Goodkind One of Best New Restaurants

Goodkind, which opened last spring in the space that formerly housed Mama De Marini’s Pizza in Bay View, is one of Milwaukee’s most inviting and satisfying new restaurants. The ambiance is eclectic, but somehow it works: Deco-ish ceiling lamps combined with figured wallpaper, wooden tables and chairs and a large bar in the center of the room. The first time I ate there was on a Sunday evening just before a Packers game, and perhaps because of that it was quite noisy and the service slow (it improved considerably when the place started to clear out). But on a subsequent weeknight visit, with no Packers game looming, the noise level was fine and the service was excellent.

The liquor, cocktail and wine selections are outstanding:  Plymouth gin (my favorite) for a fine martini (too small the first visit, but ample the next time, with some extra in a small flask), craft cocktails like the Mama Tried (Rehorst gin, apple brandy, honey, bitters and Pernod), and well-chosen wines, mostly from Spain, Italy and France.

The menu, which changes frequently, features a combination of large and small plates grouped into categories: Bites, Larder, Pans, Fryer and Rotisserie. The first includes very munchable fried chickpeas ($2), while the second includes a delicious version of Caesar salad made with escarole, white anchovies, sarvecchio cheese and roast tomatoes ($9), and on one of my visits a Moroccan cauliflower and fava bean soup with mint oil and carrot slaw ($7). One item that seems to always be on the menu is a lovely pasta dish made with bucatini, Dungeness crab, rapini, and basil oil ($18).  Among the Fryer selections is a Berlin currywurst ($12), a Berlin street snack I became addicted to when I lived there a while in 2005.

The larger dishes are all satisfying and imaginatively prepared.  A roast fresh walleye ($18) came with torpedo onions, sweet potatoes, pea shoots and a bitters vinaigrette, and a hanger steak ($20) was garnished with a parsnip puree and an artichoke caponata. The Rotisserie selections are another constant:  a brined chicken rubbed with fennel pollen ($22), ample and delicious, a pork loin or chop, and leg of lamb with a lavender-anchovy crust ($26). You almost never see roast leg of lamb on restaurant menus anymore, and I was going to have it on my second visit, but when I asked how it was done I was told it was medium. Since I prefer very pink lamb, I ordered a duck breast ($20) instead, assuming it would be medium rare.  It was cooked through, but was so moist and delicious (accompanied by a barley and dill sausage stuffed cabbage) that my worries about the lamb were immediately erased, and I plan to have it on my next visit.

Desserts included a sublime chocolate stout mousse cake ($9), and liqueurs included my favorite after dinner drink, calvados (Christian Drouin, ($9). In all, Goodkind is the kind of comfortable and satisfying restaurant that makes out glad you came and eager to go back.  Just don’t go right before a Sunday night Packers game.

On the Menu

Goodkind Gallery

Goodkind
2457 S. Wentworth Ave.
414-763-4706
goodkindbayview.com

Hours:
Open at 4:00 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily.