New Pizza Place, New Burger Joint

Future location of DiModa Pizza. Photo by Rose Balistreri.

A new restaurant called the Diplomat will be opening this summer in the location previously occupied by Bosley on Brady. Partners in this new venture are Joshua Jeffers and chef Dane Baldwin.

Carol Deptolla of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Jeffers bought the building in which Bosley is located and was originally going to make alterations to it before deciding a completely new restaurant was a better option.

Baldwin was head chef at Mr. B’s steakhouse in Brookfield for about two years before leaving to focus on the Diplomat. He is creating a menu for The Diplomat, which will feature vegetarian dishes among the meats and fish.

OnMilwaukee.com’s Lori Fredrich spoke with Baldwin and has more on the plans for the Diplomat.

I’ve always been a fan of small plates; I think it’s great to sit down and share food with friends. And when it comes to my style, I’m not a fan of overcomplicating things. Some ingredients are delicious in and of themselves, and my focus will always be on flavor.

Remodeling of the building will begin in the next month and will include new flooring, lighting, and a fresh coat of paint. The restaurant aims for a July opening.

Gordo’s

A new burger, taco and ice cream restaurant could be opening in the location formally occupied by Moto-Scoot at 1652 N. Water St.

Gordon Goggin, owner of The Stilt House in Cedarburg, wants to begin serving food and drinks in July. The city’s Board of Zoning Appeals is reviewing Goggin’s application for the project on March 9.

Goggin has over 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry, and was previously director of operations for The Lowlands Restaurant Group. Corrinne Hess of BizTimes spoke to Goggin and has more on the restaurant.

“Being a Milwaukeean and growing up with Kopp’s ice cream, it has been something that has been in my blood and always something I wanted to do,” Goggin said. “I love tacos, so I wanted to add them. In addition, I’m going to serve craft beer and margaritas.”

An artist’s rendering of Gordo’s:

Gordo’s Rendering.

Moto-Scoot plans to relocate to 1420 E. Belleview Pl. on the East Side by mid-March.

DiModa Pizza

The old Trocadero is about to become the city’s latest pizza parlor. Wild Planet Hospitality, new owners of the former Trocadero space at 1758 N. Water St. have announced that DiModa Pizza will take over here, with an opening planned for late April. OMC’s Matt Mueller has more details:

Some of those special wood-fired pizzas planned for DiModa Pizza include the Clam, Endive, Bacon, featuring little neck clams, charred endive, roasted garlic-lemon butter, crisp bacon and oregano; the Devil’s Pie topped with Nduja sausage, roasted peppers, giardiniera, fresh mozzarella and Sam Marzona tomato; and the Spicy Charred Pepperoni, complete with charred pepperoni, caramelized cipollini onions, buffalo mozzarella, spicy tomato and pecorino cheese.

…DiModa’s modern takes on rustic Italian favorites include scallop giardiniera pasta, featuring scallops, linguine, crab, house-made giardiniera, bread crumb, tomato and precorino cheese; Sardinian-style clams and fregola pasta, with little neck clams and charred fregola pasta mixed with corn, tomato, clam broth, olive oil and ricotta salata cheese; and Spicy Brick Chicken, organic marinated chicken dished up with blistered grape tomatoes and Calabrian peppers, grill potatoes, charred lemon, arugula, oregano, pecorino and olive oil.

Like Trocadero, DiModa will feature a weekend brunch menu on Fridays and Saturdays.

Cubanitas in Oak Creek

Cubanitas, whose downtown location became Wisconsin’s first Cuban restaurant in 2003, is opening a second location in Oak Creek’s new Drexel Town Square development early this summer.

The new restaurant will have a similar look and menu as the original Cubanitas. Menu highlights include its celebrated Cuban sandwich, plantain chips with Cuban Guacamole and empanadas. All of which can be washed down with one of their thirst-quenching, delicious mojitos.

Urban Milwaukee has more about the new restaurant. Keep up to date on weekly specials here.

Café Benelux Temporarily Closed

Liege waffle. Photo courtesy of Lowlands Group.

Café Benelux, the Lowlands Group owned café located in the Third Ward, will be closed for remodeling March 5 through March 17. Planned updates include refinishing the flooring, expanding seating into a new dining space, updating merchandise displays, and redesigning the bar to increase draught lines from 30 to 36 and adding a nitro line.

In addition to the upgrades to the building, Café Benelux will have an updated brunch menu including authentic Belgian Liege waffles. The waffles differ from standard waffles because instead of batter, they are made from a brioche dough that is allowed to rise, just like bread. Pearl sugar gets added to the dough which makes the waffles sweet, rich and slightly crunchy from the caramelized sugar. Culinary Director for the Lowlands Group Wilhelm Borgstrom had this to say about the new menu item:

It was important to us that we craft them as authentically as possible, so we imported special Liège waffle irons from Belgium to get the perfect amount of caramelization on the sugar.

Café Benelux will reopen on Friday, March 17th with regular breakfast, lunch and dinner hours.

For more information on Café Benelux visit www.cafebenelux.com

Now Closing: Rosati’s

The Milwaukee Record reports that the Rosati’s Pizza Sports Pub has closed. Calls to the location have gone unanswered, and the interior of the restaurant appears to have been cleaned out. No official statement has been made by the company, but the restaurant, which was located on the corner of Farwell and North, has been removed from the official Rosati’s website.

Rosati’s took over the space, formally occupied by Replay Sports Bar, in early 2016.

Now Closing: Buca di Beppo

Buca di Beppo, long located at 1233 N. Van Buren St., has closed. Owned by a national chain, its Greendale restaurant located in Southridge Mall will still be open. An official statement was released by the company:

Although it was a very difficult decision, our management team decided to cease operations at our Milwaukee restaurant. There are a variety of factors that go into this decision being made, however, our executive team made the decision to not renew the lease with its current terms being up. We are saddened that business reasons forced us to make this decision.