call for baking it in a very hot (550-degree) oven. In 15 minutes, I had a thick crispy-crusty, bubbly-cheesy pie that sent me back to childhood pizzas from Rocky Rococo. That is high praise.
