1700 Pull Up Plans November Opening

Rosetta Bond burst onto the Milwaukee food scene in January 2022 when she was selected — against stiff competition — as the chef who would operate a restaurant in the former Tandem space.

Bond stood out amongst more than two dozen contenders vying for the restaurant when Tandem owner Caitlin Cullen, who took a step back for her health, opted to give away the restaurant rather than selling it.

The soul food chef is now gearing up for the soft opening of her restaurant, 1700 Pull Up, on Nov. 1., with a grand opening to follow on Dec. 11.

“My story and my adventure started with my family,” said Bond, who grew up in the same ZIP code as her future restaurant, 1848 W. Fond Du Lac Ave.

When Bond was a child, her grandparents were entrepreneurs who owned a grocery store, transportation business and a restaurant. Nearly everyone in Bond’s family knew how to cook, she said, which gave her plenty of early exposure to the culinary world.

“I always stayed in the kitchen,” she said.

Bond went on to start a career in business banking for the mortgage industry, but she never stopped cooking for friends and family.

Though she was accustomed to giving her food away for free, Bond said a friend inspired her to have a fish fry to raise funds for a family trip.

“I probably sold it from sunup to sundown,” she said. “And I just kept going with it.”

Balancing her career while cooking on the side wasn’t easy, Bond said. Customers eagerly awaited her upcoming sales, which she tried to plan on days off and weekends. But “it wasn’t consistent,” she said.

Eventually, Bond’s job gave her the push she needed. After a sizeable round of layoffs at the bank where she worked, Bond left her 9-to-5 and enrolled in a two-year culinary degree program.

Since then, “it’s been off to the races,” she said.

After graduating from Milwaukee Area Technical College with a degree in culinary arts, Bond began working as a personal chef and caterer. Initially, she sold food out of her home. That’s how the name 1700 Pull Up, the number of her home address, came about.

For the past month, Bond has operated out of the restaurant space, offering meals for carryout. Her rotating menu centers on Turkey Leg Thursdays and Soul Food Sundays, with the specifics posted on Facebook each week.

Bond also offers sides such as Green Beans With a Kick, Liquid Gold Mac and Cheese, Sweet Rie Kandy Yams, Chicken Dressing and more, plus cake slices and 1700 Punch.

Once the restaurant is open for business, 1700 Pull Up will serve a range of drinks including local selections from Eagle Park Brewing. The restaurant will also have three TVs, so guests can dine-in while still catching the game.

The restaurant itself is decorated to resemble Bond’s home, she said, as a nod to where it all started.

“It’s a nice look for everyone to feel comfortable, she said. “It’s Southern hospitality here in the Midwest.”

Starting Nov. 1, 1700 Pull Up will be open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.