Skylight’s “Taste of the Ward” a delicious fundraiser

Looking for a new way to please your palate this weekend? One new event coming to Milwaukee may have what your taste buds are looking for: Taste of the Ward, a fundraising event hosted by Skylight Music Theatre that gathers eight of the Third Ward’s most well-known restaurants for a unique culinary evening.

While this isn’t the first time “Taste of the Ward” has been thrown around as a dining event – the Historic Third Ward’s Summer Sizzle jazz festival, on hiatus this year, hosted a day-long event by the same name in 2011 – it’s the first such event hosted by Skylight, according to Becca Kitelinger, the Skylight’s development director. She said the event will feature dishes from eight different Third Ward restaurants: Indulge, Club Charlies, Swig, Water Buffalo, Verduras Tea House and Cafe, Coquette Cafe, Smoke Shack, and Kasana Cafe.

While Skylight’s spring fundraiser has historically been a more introverted, low-key wine and cheese tasting event, Kitelinger says she and the company wanted to shift direction this year. “We wanted to change things up,” she said. More importantly, they wanted to include their friends and neighbors in the area, and thought Taste of the Ward was the best way to do that. “This type of a fundraiser is a great way for us to bring many of our Third Ward neighboring businesses together where everywhere can benefit.”

Once at Taste of the Ward, patrons will have the opportunity to try samples from each restaurant, designed to be the most popular or representative dishes. For example: the Smoke Shack will be serving up some smoky Carolina pulled pork sliders, Kasana will share “tao de queijio,” a Brazilian cheese bread with a balsamic glaze over the top, and Club Charlies will showcase their distinctive mac and cheese, made with gouda and two types of cheddar. Kitelinger said the format gives less established restaurants the chance for exposure, while more established venues can show off the reason they’ve grown so beloved in the neighborhood. In addition to the samples, specialty cocktails will be available at the bar, and a wine pull offers the opportunity to go home with a vintage of your own.

Taste of the Ward will take place Thursday, May 9, from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., with a performance of Skylight’s Sing Me A Story immediately afterward. Tickets are $45 per Taste Ticket (per individual) or $135 for two VIP tickets, including tickets for Taste of the Ward and Sing Me a Story (VIP tickets are $67.50 individually). To get tickets, email Becca Kitelinger at beccak@skylightmusictheatre.org, order online or call (414) 299-4962.