Saint Kate Hosting ‘Bougie’ Anniversary Brunch
Plus: Six new restaurants, proposed THC cafe and farewell to Phan's Garden.
Saint Kate—The Arts Hotel. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
The Dark Room at Saint Kate is leaning into luxury for its upcoming “Bougie Brunch,” held in celebration of the hotel’s fifth anniversary.
On Saturday, June 29, the restaurant will serve a special five-course meal centered on high-end ingredients such as oysters, caviar, lobster, morel mushrooms, Kurobuta pork and more.
Executive Chef Heskeith Flavien is the mind behind the menu, which includes assorted canapes, four savory courses, a dessert trio and bottomless mimosas in flavors such as cranberry, elderberry, pineapple, orange and raspberry.
The meal will begin with light bites of truffle deviled eggs with bacon-onion jam, steamed oysters and habanero mignonette, as well as smoked salmon mousse with cucumber, fried capers and salmon roe.
The first course features Royal Ossetra caviar served with Nova Scotia lobster, toasted brioche pain perdu (similar to French toast), pickled pearl onions and dill mayonnaise.
The seafood-focused starter will lead into a second course of poached egg, guajillo hollandaise, lime supreme, watermelon and creamy green chile grits, followed by Korean fried chicken with a buttermilk waffle, Imperial Ossetra caviar, hot honey and herb butter.
For the fourth course, guests can expect ancho chile-rubbed Kurobuta pork, a Japanese cut known for its lovely marbling and juiciness. The meat will be accompanied by morel mushrooms, sweet potato mousseline and pork and mushroom jus.
Dessert offerings include bananas foster pudding, blueberry upside-down cake with corn ice cream and vanilla bean crème brulee with fresh berries.
The Dark Room is located within Saint Kate The Arts Hotel, 139 E. Kilbourn Ave.
Tickets for the brunch are $125 per person and are available to book online.
Panera Opening ‘Digital-Only’ Restaurant on East Side
Panera Bread is expanding its local presence, with plans to open a third Milwaukee restaurant in the Murray Hill neighborhood.
The new location, however, will be distinct from its predecessors. Instead of a place to linger, the upcoming restaurant will focus on rapid service and maximum convenience for busy customers, according to a news release.
Dubbed Panera To-Go, the “digital-only” model, first introduced in 2022, encompasses self-service ordering kiosks and meals packaged for takeout only. The streamlined restaurants do not offer space for dining in.
Milwaukee’s first Panera To-Go is slated to open at 1800 E. North Ave. The approximately 1,700-square-foot restaurant space is located in the southwest corner of the mixed-use Edge on North building, where The Waxwing boutique previously operated.
Near West Side Wendy’s is Closed, Building For Sale
Where’s the beef? You won’t find it at the corner of N. 27th Street and W. Kilbourn Avenue.
The Wendy’s restaurant that long operated there is closed, and the building, 914 N. 27th St., is for sale.
Alderman Robert Bauman confirmed the development to Urban Milwaukee on Wednesday, noting that the closure came at the end of the business’s lease and was likely due to “poor performance.”
The doors and windows were boarded up this week.
Planned Mexican Restaurant for Silver City Will Serve ‘Largest Flautas’
After several months of serving the Milwaukee area via food trailer, Flautas y Chilaquiles Los Villa has found a permanent home in the Silver City neighborhood.
The mobile business plans to launch its first brick-and-mortar restaurant this summer at 3530 W. National Ave., the former site of Brother’s Backyard Barbeque.
Owners Israel Villarreal and Elizabeth Flores Campos first opened Flautas y Chilaquiles Los Villa in early 2024. The spouses both hail from Mexico City, where they grew up surrounded by good food and cooking — Villarreal’s mother operated a kitchen serving Mexican food and Campos’ father sold carnitas.
“It comes from both sides of the family,” Villarreal told Urban Milwaukee, in Spanish.
Cafe and Coworking Space Opens on West Side
A new cafe and coworking space is open on Milwaukee’s Near West Side, offering a productive environment for patrons to bring both their creative and career goals to fruition.
Business partners Tiffany Miller and Rachaad Howard recently launched Fruition MKE at 825 N. 27th St., inside the Concordia 27 development.
The venue, which requires a membership or day pass to access, offers high-speed internet, shared workstations and a conference room and event space, among other amenities.
The 4,000-square-foot business also includes an in-house cafe and makerspace complete with supplies such as sewing machines and woodworking tools. A retail store featuring products from local artisans is set to open in the coming months.
New Restaurant and Lounge For Northridge Area
A new restaurant and lounge is set to open in the former Olive Garden location on Milwaukee’s far Northwest Side.
Instead of unlimited salad and breadsticks, guests can look forward to hookah, live music and alcoholic beverages.
The upcoming business, Pure Lounge & Restaurant, is a project of Antonio Wesley-Carter, who brings five years of bar management experience to the new venture.
In a license application, Wesley-Carter outlined that the business, at 8531 W. Brown Deer Rd., aims to be multi-faceted in hopes of attracting a wide range of patrons.
Greater Milwaukee Foundation Steps Up For Riverwest Co-op
After more than two years on the brink and periodic warnings of imminent closure, Riverwest Co-op & Cafe has acquired the necessary funding to continue operating.
The neighborhood grocery store and cafe, 733 E. Clarke St., recently announced it had secured a $150,000 impact investment loan from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation; the additional funding joins a $33,862 sum generated through GoFundMe last winter.
The latest update follows a tumultuous few years for the business, which has been in dire need of financial support since early 2022.
In March of that year, the co-op’s board of directors distributed a newsletter advising customers that the business could close within six months without intervention. Similar letters were sent in June 2022 and December 2023.
New Cafe and Bakery to Serve Delta-9 Infused Items on Brady Street
Brady Street‘s newest cafe will cater to the high-minded — though not in the traditional sense.
The High Crowd, selling delta-9 and THC-infused items, plans to open next month at 1229 E. Brady St., augmenting the city’s recreational cannabis scene while still adhering to state law.
But how is that possible?
The cafe, whose initials are a winking reference to THC, will stock a variety of products — teas, juices, baked goods — infused with hemp-derived delta-9 THC, the primary psychoactive component found in cannabis.
Phan’s Garden Restaurant is Closed
A southside destination for authentic Vietnamese cuisine is no more.
Phan’s Garden, a longtime staple of the Clarke Square neighborhood, quietly closed in early 2024.
The restaurant, led by Hoi Tran, Ha Tran and Hong Doan, was known for its flavorful pho and crispy Vietnamese egg rolls, but also offered an array of Chinese-American dishes such as sweet and sour pork and Cantonese fried shrimp.
The extensive menu also featured dozens of stir fries, curries and noodle dishes made with chicken, pork, beef, tofu and seafood such as shrimp and lobster.
State Fair Announces 2024 Sporkies and Drinkies Finalists
Cream puffs may be a time-honored tradition at the Wisconsin State Fair, but the pastries are just one among hundreds of fried, frosted and filled foods available to fairgoers each year.
The annual Sporkies and Drinkies competition showcases the most innovative of these items, with participants constantly pushing the boundaries of what can be deep-fried, bacon-wrapped or sandwiched inside a doughnut — and sometimes all three at once.
The food and beverage competition this year received 37 entries for food and 20 for non-alcoholic beverages. The Wisconsin State Fair on Wednesday announced eight finalists in each category.
Contenders on the food side include the Cool Ranch Doritos pickle, featuring a spiral-cut dill pickle that’s encrusted with Cool Ranch Doritos, deep fried and served with a side of ranch dressing.
RNC Hispanic Outreach Center Being Replaced By Mexican Ice Cream Shop
Mateo Grajales dreams of ice cream.
From the time he was a little boy, the entrepreneur and dessert enthusiast has yearned to open his own shop, bringing frozen treats and other snacks to the community.
He got a small taste of that previously, operating an ice cream counter in Guatemala for a handful of years before relocating to the U.S. After months of effort — and one false start — Grajales is poised to fulfill his longtime goal this summer.
“Since I was six, seven years old, that was something I always wanted to do,” he said. “And it’s something that’s becoming a reality now.”
Fish and Chicken Restaurant Planned For 27th Street
A new fast food restaurant is slated to open on the Near West Side, replacing the former MooSa’s, which closed in the spring of 2023.
The upcoming business, Milwaukee Fish & Chicken, would occupy a 1,848-square-foot restaurant space at 405 N. 27th St., adjacent to the BP gas station and near Interstate 94.
Co-owners Amandeep Dhaliwal and Bhinderpal Singh said they hope to open the restaurant this summer, with plans to serve quick meals for carryout only.
Menu items could include burgers, chicken sandwiches, fried fish and other entrees, along with sides such as french fries and desserts like ice cream and shakes.
Can City Close Infinity Lounge?
It’s the end of the road for Infinity Lounge. At least if the city gets its way.
The Milwaukee Common Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to close the troubled nightclub, 4001 W. Fond du Lac Ave., which has operated since 2022.
The decision follows a tumultuous year for the nightclub, which was the site of two shootings, a battery cutting and more than 20 other incidents since its last renewal, according to a police report.
Even so, the business, led by Mario Spencer, has no plans to go quietly.
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