Two New Places for East Town

Colour Palate. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

We reported last month that a mysterious “quick-n-easy” eatery would be opening soon on Water Street, in the space formerly occupied by Cousins Subs, near Wisconsin Ave. Well, speculate no more. Colour Palate is up and running, and ready to serve you on-the-go.

Colour Palate will be offering a lot more vegetables than its predecessor in this space, with a sizable menu of salads, including made-to-order choices. Wraps will also be served.  All items are prepared with fresh ingredients and offer enough variety to warrant experimentation.

The idea, owner J. “Omar” Andrietsch told the Biz Times, is to “take nature’s freshest, most flavorful ingredients from the earth and put them together for you in creative ways that satisfy and invigorate.”

Salads and wraps start at $6.50 for a small on the build-your-own side of the menu and $7.50 for a large, and $7.95 for a small on the pre-designed recipe side of the menu; $8.95 for a large. Protein additions range from $2-3.

Colour Palette, located at 789 N. Water St., will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

Plum Opening

The Phantom Bar has rather appropriately disappeared, and in its place is Plum. The sign for Plum has gone up at 780 N Jefferson Street, next to the Belmont Tavern and across the street from Taylor’s. Plum will offer small plates and drinks with a modern, upscale aesthetic, co-owner Mazen Muna told the Business Journal.

Muna, who owns the Dogg Haus chain of hot dog restaurants, said she and Plum co-owner Andre Lewis were developing Plum under the pseudonym “Phantom Bar” earlier this year and then decided to go with a less invisible name.

Plum will be very visible indeed, with a 3,000-square-foot interior, and 1,000 square feet of outside patio along North Jefferson Street.

OnMilwaukee’s Molly Snyder reports that Café at the Plaza, 1007 N. Cass Street, has officially reopened after it closed for renovations in late March. According to the report, the majority of the renovations involved the stuff behind the scenes and will help kitchen staff cope with the demands of busy dining hours.

Outside the kitchen, the dining room features brand new tables, chairs, and booths, but the distinctive art deco interior style is largely untouched and should be familiar to returning diners.

Café at the Plaza is open 7am to 2pm every day for breakfast and lunch. The cafe will soon be open for evening hours Thursday through Saturday and will feature drinks and small plates.

Golden Anchor

Ride Entertainment Group and Chaz Hastings are gearing up to open their latest venture in the Milwaukee area – this time a restaurant, bar and lounge overlooking Pewaukee Lake. The lunch and dinner menu will feature a hefty selection of seafood options, as well as steak, sandwiches, and (of course) a Friday fish fry.

Golden Anchor, located at N26 W30227 Maple Ave., is the eighth establishment opened and operated by the company. The others – you may have heard of them – include Bottoms Up North, South, and the forthcoming Bottoms Up West Allis; Old Town Inn, Tally Ho, Madam Belle’s, and Von Rothenburg Bier Stube.

Ride’s latest ride is set to open at 11am next Monday, May 18. Regular hours of operation will be 11am to bar close, seven days a week. The kitchen will continue serving food until 9pm Sunday through Thursday, and 10pm on Friday and Saturday.

New Brenner Brews

Three new Brenner beers will launch on May 15 and 16 with labels featuring artwork by Milwaukee artists. The designs come by way of artists Sue Lawton, Erin Paisley, and James “Jimbot” Demski. The highly stylized graphics will grace the labels of Brenner’s newest brews, the design of each meshing well with the name.

Star Baby IPA features an illustration by Lawton of a woman blasting out of a cannon. City Fox Ale depicts a colorful landscape with red foxes. The design by Paisley is based on a mural she made, which currently hangs in Brenner Brewing’s tasting room at 706 S. 5th Street. The final brew, Bacon Bomb Rauchbier, features Demski’s flying pig’s head to match the beer’s subtle hints of…bacon. Don’t worry, no actual bacon was used in the making of this beer.

Read the full report by Mary Louise Schumacher here.

Now Closing

West Bank Café

Riverwest’s long-lived Vietnamese restaurant West Bank was once a favorite of restaurant critics, but in more recent years fell on hard times. It closed its doors on May 1, according to the OnMilwaukee.com. A rummage sale will be held this weekend at Art Bar next door, at 722 E. Burleigh Street. The event will last from 10am to 5pm, Saturday and Sunday.