The opening gods have come through this week. Not only did The Cheel announce some rebirth news, The Wolf on Broadway is in its soft-open mode. The Downtown restaurant (600 N. Broadway) served its first meals last weekend and will back at it again this weekend. The Wolf’s “official” opening is Nov. 24.

It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!

Here’s a little snapshot of The Wolf. It’s located on the ground level of The Kinn Guesthouse Downtown. Owners Whitney McAllister and Wolfgang Schafer also operate Uncle’s Wolfie’s Breakfast Tavern and the adjacent shop Orange & Blue Co. The Wolf’s executive chef Kristen Schwab (known from her time cooking at DanDan) was inspired, in part, by family dinners during her upbringing. She and The Wolf team have done pop-ups periodically since the project was first announced in February 2022.

The lunch/dinner menu Schwab created lists snacks, salads and handhelds and several evening-only items. Examples (keep in mind there may be revisions): corn fritters with chili pepper jam, butter chicken wings, rendang puffs (made with rendang beef cheeks), gado gado cobb salad, cheeseburger and chili crisp fish sandwich. A few dinner-only items are flank steak with sambal brown butter, cabbage and sweet corn puree; and duck-fried farro with duck confit and a sunny egg.

The restaurant interior – as you can see in the accompanying photos – is striking. The owners, who used their travels (citing Paris and the American West Coast, specifically) as a muse, have incorporated details like handmade stained glass and terra cotta tiles.

Reservations are live on Tock now, offering dates until the new year. Reservations for 2024 will be released at a future date, so watch The Wolf’s social media.

Current hours (they may change): Sun, Mon, Thurs L 11 a.m.-2 p.m. for lunch and 5-9 p.m. for dinner; Fri-Sat 11-2 p.m. for lunch and 5-10 p.m. for dinner. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.