Bay View’s New Eco-Friendly Bar

The Lost Whale

Those who want to help the planet and drink cocktails — and who doesn’t like to do that? — will be happy about a new bar coming to Bay View. The Lost Whale is a new green bar set to open on June 28th at 2151 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. which was formerly Boone & Crockett. The bar will create cocktails from typically wasted foods and use compostable straws and recycled-fiber paper products. The space takes on a modern feel with bright orange lounge furniture, metallic patterned walls and dramatic light fixtures. The patio space behind the bar will be used for food trucks to serve guests during the summer months and eventually into the colder months.

Former bartenders Tripper Duval and Daniel Beres wanted to incorporate their values like recycling into their new business venture. They also plan to host fundraising events for environmentally focused charities.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Carol Deptolla provides details on the drink menu:

Duval and Beres said they’ll bottle some batch cocktails — ready-to-pour drinks with the complexity of craft cocktails— and they’ll also have cocktails on tap (thanks to the several cocktail draft lines left behind by Boone). A chalkboard will list “salvaged” cocktails available, making use of ingredients that might otherwise be discarded. Quantities will be limited; “Once they’re gone, they’re gone,” Beres said.

Cocktail prices are expected to be similar to Boone’s, in the $8 to $12 range.

Besides cocktails, the bar will have eight draft beers along with beers by the bottle and can and wines by the bottle. At the bar on the patio, expect canned beer, shots and canned wine, and the possibility of a kegged cocktail.

The bar will open at 4:00 p.m. on weekdays and noon on Saturdays and Sundays.

View MKW Replaces Wolf Peach

The popular Wolf Peach is long gone and its replacement, View MKE (1818 N. Hubbard St.) will open for business on Monday, June 25. Zach Panoske, a former Harbor House sous chef, will run the kitchen, along with Paris Dreibelbis, formerly with Ardent. The new restaurant’s owner is Carl Tomich, who also runs StoneFire Pizza Company in New Berlin. Like Wolf Peach, View MKE will feature the two-level dining space and patio, but the new redesign includes “lots of photography” and a lower level bar that’s been rebuilt “and outfitted with custom booths and accented by a hand-painted cubist mural,” according to Ann Christenson of Milwaukee Magazine. As for cuisine, it will emphasize Korean fare. Christenson offers this report:

…the wood-burning oven remains, and the menu features six Milwaukee-style thin-crust pizzas, including pimento cheese and kale with lardon, shallots and kalamata olives ($15), and ham and fontina cheese with pickled mustard seed, Parmesan and arugula ($15)… In the boards and snacks section, the plates range from charcuterie and cheese boards to house-made potato chips to pickled vegetable flights that change daily ($4-$22).

“Land” plates include crispy pork belly with tamarind glaze, tomato, puffed rice and taro chip; Korean beef tartare; caraway pork meatballs; and lamb shoulder with fettuccini, ragu, fermented tomato and creme fraiche ($13-$15). Charred octopus with harissa, kalamata olive and hummus; crab cakes with mango-papaya salsa; sea scallops with creamed corn, mole and salsa verde; and a market fish that changes daily fill out the “sea” portion of the menu ($15-$22). On the garden side, there’s curried cauliflower with honey yogurt, pepitas, craisins and pickled fresno chili; date-glazed beets with farm cheese and pear; twice-baked eggplant with spiced tomato, red pepper, radish and sesame; and compressed watermelon with pickled strawberries, cantaloupe and fresh mozzarella ($9-$10).

The restaurant’s hours will be 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday,  5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday; and Sunday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

View MKE Interior:

On the Menu:

lgo Dulce Opens at Westown Farmers’ Market

This new business offers refreshing Mexican treats perfect for the summer months. Dominique Alvarado provides options that challenge the stereotype of Mexican food being unhealthy. Everything is handmade and she uses seasonal ingredients that are locally sourced. She offers vasos de fruta (cups of fruit) and agua fresca. Both options are vegan and dairy-free.

Soon she will offer handmade paletas at Cathedral Square Market and Fondy Farmers Market at Schlitz Park. Alvarado said she wanted to call attention to the popsicle cart trend in Milwaukee. Paletas, or popsicles, are an important part of the Latin community and she wants to highlight the heritage that they come from.

OnMilwaukee’s Lori Fredrich offers more details:

Offerings include vasos de fruita, traditional Mexican fruit cups featuring crisp, fresh jicama, pineapple and watermelon ($7). They’re tossed with traditional housemade chamoya.

There’s also housemade agua fresca, poured to order from traditional vitrolero (barrels). It comes in flavors like lime mint and hibiscus watermelon. Alvarado also makes her own horchata, using cashews as a base rather than dairy ($4).

Later this summer, she’ll also serve handmade paletas at both the Cathedral Square Market and Fondy Farmers Market at Schlitz Park. Those will be offered in flavors including cucumber, chamoya and mint, vegan strawberries and cream, and a stunningly delicious mixture of beets, hibiscus, mint and ginger ($3 each).

Moxie Adds New Patio

Moxie at 501 E. Silver Spring Dr. in Whitefish Bay will debut a new patio on June 29th. There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:45 a.m. in time for lunch, announced owners Tamela Greene and Anne Marie Arroyo. 

Fredrich describes the new patio layout:

The patio, which will seat 30 guests on a first-come, first-served basis, is located on the west side of the building. It will showcase a lush green space surrounded by arborvitae and tall ornamental grasses, with a patio surface made from eco-friendly recycled rubber.

Now Closing: Roman Candle

Roman Candle in Whitefish Bay will have their last day on June 24th. The pizzeria is based in Madison and the distance became too great for owner Brewer Stouffer to stay involved in the Milwaukee community.

Milwaukee Business Journal’s Melanie Lawder quoted Stouffer from a news release:

The decision to close our Whitefish Bay location wasn’t easy, but it’s the right move for my family and our Madison-based pizzeria company. Even with Whitefish Bay only an hour-and-half away, it was difficult for me and our Madison-based front office to get involved with the local community in a sustainable way, and to be present regularly at store Community Days and neighborhood fairs and events.