New Patisserie For Walker’s Point

Pastries. Photo from Greige Patisserie Facebook page.

Whether you’re looking for a delicious pastry with your morning coffee, or a fancy late-night snack with wine after dinner, the new French-inspired Greige Patisserie is just the spot. The new pastry shop recently opened in Walker’s Point, located at 408 W. Florida St., inside the first floor of the Brix apartment building.

The owner of Greige Patisserie, Jessica Reinhardtsen, has a passion for making pastries and desserts inspired by French traditions, whilst also wanting to add her own unique flare. Not only are there a variety of different pastries on the menu to complement a cup of coffee or tea, but a number of fine wines and cocktails are also offered.

Carol Deptolla of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel offers  more details:

Owner Jessica Reinhardtsen bakes… muffins, scones, almond croissants; macarons and oversized cookies; precise cakelets and, from the Just A Little Something Sweet Department, one- or two-bite mini tarts, such as banana-chocolate…

Greige pours coffee to go with the sweets but also wines; aperitifs and digestifs, like Channing Daughters vermouth; and several whiskeys, including two Scotches and Japanese whiskey aged in a sherry cask.

The small cafe also offers desserts like handcrafted cakes, and allows customers to call in for unique custom-orders for events like weddings or celebrations. Much like the variety of different pastries offered, flavor options for cake orders are very extensive, including chocolate, marble, red velvet, banana, lemon, almond, coconut …and the list goes on.

Greige Patisserie is open Monday through Thursday from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Bavette La Boucherie Opening Second Location

The acclaimed Third Ward butcher shop and restaurant, Bavette La Boucherie, is set to open a second location at the Mequon Public Market, part of the new community plan called Spur 16, which is importing many city shops to the suburb. The public market has already secured openings for other such popular Milwaukee restaurants and cafes as Beans & Barley, Anodyne Coffee, and Purple Door Ice Cream. More information about Spur 16 can be found on its website.

Owner and chef Karen Bell opened Bavette as an upscale restaurant at 330 E. Menomonee St. roughly five years ago, introducing her expertise in butchery to Milwaukee. Bell has extensive training in culinary arts, having 20 years of experience working in major cities like Chicago, San Francisco, Paris, and Madrid.

The restaurant prizes itself on using whole animals and fresh ingredients from small local farms, ensuring the quality you would expect from a butcher. It  also specializes in a number of barrel-aged cocktails and wines, and, of course, a wide selection of beer.

With this addition to the Mequon Public Market, a solid lineup of critically acclaimed spots are gradually coming together in one location. Corrinne Hess from BizTimes quotes one of the developers involved with Spur 16, Jenny Vetter:

“I am so excited about the incredible group of restaurants that have come together to be a part of the Mequon Public Market at Spur 16,” Vetter said. “Bavette is the perfect addition to this group and our community. Each restaurant represents the best of what the Milwaukee food scene has to offer.”

Spur 16 is being developed by Shaffer Development, owned by Cindy Shaffer. Shaffer noted that the commercial buildings, including the public market, should be open by the end of 2018. Other developments include a few townhomes and apartment buildings, all to be finished by Summer 2019.

Pita Palace Opens

The new Mediterranean restaurant Pita Palace opened last week at 789 W. Layton Ave. It’s one of the few spots in the area for Mediterranean cuisine, and its ownership is associated with Al-Yousef Supermarket and Restaurant, located at 6329 S. 20th St. Pita Palace will offer some of the familiar favorites from Al-Yousef, such as beef and chicken shawarma, kebabs, and of course, pita bread.

Deptolla has more about the menu:

Pita Palace has the vertical rotisseries holding chicken and beef shawarma for plates ($9.99) and sandwiches ($5.99), just as at Yousef, and it now has entrées such as roasted chicken ($12.99 half, $19.99 whole) and lamb chops ($14.99)…

The restaurant’s appetizers include warm plates such as ful mudamas ($5.99), the fava bean dip, and arayes, pita bread stuffed with cheese ($3.99) or ground beef ($4.99), and cold plates including cucumber with yogurt ($5.99)…

A family menu offers complete meals with a mix of meats and side dishes in three sizes, for four or five people ($45.99), six or seven people ($65.99) and eight to 10 people ($89.99). Pita Palace has a children’s menu, daily specials (Friday is mansaf with lamb for $14.99) and a catering menu.

