New High-End Restaurant For Downtown
Mediterranean restaurant Lupi & Iris features food by James Beard award-winning chef.
Final construction work is ongoing at Lupi & Iris. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Downtown is set to gain a new, high-end dining option next week.
On May 17, Lupi & Iris will open on the first floor of the 7Seventy7 apartment tower at 777 N. Van Buren St. in East Town.
“Michael and I are beyond excited to share our creation with Milwaukee,” said Siegel in a press release announcing the opening date. “It’s truly a labor of love that we’ve both poured our hearts and souls into for nearly a year. From the moment guests walk through our doors, we’ve gone to great lengths to deliver a standard of excellence that goes above and beyond in all aspects.”
The 10,500-square-foot space, running the length of E. Mason St. from N. Van Buren St. to N. Jackson St., was reconfigured to hold six different dining and drinking areas, a 60-seat outdoor patio, U-shaped bar, lounge, dining room, chef’s counter and three private dining rooms.
“When we say we focused on every detail, we’re being literal. It took us months to select our table setting of china, glassware and silverware. The pieces we chose are 100% unique to Lupi & Iris,” said Siegel.
Lupi is the name of Siegel’s late father-in-law. Iris is the name of DeMichele’s Italian immigrant grandmother.
A 2008 winner of the best chef Midwest award, Siegel recently served as executive chef at two of The Bartolotta Restaurants establishments, Lake Park Bistro and Bacchus, as well as managing partner for the group’s other restaurants.
Chef Adam Siegel. Photo provided.
“The Lupi & Iris menu is a reflection of my years of experience as a chef. Throughout my career, I’ve worked for Italian, French and Spanish chefs. I’ve worked in France and lived and worked in Italy. All of those influences can be found in the menu I created. I’m doing cuisine that I love and I’m looking forward to sharing Lupi & Iris with the city that I love,” said Siegel.
A sample menu includes mussels and clams, daube de ravioli, corzetta pasta coins, seafood stew, grilled lamb chops, Mediterranean sea bass, roasted veal chop and bistecca (a 44-ounce porterhouse stake).
The restaurant will serve dinner Monday to Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Lunch and brunch are expected to be added in June.
The central dining room can accommodate 84 guests.
The three private dining rooms include the largest, which can accommodate 80 seated guests and has a private entrance and open kitchen. Two smaller rooms can accommodate eight and 16 guests respectively or be combined into a 24-guest room. All three of the rooms include a stand-alone audio-visual system.
The space comes with quite the built-in customer base. The 35-story 7Seventy7 tower has 310 luxury apartments and also includes more than 1,000 parking stalls, many of which are used by Northwestern Mutual employees. The complex is the 6th most valuable property in the city by assessed value. It was developed as an investment property by Northwestern Mutual and completed in 2018.
The restaurant replaces Maurer’s Urban Market grocery store which closed in July 2020 after 14 months in business.
The real estate developer also is a member of the Historic Third Ward Architectural Review Board.
The partners are joined in the endeavor by general manager Scott Williams, executive sous-chef Kaitlin Greenhalgh, sous chefs Kaitlin Schleef, Tahrim Tatum and Sandy Hierro, pastry chef Courtney Beyer; restaurant managers Katelyn Arnold and Quentin Watson, catering and event manager Dan Wustrack and wine sommelier Toni Johnson, who created the wine program with support from consultant Ben Christiansen of Waterford Wine & Spirits.
