More Indian Food for East Side

Ruta Kahate, owner of Ruta’s. Photo courtesy of New Land Enterprises.

Crossroads Collective, a food hall concept located on Milwaukee’s East Side, has announced that its newest vendor will be Ruta’s, a cafe specializing in light Indian options. Owners Ruta Kahate and her husband and business partner Neville Desouza have decided to bring their cafe concept to Milwaukee after seeing how friendly the city’s residents were. Carol Deptolla reports:

(Kahate’s) cafe will serve soups, stews, sandwiches  and its own baked goods, such as brownies and cookies. It also will have Indian bowls (some with rice, or millet or bread).

“Those will definitely be authentic, but you may not recognize the dishes because they’re regional,” Kahate said. “And they’re also presented the way I like to present them. They’re super light.”

Beverages will include one made from turmeric, along with coffee and teas. The cafe’s from-scratch cooking will extend to bread, pickles and mustard.

Vegetarian and vegan dishes will be part of the menu, where Kahate’s cooking will follow ayurvedic principles. “The whole goal of ayurvedic cooking is to make it easily digestible,” she said.

It also was how her mother cooked. “I grew up eating Indian food in a lighter way,” Kahate said.

Kahate has also written cookbooks, including “Quick-Fix Indian” and “5 Spices, 50 Dishes.”

New Cake Maker for East Town

A side business custom cake studio will soon be a full-time gig for MK Drayna, known professional as the Whisk Chick. Whisk Chick will begin its first day of pickups on April 7 via a rented kitchen space at the University Club of Milwaukee located at 924 E. Wells St. Deptolla writes:

Drayna had operated Whisk Chick while she quickly rose to head of pastry last year at North Shore Boulangerie in Shorewood and then general manager this year at North Shore’s new Mequon shop and bakery.

“I realized my real passion is decorating” cakes for weddings, birthdays and other special occasions, said Drayna, 21 and a graduate of Milwaukee Area Technical College‘s baking and pastry arts program.

There’s no storefront; ordering is through the Whisk Chick website, at least 10 days in advance. In-person consultation, for bigger events such as weddings, would be by appointment only.

All cakes will be custom designs, said Drayna, who also will be baking cupcakes, and cookies that will be decorated with royal icing.

Pricing information and cake flavors, from vanilla and chocolate to banana and apple spice, fillings such as chocolate ganache and raspberry and frostings including lemon and caramel are at the website, whiskchick.com.

C-viche Plans Second Location in Shorewood

4330 N. Oakland Ave. Photo taken March 22nd, 2021 by Dave Reid.

A Bay View restaurant specializing in diverse menu items with a Ibero-American twist will soon open a second location in Shorewood. C-viche, located at 2165 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., has been open since 2016 and is ready to expand its reach. Lori Fredrich reports:

Owners Karlos Soriano and Paco Villar have signed a lease on the 1900 square foot restaurant space at 4330 N. Oakland Ave. and hope to open the new C-Viche location by late summer.

“We have always wanted to establish a location in Shorewood,” says Soriano. “Almost half of our regular diners are from the suburbs, and we are always getting requests to put a location closer to them.”

Soriano says that the space, which housed The Chocolate Factory from 2014 to 2019, will need significant renovations; but the hope is to create a space that has a very similar look and feel to the Bay View location. That means elements like hand-crafted tables, built by Soriano and Villar, along with a signature wall made from hand-stained wooden pallets.

The restaurant will also feature an open kitchen where guests can view their food being prepared, along with a sushi bar with a fresh seafood case where diners can sit and enjoy a drink while their Nikkei sushi and fresh ceviche is prepared to order.

Soriano says the menu for Shorewood will feature the same dishes that C-Viche customers have grown to love, including Peruvian staples from his native home, along with dishes inspired by Villar’s Mexican heritage. Guests can also look forward to specials like Taco Tuesdays and weekend brunch.

Now Closing: Stone Creek in Whitefish Bay

Stone Creek Coffee, 601 E. Silver Spring Dr. Photo taken March 22nd, 2021 by Dave Reid.

On March 20, Stone Creek Coffee announced via a Facebook post that it will permanently close its Whitefish Bay Cafe, 601 E. Silver Spring Dr., on April 18. The cafe was the first-ever Stone Creek cafe opened, paving the way for four other Stonecreek Cafes to eventually open throughout Milwaukee. Its first days of business were in December of 1993, marking 2021 as its 27th year of operation. There were no reasons given for the closure of the cafe, but founder and managing director Eric Resch offered a bittersweet farewell on the post:

“The closure of this café is a milestone I want to be sure we note. Given it was our first café it has a special place in my heart. Yet today, I do not feel sadness. I actually feel a strong sense of optimism and clarity. I am proud of the work we have done in the last 27 years, and I know that the cycles of life (or a café) are simply that, cycles. Everything we create in our business is iterative with the goal of making something even better tomorrow. Today we announce the closing of a café, but tomorrow something new rises up based on what we have learned. We march on resilient and ever-curious as we go.

We want to thank the team of baristas who have been at this café. We are thankful for the wonderful people who have cared for so many through coffee and conversation at this café over the years.

Finally, but far from least, we want to thank all of those that came to love Stone Creek through this location. Thank you for coming on this journey with us over the years. We believe there will many more ahead…”

Resch notes that no employees will be let go and no hours will be cut — rather, they’ll be moved to other cafes. Stone Creek recently closed its Walker’s Point cafe in November 2020 as a result of the pandemic.