And just in case you tagged along with some friends only to find you aren’t a big fan of Mediterranean cuisine, Pita Palace also offers a cheeseburger for $5.99. The restaurant operates Monday through Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

New Peruvian Food Trailer

A small, humble food trailer that has been frequenting various farmers markets in the Milwaukee area has been gaining popularity for its authentic Peruvian-style empanadas. Triciclo Peru is a traveling food trailer that offers a variety of authentic baked empanadas, with fillings ranging from beef and chicken to sweet potato, corn and cheese.

The small business began about one year ago with married couple Mario Diaz and Amy Narr, who tell an inspiring story of meeting in Peru and taking a chance at making a living in Milwaukee. OnMilwaukee’s Lori Fredrich shares more of their story:

Narr, who was born and raised in West Bend, came to Milwaukee to earn her degree in business administration and marketing from UW-Milwaukee. After graduation, she signed on for two years in Chiclayo, Peru, with the Peace Corps, where she worked assisting women with business and financial literacy. About a year in, during a vacation with friends, she found herself stranded in Trujillo, Peru over the Peruvian Independence Day holiday (July 28).

Since no available planes were flying out that day, she took to the beach, where she met Diaz, a young advertising executive and Lima native who was also enjoying the holiday.

The two hit it off immediately and Narr says they maintained a long-distance relationship for about a year, after which she applied for a one-year extension of service that allowed her to work out of the Peace Corps offices in Lima. The two were married a year later…

Diaz found that his degree from Peru didn’t quite have the same value in the U.S. as it did back home, and – despite English lessons – the language barrier presented some unique challenges to advancing his career in advertising. So, he began thinking about viable alternatives.

After struggling to find a job, Diaz looked to his past of cooking food and sharing good times with his family back in Peru, and thus the couple’s idea of starting a food trailer with Peruvian cuisine was born. Now, the food trailer features a mix of Peruvian style empanadas as well as some American inspired ones, such as the Empanada Wisconsin, which contains chorizo, scrambled eggs, red pepper and melted cheddar cheese.

After receiving a lot of support from customers over the past year, Diaz and Narr are searching for a location to set up a brick-and-mortar shop to further their business in Milwaukee.

Triciclo Peru travels to a variety of farmers markets, including in the Jackson Park and Riverwest neighborhoods, Brookfield and Wauwatosa.

Good City Brewing Expands

Last Thursday, July 26, Good City Brewing officially acquired the Century City industrial building where it will relocate its office and warehouse, moving it to the intersection of N. 31st St. and W. Capitol Dr. The company will first setup its office operations in the new building, then plan to begin brewing operations within the next two years, while maintaining its retail presence. on N. Farwell Ave.

The building in Capitol Dr. was first developed in 2016, and was operated by Tower Automotive, in the area commonly known as the 30th Street Corridor. Mayor Tom Barrett and other city officials are hoping this new renovation will help drive this area’s redevelopment.

Urban Milwaukee’s Jeramey Jannene reports more details:

The fast-growing brewery opened in June 2016, and announced a second taproom and small brewery for the entertainment center across from the new Milwaukee Bucks arena last month.

Having expanded a number of times within its current space, including opening a hall and rooftop deck, the company has been looking for more space since this spring…

The plan is to close on the new building in October pending city approvals….

Citing Talgo and the Department of Public Works presence in the area, Barrett said: “we are starting to have the anchors that we believe can lead to more development.”

Good City Brewing began back in 2008, created by three founders Dan Katt, Andy Jones, and David Dupee who shared a passion for craft brewing. Since then the company has expanded rapidly.

This Is It! Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Wisconsin’s oldest LGBT+ bar, This Is It! will host a three-day event this weekend in celebration of 50 years in business. The bar will begin the celebration by having an outdoor open bar from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, August 3rd. Then, the opening ceremony will be at 6:30, where Karen Valentine will lead with opening statements regarding the milestones the bar has achieved.

Other speaking at this ceremony will include Michail Takach as the keynote speaker to give more background on the bar’s history in Milwaukee, as well as U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Jonathan Brostoff, County Executive Chris Abele, and more to be announced. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett may also be in attendance, according to some comments on the event page.

This Is It!, located at 418 E. Wells St., first opened in 1968, when original owner June Brehm wanted to start a business in downtown Milwaukee, after having lived in Butler, just north of Brookfield. When searching for the right building to open a bar, she stumbled upon the location on Wells St. and exclaimed “This Is It!”, and so the bar got its location and its name. Although June has passed away since then, and the ownership has evolved, the traditional atmosphere of the bar remains with the aid of the antique interior and distinct objects like the disco ball that doesn’t move or the red dial phone on the bar that can’t make calls, but only receive them.