The Fitz Offers Elegant Brunches

The Fitz dining room. Photo by Cari Taylor-Carlson.

Before you settle into the dining room known as The Fitz, inside the Ambassador Hotel, stroll around the lobby to view the Art Deco décor that dates to 1927 when the hotel was built. Look for the simple yet elegant chandeliers, the understated columns, the woodwork, and the lovely diamond pattern underfoot. The name, The Fitz, relates to F. Scott Fitzgerald who wrote about the roaring 20s in The Great Gatsby.

Inside the dining room you will find white tablecloth dining and an approachable menu with dishes that suggest contemporary twists on familiar classics.

Huevos rancheros, for example, combined nachos with refried beans, eggs, and salsa, to create a marriage of two dishes and a brunch entrée that included everything I love about huevos rancheros. Starting at the base were bacon-infused refried beans. Like nachos, they were topped with house-made tortilla chips that were impossibly thin and crunchy. There was cheese, house-made salsa verde, and finally two over easy eggs. This dish redefined an ordinary Mex-inspired entrée and left me applauding the chefs’ transformation of a classic.

My companions’ choices were classic French toast and a traditional breakfast. The French toast was made with brioche, a tender buttery bread, and it was dipped in vanilla-scented cinnamon batter. The traditional breakfast included potatoes O Brien. It was an attractive plate.

There are many more dishes to savor on the weekend brunch menu. A few of the most enticing choices you will find are: beignets topped with cinnamon drizzle; breakfast poutine, potatoes, eggs, cheese curds, and sausage; beneflat, flatbread with hollandaise, ham, bacon, mozzarella, and over easy eggs; shrimp and grits with Cajun -seasoned shrimp; and a Belgian waffle topped with streusel and cinnamon-butter glaze.

Brunch is reserved for weekends, but when you come for lunch Tuesday-Friday, you will find a menu filled with more dishes that rearrange familiar classics. My companions’ reuben chalupa combined a form of a Mexican taco with a deconstructed reuben sandwich. The chef took a corned beef sandwich and upended everything we thought we knew about a reuben. It was chopped, not sliced corned beef, along with kraut and Swiss cheese inside a toasted and folded pita. A spicy sauce accompanied the sandwich. For her side, my companion ordered polenta sticks, French fry-size sticks of polenta that were deep-fried. They needed sauce and once dipped they were a delicious alternative to ordinary fries.

A mojo stuffed poblano was a study in how to upgrade chili relleno. Two poblano peppers stuffed with shredded pork were hidden underneath a mound of chipotle-flavored Mexican street corn, more corn in a creamy sauce, Oaxacan cheese, pico de gallo, and pickled red onion. Tortilla chips finished this feast of colors, textures, and contrasting flavors.

The Bangkok bbq chicken was a sandwich that, like everything we tasted at the Fitz, exceeded our expectations. A basil flavor from a marinade was present in the tender chicken, the arugula was fresh, and the bacon jam was a bacon-rich masterpiece of sweet and spicy. The chicken came in a buttery, grilled sundried tomato focaccia.

My companions and I found a lot more on the lunch menu to bring us back to The Fitz. There were more unusual entrees like beef birria stuffed ravioli, an Asian black bean burger, and a “Pita-Rrito,” with carne asada, cilantro-lime crema, polenta sticks, lettuce, tomato, and pita.

This is a menu you will want to explore. When you combine excellent service with lovely surroundings, white tablecloths, and a chef who brings a fresh approach to old favorites, you can expect a memorable dining experience.

On the Menu

12►

Photo Gallery

The Rundown

• Location: 2308 W. Wisconsin Ave.
• Phone: 414-345-5015
• Hours: Lunch: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tue-Fri. Dinner: 4 p.m.to 9 p.m. Tue-Sat. Brunch: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sat-Sun
• Website: https://www.thefitzmke.com/

Existing members must be signed in to see the interactive map. Sign in.