Ardent is Temporarily Closed
Plus: Two restaurants open in Bay View, brunch returns to Lake Park Bistro and EsterEv gets standalone restaurant.
Ardent tasting room (left) and Ardent Bar and Lounge (right) on N. Farwell Avenue. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Chef Justin Carlisle and the team at Ardent are hitting pause. The Lower East Side eatery, 1751 N. Farwell Ave., is closed, as of Jan. 21, for a brief winter break.
Carlisle may be out of the kitchen for now, but he’ll still be cooking up plans for the restaurant. In a social media post, the chef said he’s working on “something special” for Ardent’s return in the spring.
The restaurant revealed a new menu on Jan. 5.
Ardent celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2023 and marked the occasion with a major expansion, debuting a new bar and lounge space as a casual counterpart to the existing tasting room.
The come-as-you-are lounge offers a variety of small plates, spreads and entrees, as well as burgers and hot dogs with a fine-dining twist — think smash burgers with miso pickles and Wagyu beef hot dogs with truffles and foie gras. Cocktails, wine, beer, cider, spirits and zero-proof beverages are also available.
Ardent continues to operate its reservation-only tasting room, offering a prix fixe menu, beverage pairings and curated hospitality experience.
The two concepts, located just a few steps away from each other in the same building, have operated in tandem since November.
Ardent has received seven James Beard nominations (and five finalist slots), was named a top North American restaurant for three consecutive years and made the 2018 list of the top 100+ North American Restaurants.
Future updates will be posted to the restaurant’s Facebook page.
New Tavern Planned For Five Points
An upcoming bar and restaurant will get top scores for visibility — the business is located at the intersection of five major roads on Milwaukee’s North Side.
Yuhl Patterson II plans to open Yari’s at 3501 N. 6th St., at the Five Points intersection, according to a licence application. The upcoming business would replace House of Soul Lounge, which operated for less than two years at the address.
Patterson, has experience as a bartender and supervisor, he noted in the license application. Most recently, he worked as a bartender for concessionaire Levy.
Yari’s will offer an assortment of alcoholic beverages as well as pizzas. The business is also requesting a cigarette and tobacco license. Approximately 80% of revenue is expected to come from alcohol sales, with the remaining 20% from food sales.
Brunch Returns to Lake Park Bistro
Brunch is back at Lake Park Bistro after a multi-year hiatus. The reintroduction comes with an all-new lineup of indulgent dishes curated by Executive Chef Amanda Langler, who took the lead at the restaurant in November.
The restaurant, 3133 E. Newberry Blvd., recently debuted its three-course, customizable brunch menu, allowing guests to strike their preferred balance between sweet and savory, with prices based on entree choice.
To start, guests can choose from premiere plats including cocktail de crevette (shrimp cocktail served with lemon and Marie Rose cocktail sauce), soupe à l’oignon (French onion soup served with baguette and Gruyere cheese), a fresh fruit and yogurt parfait, soupe du jour and two fresh salad options.
Entrees, or plats principaux, include a traditional French-style omelette with creamed leeks, sauteed mushrooms, Gruyere cheese and herbs; eggs benedict (add smoked salmon for an extra charge); pan-seared salmon with haricots verts, parsley butter potatoes and beurre blanc; Brioche French toast with pear butter, maple syrup and bacon; grilled bavette steak with sunny eggs and hollandaise and the restaurant’s signature salade Lyonnaise.
Taste ‘The Next Tequila’ at Sugar Maple
A little-known spirit will star at Sugar Maple‘s upcoming event, Los Magos en el Lago. The bar, 441 E. Lincoln Ave., will partner with Los Magos Sotol on Jan. 25 for an exclusive cocktail menu featuring sotol, an alcoholic drink derived from dasylirion.
The one-day pop-up, scheduled for 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., will also include games and raffles, Mexican food from Chef Gabriel Garcia and a musical performance courtesy of De La Buena.
Throughout the event, representatives from Los Magos will be available to share knowledge and discuss sotol. The spirit has been a staple of North Mexican culture for nearly 800 years, but has recently gained the attention of mixologists worldwide.
Sometimes called “the next tequila,” sotol’s flavor includes complex notes of citrus, black pepper, light smoke, honey and eucalyptus, all leading to an herbaceous finish, according to a news release. Although similar in flavor to some mezcals, sotol is not made from agave. Rather, it comes from dasylirion, a desert shrub that grows wild in the Chihuahuan Desert.
Barbiere’s Offers Good Italian Comfort Food
You know you are in a restaurant where comfort food is on the menu as soon as your eyes adjust to the dimly lit dining room in this small Italian restaurant on W. Bluemound Rd. When you come for lunch or dinner you will discover it is also the home of the “Snack.”
