1. Grab a Drink at Agency
ANN CHRISTENSON, DINING EDITOR
You might be familiar with the experimental café concept Discourse, which has changed the definition, locally, of what your coffee drink can look and taste like. The creators of Discourse are at it again with Agency, their new hybrid cocktail lounge where every cocktail on the menu can be made either with booze or completely booze-free. With the hidden, dark aesthetic of a speakeasy, Agency is the latest occupant of the Dubbel Dutch Hotel (819 N. Marshall St.). It seems like a good fit. The locale is a restored relic, and Agency has a vintage bent to it. The journey I chose was N/A, with one drink from the menu and the other a build-your-own adventure kind of thing. “Cali-Sober” was served on a tray decorated with stones and faux succulents and accompanied by a bite-size vegan ceviche. The drink, served in a clear flute glass, had a thick layer of frozen hot honey tamarind slush on the bottom. Resting on top of that was a blend of N/A mezcal and tequila, pamplemousse liqueur, roasted grapefruit and Szechuan peppercorn. With the provided spoon, we dislodged the tamarind iceberg and stirred until the whole drink was amalgamated. It was fruity, bold and refreshing! The other drink was a juicy, passion fruity, N/A gin concoction served in a coupe glass. Sweet and elegant! This place is very much an experience.
Hours: Wed-Sat 6-11:30 p.m. (also a happy hour with limited menu, 4-6 p.m.)
2. Hit Waukesha For a Beer at North Pillar Brewing
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
On Saturday at Pilot Project Brewing’s Pilot Project Fest, I was reminded of the best beer story in maybe the entire state of Wisconsin in 2024: North Pillar Brewing in Waukesha (212 E. North St., Waukesha). This was the third fest at which I’ve sampled Ethan Boehm and Braden Hocking’s beers, and I’ve yet to have one that hasn’t been good-to-great. The IPAs particularly stand out, but even Forward Pass blonde ale, a style that’s so often an afterthought, is packed with lovely aroma and flavor – while still being, true to style, an easy drinker. I can’t wait to get out to the taproom in a historic 174-year-old building (!) that was originally Weber Brewery (!!).
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
3. Attend Milwaukee Fashion Week
BRIANNA SCHUBERT, ASSOCIATE DIGITAL EDITOR
If you’ve got New York Fashion Week FOMO, have no fear because Milwaukee Fashion Week is here! It’s a busy week, filled with fashion shows, masterclasses and more. I wrote a story about it for the September issue, which you can read here, but I’m also excited to be attending! I’m most looking forward to going to the Streetwear Showcase hosted by Copywrite Magazine this Thursday, Sept. 12 at Mitchell Street Arts, where designers, stylists and boutiques will show luxury, upcycled and active streetwear looks. Also exciting, though I’m sad to miss them, are the two masterclasses on modeling and fashion photography happening this Wednesday, Sept. 11 at MIAD. No modeling career for me, I guess. The whole week’s lineup is great, so be sure to check out the full schedule of events here.
4. See “Currents 39: LaToya M. Hobbs, Carving Out Time” at Milwaukee Art Museum
EVAN MUSIL, ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR
This exhibition opened last week, and it’s a remarkable show of craftsmanship and joyful mundanity. During the pandemic, Baltimore-based artist LaToya M. Hobbs spent months carving five scenes of her daily routine, each made up of three 8-by-4-foot woodblocks. She homeschools the kids, handles chores with her husband and, having conquered the day, creates art in her home studio. The details are exquisite, vividly rendering different kinds of lighting and textures with precision. It’s a celebration of the day-to-day, recognizing the various roles everyone juggles in their lives. And the grand scale of the woodblocks reflects the importance of these everyday scenes, while also putting Black motherhood in the center in a museum environment where it traditionally hasn’t been depicted.
The MAM exhibition shows both the woodblocks and their resulting prints at opposite ends of the room. Hobbs considers the woodblocks to be the primary works, elevating an oft-discarded tool as the art object itself. The prints are mirrors of the woodblocks, creating slight differences and invoking a comparison between how we see our own lives and how others see them. The next gallery talk with curator Nikki Otten is this Thursday at noon.
5. Watch La Chimera
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
Whenever I really enjoy a movie/book/TV show/fungal exfoliation treatment, I tend to pointlessly gather information about it. This happened a few months back with the movie Challengers, which I recommended in these very Editors’ Pick. I watched quite a few interviews with cast and crew and what I found was that one of the film’s stars, Josh O’Connor, kept bringing up an entirely different movie he did that year, La Chimera. I think that he knew Challengers was going to get much more press and marketing budget than La Chimera, and so he felt empowered to use the platform to gently push his much smaller, indie flick. Well, the tactic worked on me. I watched La Chimera this weekend – the movie is now available on Hulu – and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The film follows O’Connor as a destitute and heartbroken young archeologist living in the Italian countryside, where he robs ancient tombs with a band of local criminals. O’Connor’s performance is subtle and spellbinding, and the film is replete with beautiful shots that have me pining for the mother country.
