Eating Milwaukee

Many cities have gotten facelifts in the last decade, but Milwaukee, more than any other, has managed to hang on to the best of a bygone era and blend it seamlessly into the shock of the new (Santiago Calatrava’s art museum addition, for example). Nowhere is this more apparent than in the dining scene, a tasty stew of tradition and trend.

OLD SCHOOL
Want to see what your great-grandparents ate in restaurants 100 years ago? Milwaukee has several options. Karl Ratzsch’s, in the heart of downtown’s East Town neighborhood, has been serving up schnitzel and strudel in its beer-stein-and-stag-head-lined rooms for more than 100 years. The signature roast pork shank with sauerkraut, schnitzel with new potatoes, and roast duck with red cabbage are as comfy as Grandma’s sofa.

Three Brothers, housed in the old Schlitz Tavern, is renowned for Serbian home cooking. The linoleum floors, bentwood chairs, dusty bottles of slivovitz (plum brandy), and the reassuring smell of slow-cooked sweet-and-sour cabbage got me hungry in a hurry. Order some burek—phyllo pastries filled with beef, cheese, and spinach. Roasted goose, duck, suckling pig, and veal breast all looked wonderful. I settled on lamb, roasted and braised with peppers and onions, served with pickled cabbage and rice. I cleaned the plate. Palacinka, Serbian crepes with apricot filling, were superbly rich and shouldn’t be missed. This type of cookery is almost nonexistent these days, and any trip to Milwaukee should include a visit to Three Brothers.

Friday-night fish fries are a long- standing Milwaukee tradition. I was lucky enough to check out the South Side’s incomparable American Serb Memorial Hall. The fifty-five-year-old joint seats almost 1,000 people (in a space replete with chandeliers!), and the lines form early on Fridays. The cod and perch comes with fries, slaw, and plenty of sliced rye bread. The fish is standard fare, but the scene is uniquely kitschy. Check out downtown’s Historic Turner Restaurant—I prefer the wood paneled booths in the bar. The 1882 landmark, founded as a gymnasium and athletic club, does a superb Friday fry. Get the cod and perch combo, but be sure to substitute the thin, crisp, earthy potato pancakes for fries. Palm Garden in the Lakefront Brewery by RiverWalk serves a decent fish plate, but at 6 p.m. the Brewhaus Polka Kings take the stage and you can dance the night away along with 300 of your closest friends. The golden maple-syrup-infused root beer alone is worth the trip.

Wisconsin is crazy for custard, the soft ice cream with intense density, egg-yolk richness, and big vanilla-bean punch. It’s best sampled at Leon’s, a 1942 drive-in on the South Side. The custard is made each day, offered in several flavors, sizes, and in myriad sundaes. I can personally vouch for the butter pecan and vanilla custards, as well as sundaes served with a classic fudge sauce.

THE NEW WAVE
A nice transition between past and present can be found by taking a stroll on Brady Street, a bohemian neighborhood much like Greenwich Village, chock full of old brownstones housing small boutiques, bars, casual restaurants, and art galleries. Bella’s Fat Cat serves a great burger and fries, killer custard, and is perfect for a lunch with the kids after a stroll along the river or lake. The western end of Brady is a virtual Little Italy. Stop by Sciortino’s Bakery for mortadella sandwiches and cannoli if you like to eat and stroll at the same time. It’s right across the street from Art Smart’s Dart Mart (only in Milwaukee). One of the better seafood restaurants in town is Watermark. Mark Weber, the well-known chef from the famous Bartolotta’s Lake Park Bistro, opened this place and it serves up some of the best grilled fish in town.

Lake Park Bistro, perched atop a bluff overlooking the lake, just celebrated its tenth anniversary and is one of the most picturesque eating spots in town. The 200-seat grand café serves ambitious bistro fare and does a credible job. LPB is packed all the time, but the service is as impressive as the view. I loved the frisée salad served with a poached egg and sautéed porcini, as well as the roast duck—rare seared breast and leg confit, served with roast potatoes and spinach. The lemon tart was a puckering finish to a great meal.

The best food in town continues to be at Sanford, chef-owner Sanford D’Amato’s serene restaurant on the northern edge of East Town. This is serious food: D’Amato has been one of the nation’s brightest culinary lights for two decades. His honey-glazed squab with seared foie gras, the shrimp ravioli on green papaya salad with lemongrass Thai curry, and the banana-toffee tart for dessert (preceded by a selection of six Wisconsin artisan cheeses) make for a top ten restaurant meal in any city.

D’Amato, along with his wife, Angie, also owns the stylish bistro Coquette in the Third Ward, Milwaukee’s burgeoning SoHo on the lake. The scene is hipper and more familial than any other in town, without being trendy. Citron presse is served at the bar, and the baguettes at every table are eagerly used to clean out bowls brimming with aromatic coq au vin, grilled hanger steaks, and other homey Gallic classics.

For chowhounds in the crowd, don’t miss two spots that Milwaukeeans keep close to the vest—neither has any equal in the Twin Cities. Speed Queen serves some of the best ribs I have tasted in years. They have great crust (but stay soft and moist) and a pink smoke ring that is the telltale sign of quality in pit barbecue. The sliced pork platters and sandwiches are the bomb. Get the hot sauce on the side and the regular sauce on the pork, and, if available, try what they bill as “outside shoulder,” crisp, crackling cuts from the outermost reaches of the roast pork. Bombay Sweets is an Indian vegetarian restaurant that doles up huge portions of uniquely authentic fare at ridiculously low prices (entrées top out under $5). The rava masala dosa comes filled with spiced potatoes, yellow lentil dahl for dipping, and a homemade coconut chutney that is one of the best I have ever tried. The same can be said for the saag paneer, traditional breads, samosas, and curries. I ran back here on Sunday afternoon for a second visit before my plane took off, and I’m glad I did.

If Chez Panisse had a Midwestern farm-stand-inspired stepchild it would be Roots. Roots is two restaurants in one—upstairs there’s fine dining, downstairs a casual café/ wine bar that features live music in the evenings. Sunday brunch may be the way to play it if you are only in town for a weekend. The restaurant is located on a bluff overlooking the city on the west side of RiverWalk, and the views are wonderful. As was the pancetta and fennel pot pie, diver scallops with sweet potato and wild mushroom flan, and a chorizo burrito topped with fried eggs. The food is confidently served: Roots is quite the scene, and the staff knows it.

The real wild card in town is Celia, the fine-dining room at the legendary Pfister Hotel. Baasim Zafar recently took over as chef after leaving the Palmer House in Chicago, and the food is superb. Steak tartare, wild mushroom ravioli, and a grilled John Dory fillet were delightfully fresh and vibrant. I went for it with a Grand Marnier soufflé and was not disappointed. A kitchen table is available, and the wine list of almost 500 bottles is among the best in town. Celia serves late into the evening and is a perfect after-theater choice.