The original Barbiere’s Italian Inn opened in 1963 at 106th and Bluemound where Sal Barbiere served his basic Italian dinners made with the best ingredients and a lot of love. Ten years later he moved the restaurant to 5844 W. Bluemound Rd., and that is where friends and I enjoyed two delicious lunches in December.
It is easy to miss Barbiere’s from Bluemound with its bland brick façade, but, come inside and you step into a dining room with a distinctive retro atmosphere: Dark wood, arched doorways, stucco walls, beamed ceilings, and red Naugahyde benches in the booths took friends and I back to the 60s and the anticipation of some classic Italian fare.
We were not disappointed. I will start with the Garlic Bread which was extraordinary and in our combined opinions, perhaps the best garlic bread in Milwaukee. Here is the reason why: It has heft, so when you pick it up you might say as my companion did, “I think it’s going to be like eating a brick.” Instead, it was light, buttery, and had just enough garlic. When we asked our server about the bread she said, “We make all the bread here and that’s why it’s light and fluffy in the middle.” We also learned that they use the same dough for the pizza, a favorite with many of the regulars, our server said.
DanDan Hosting Regional Chinese Dinners
DanDan is known to feature a wide variety of dishes on its Chinese-American menu, journeying beyond egg rolls and lo mein to showcase regional fare such as Sichuan pork dumplings, Cantonese chow fun and Singapore noodles, a dish which actually originated in Hong Kong.
Starting later this month, the restaurant, 360 E. Erie St., will take that practice one step further, launching a series of limited-time menus focused on exploring cuisines from seven different Chinese provinces.
The series will touch on Sichuan, Hunan, Canton (Guangdong), Fujian, Zhejiang, Shandong and Jiangsu, inviting guests to experience the unique tastes and traditions of the world’s most populous country, bite by bite.
The special menus will be spread out over most of the coming year, each lasting two to three days and featuring four, shareable courses for two people ($80). The first, highlighting Sichuan cuisine, will be available Jan. 23 through 25.
EsterEv Opening Standalone Restaurant In Bay View
EsterEv, the private fine-dining concept located within DanDan‘s Historic Third Ward restaurant, will soon have a space of its own.
Chefs Dan Jacobs and Dan Van Rite are planning to open a standalone location for the restaurant at 2165 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., in Bay View, according to a license application. The space was previously home to C-Viche, which closed in October 2023.
The new location will more than double the capacity of EsterEv, with room for up to 40 guests in the main dining room and an additional 10 at the bar. The restaurant seated 20 at its previous location.
“After many years working in the confines of a shared kitchen, the team is excited to have expanded capabilities in a large dedicated space,” the restaurant shared in a news release.
Vier North Opens on East Side
For decades, Vitucci’s was a hot spot for the East Side crowd, drawing flocks of college students, nearby residents and a trusty handful of regulars each night to drink and make merry at the historic corner tavern, 1832 E. North Ave.
And though the previous business shuttered in 2019, the tavern was back to its old self last week, as customers filled the building for the official opening of Vier North on Thursday, Jan. 11.
The celebration stretched through the weekend, fueled by pizza, burgers and plenty of drinks. Football and basketball games played on the bar’s large TVs while guests soaked in the building’s newly-updated interior.
“Our expectations were definitely exceeded,” said Melanie Petersen, general manager of Vier North, who noted that the bar was packed with 100 customers during its peak — Sunday afternoon’s Green Bay Packers game. Apart from the game time rush, the bar attracted a steady stream of customers each day, she said.
Chinese Seafood Buffet Opens in Bay View
A Chinese buffet-style restaurant, with an emphasis on seafood, is now open on the southern edge of Bay View.
Hong Kong Seafood Buffet recently opened at 270 W. Holt Ave., the former site of an Applebee’s restaurant. It’s the first Milwaukee establishment for owner Ting Cai Zhou, an industry veteran who also operates a handful of restaurants in Madison.
The all-you-can-eat restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, offering both dine-in and carryout options. Guests pay a flat fee for unlimited access to the buffet, which features dozens of dishes including appetizers, entrees and desserts.
The offerings include familiar Chinese food favorites such as stir-fries, noodles, egg rolls, sweet and sour chicken and crab rangoon. On the seafood side, the buffet features a variety of shrimp dishes, crawfish, crab legs and more. Some dishes utilize imitation crab, which is made with surimi, a paste that typically includes white fish such as Alaskan pollock and binding agents.
New Tavern Opens in Bay View
Between the Green Bay Packers‘ playoff victory and the Milwaukee Bucks‘ buzzer-beating basket, Jan. 14 was a good day for Wisconsin sports fans. The wins were extra-sweet for Sam and Ting Burazin, who fortuitously opened their new sports bar, Satchmo’s, on the same day.
The tavern and restaurant, located inside the former Baby Boomers at 182 E. Lincoln Ave., began its soft opening on Sunday morning. In addition to the taste of sweet success, guests were greeted with complimentary hot ham and rolls, discounted bloody marys and burgers and fries from the restaurant’s menu.
