1. Get Soup From City Market
ANN CHRISTENSON, DINING EDITOR
It’s soup weather – hot soup, creamy-comforting soup. My current favorite takeout soup – chicken butternut squash with shiitake mushrooms – is at City Market. But that variety is only offered one day a week: Saturday at the Shorewood location, Monday at the Tosa café (though the menu description for the soup at this location doesn’t list the mushrooms…). What I like about this particular soup is it’s packed with cubes of sweet butternut squash, suffused with herby flavor (tarragon), and while it’s broth-based, it’s also creamy without being heavy. I am going to replicate this one at home – soon.
2. Say Goodbye to MobCraft Beer
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
It’s last call for MobCraft Beer, the inherently zany brewery that opened in Walker’s Point in 2016. Saturday is the last day of operations for this iteration of MobCraft as the company is being sold to a buyer that co-founder Henry Schwartz told MilMag is yet to be determined. I never want to see a brewery close, but I’ll miss MobCraft in particular. It’s a good taproom (hopefully it’ll be back in the rotation soon with a new owner) that hosted thoughtful and well crated events. And MobCraft’s beer was fun and sometimes very good. Folks who didn’t write them off after some early missteps were rewarded with an underrated sour/wild beer program and a consistently strong lineup of stouts and other dark beers. The latter remains on showcase in their swan song this week, as leavings from last weekend’s stout fest are available on tap and in cans. My pours on Saturday were the Padishah 2024 Willett Rye and (very sweet, very delicious) barleywine variants, and I took home a four-pack of the barleywine and one last sixer of Fish Fry Rye. We’ll miss you, MobCraft.
Tell us who you’d pick to be a Betty this year!
3. Shop Vintage at On and On Milwaukee (or Your Small Business of Choice)
EVAN MUSIL, ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR
A misconception with vintage is that it’s nothing more than upcharged thrifting. But what you’re paying extra for is the time spent curating. I’ve lost countless hours in thrift stores sifting through rack after rack in vain, with nothing to show for my efforts than a dull sweatshirt that doesn’t fit anyway. A good vintage seller makes the hunt less tedious – doing away with the unremarkable and keeping only the quality. It’s a dangerous thing; my partner and I visited On and On Milwaukee in Walker’s Point, a new vintage marketplace with dozens of vendors, and found too much that we liked. We ended up with a thick-knitted blanket, stained glass cherries, a nice red jacket and my new holiday sweater – but we could’ve left with more. Consider swinging by for Small Business Saturday. It’s a great way to support local creatives and sellers, get some shopping done and take advantage of some sales over the weekend.
RELATED: 19 LOCAL SPOTS TO SHOP THIS SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY
4. Create Family Memories at the Pfister Tree-Lighting Ceremony
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
Every year when I was little kid, my family would go to the Pfister Hotel to see the Christmas decorations. I’d stroll through the fancy lobby, marveling at the big, bright tree – the sight always marked the beginning of the season for me, and I still hold Grade A-level nostalgia for those moments. This Friday at 5 p.m., the Pfister is once again holding its tree-lighting ceremony, but if you can’t make it, the decorations will obviously be up all month. And every weekend morning before Christmas, the hotel will host Breakfast With Santa events. If you have little ones in your life, it’s a great chance to make some memories.
5. See Wicked
BRIANNA SCHUBERT, ASSOCIATE DIGITAL EDITOR
I, like many musical theater fans, flocked to the movie theater this weekend to see Jon M. Chu’s Wicked (part one). Now I will say that I’ve liked Wicked (the musical) since I was probably 7 or 8 years old, which all began when my mom played the soundtrack for my sister and I. We danced around the living room with brooms and jumped all over the couch singing “Popular” and “Defying Gravity.” And I’ve seen the musical itself three times. So it’s no surprise that I was really excited to see this movie. And I’m happy to report that it did not disappoint! It was spectacularicious, as Glinda would say. Even if you’re not as much of a theater nerd as me, it’s worth seeing (unless for some reason you despise musical movies, in which case… are you okay?). There’s magic, female friendships, politics, action and an insanely talented cast. See it locally at the Oriental Theatre all week.
