Horned Hare to Open At New Hotel

A new boutique hotel being created in a former downtown double mansion will be home to the Horned Hare restaurant and bar. Focusing on craft cocktails, curated European beers and smaller-protein heavy plates, the restaurant will have a “European hunting lodge concept.”

The new place will add yet more alliteration to an establishment named the Dubbel Dutch hotel. We can’t wait to see what the bathrooms are named.

The new restaurant, designed for both locals and guests, will operate exclusively in the evenings in the first floor of the new hotel at 817-819 N. Marshall St. “For the folks that miss the serious side of Boone & Crockett’s early days, this is for you,” said John Revord of the restaurant plans.

Revord, owner of Boone & Crockett, Snack Boys and The Cooperage, will be joined by Mitchell Ciohon (Taco Moto, Snack Boys and The Cooperage), Eamonn Keyes (Snack Boys) and Stephen Landish (Snack Boys) in the ownership group. Katrina Cary, general manager of Boone & Crockett, will assist with operations and menu design.

The name is a nod to the “wolpertinger,” said the partners in a statement announcing the restaurant. The wolpertinger is a mythical creature in German folkore. “The most widespread description portrays the Wolpertinger as having the head of a rabbit, the body of a squirrel, the antlers of a deer, and the wings and occasionally the legs of a pheasant,” according to Wikipedia.

But modern decor is planned for the bar, which may be just as well.

Partners on the 17-room hotel project include developer Juli Kaufmann, general contractor Andy Braatz and architect Patrick Jones. Through Marshall Street LLC, the partners purchased the property for $600,000 in September from real estate investment firm CJ Taxman Interests.

What’s the story behind Dubble Dutch? “The name is a play on the original architecture of the historic side-by-side or double house, designed by Milwaukee’s famed Ferry & Clas in 1898. Dubbel Dutch draws its inspiration from the unique Flemish-style shaped gables crowned with finials and the Flemish-Dutch spelling for ‘double,’” said the partners in announcing the name.

The partners are seeking a tenant to buy out the entire space during the July 2020 Democratic National Convention. But to make that happen they will also need what they’ve called a “house manager” to oversee operations. Interested parties for leasing or employment are encouraged to email info@thedubbeldutch.com.

For the full history on the house, see my colleague Michael Horne’s article “Koeffler House A ‘Grand Old East Side Home’.”

The restaurant partners aren’t standing pat with their other businesses as they pursue Horned Hare. Snack Boys will close in its original home at 814 S. 2nd St. on March 15th and relocate to 2028 E. North Ave. The East Side space on North Avenue was once home to another Revord-concept, the now-defunct Hotel Foster tavern.