Food and drink offerings will remain limited for the duration of the soft opening as the business continues to “work out some kinks,” the owners wrote in a social media post. Eventually, guests can expect a full slate of specialty drinks, plus a rotating list of seltzers and locally-sourced beers. The food menu will also expand to include a Friday night fish fry featuring both walleye and perch, weekend brunch and other daily specials.
Prior to opening Satchmo’s, the Burazins completed a year-long renovation to the building, which originally served as a tied house for Miller Brewing Company back in 1906. The refreshed interior features both high-top and booth seating, plus a spacious patio for use during the warmer months.
Large Indoor Farm Planned For Riverwest
While most farms lie dormant through the harsh Wisconsin winter, Hundred Acre is poised for big growth. The vertical hydroponic farm is planning a new facility in Riverwest. It would allow the indoor farm to quadruple its production.
In its current location at the Century City business park, the farm pumps out fresh greens year-round, yielding 40,000 pounds of produce per year from its 5,000-square-foot location.
But that’s not enough to keep up with demand from restaurants and grocers, said Chris Corkery, founder and CEO of Hundred Acre Farms.
“We’ve been sold out for six months,” he said of the current facility, which opened approximately two years ago. “We need to expand supply and provide our existing customers, plus new customers, with products.”
Judy’s On North Launching Food Truck
One month has passed since an overnight fire caused extensive damage to Judy’s On North on Dec. 13, leaving customers unable to order their favorite dishes from the East Side Mexican restaurant, 2207 E. North Ave.
Even the owners are battling cravings, specifically for “the rice and beans and horchata,” Judith Figueroa and Kevin Lopez wrote in a Friday evening social media post.
The restaurant will likely remain closed for some months for cleanup and restoration, but the mother-son duo has a temporary solution in the meantime.
Judy’s On North will launch a food truck, providing a limited menu of signature dishes to tide guests over until the restaurant’s reopening. The truck is expected to make its debut at the start of February, but could be up and running even earlier, according to Figueroa and Lopez.
New Sports Bar Proposed For South Side
Two industry veterans are looking to breathe new life into a southside tavern, which has struggled to thrive since its longtime tenant, Milwaukee’s Firehouse Pub, closed several years ago.
Dario Nuñez Morales and Carlos Miranda plan to open Dario’s Place at 2758 S. 35th St., bringing a new destination for drinks, pizza, hookah and entertainment to the Layton Park neighborhood.
The sports bar is slated to open on March 29, according to a license application, which also notes plans for building updates, though no construction permits have yet been filed. The 2,218-square-foot, one-story building was originally constructed in 1890.
A floor plan for the space indicates that the tavern will feature an indoor bar, stage area and a handful of tables and chairs, plus a patio and outdoor bar. The property also features nine on-site parking spaces.
Gyros Stand Opens Second Location
Longtime quick-service Mediterranean restaurant The Gyros Stand recently expanded its southside presence with a second location. The Gyros Stand II is now open at 5308 S. 27th St. It replaced Gyro27, which operated for nearly seven years at the address.
The Gyros Stand opened its flagship location at 1110 E. Oklahoma Ave. in 1989. Its old-fashioned appearance and oft-updated marquee sign have won the hearts of many in the neighborhood and beyond. The sign, which often lists special menu items and daily custard flavors, has become the subject of news articles, and even inspired an Instagram account chronicling its ever-changing and often inadvertently humorous messages.
The business, owned by Adauto Abarca, serves both Mediterranean and American dishes including gyros — soft pita piled high with shaved beef and lamb, tzatziki sauce, sliced tomatoes and onions — hot dogs with or without chili and cheese, burgers, sandwiches, falafel, shishkabobs, shrimp, Greek salads and appetizers such as cheese fries, eggplant strips, onion rings and more. The original location also offers custard by the scoop, in a malt or as part of a sundae.
A full menu is available to view online.
Lake Park Bistro Hosting Black Truffle Dinner
A decadent dining event will soon return to Bartolotta’s Lake Park Bistro for the 20th time. The restaurant, 3133 E. Newberry Blvd., is hosting its annual Black Truffle Dinner on Thursday, Jan. 18.
Priced at $250, the dinner costs roughly the same as 7.7 ounces of Perigord black truffles — the same first-rate fungi that will star in each of the upcoming meal’s five courses, prepared by Executive Chef Amanda Langler.
To start, guests can expect a terrine de lapin au foie gras: a dish consisting of rabbit pâté, foie gras torchon and black truffle, served with apple mustard preserve and brioche toast.
The second course will include pan-seared Saint Pierre fish with sunchoke, blood orange, brown butter and black truffle, followed by a third course of pithivier de pigeonneau, or slow-cooked squab wrapped in cabbage and puff pastry and topped with black truffle-Madeira cream sauce.
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