Taste of the Town

How to Condense Five Years into One Night and a Single Pizza

It’s been five years since I last saw my good friend Ismail. Five years! How is that possible? I don’t know how time passed so swiftly, but I do know I was incredibly excited to get a message saying he was in town on business.

A jet-setting interpreter for government officials, Ismail is originally from Azerbaijan, well schooled in political affairs (as well as gossip about other old friends), and his sharp wit always makes for a lively visit.

I couldn’t wait.

Somehow I made it through the workday, raced home, met with our realtor to check out a couple of houses that Scott and I were considering, then jetted over to the hotel to pick up Ismail. 

Since parking downtown was totally crazy courtesy of the much-anticipated Summerfest, we decided to get dinner at Balistreri's Italian-American Ristorante on 68th and West Wells Street.

A casual place that is always packed (even in winter people hang out in front, waiting for tables), Balistreri’s has been serving up some of the best pizza in the western ‘burbs for thirty years. They offer a great selection of pasta, sandwiches, and meat entrees, but it’s the signature pizza – made with a delicate, super-thin crust, topped with their signature sausage, black olives and whatever else you’d like thrown on, and served on an oversized rectangular cookie sheet – that makes it reign supreme.

Add a side salad and a glass of wine and voila! – the perfect dinner for catching up with friends or family.

Our tiny entourage ordered “The Works” – a pizza crafted with sausage, cheese, mushrooms, olives, onions, green peppers and pepperoni. Ismail also insisted on adding pineapple.

Strawberry Festival and a Spontaneous Road Trip

We woke up too late this morning to catch the all-you-can-eat Strawberry Pancake Breakfast.

But that didn’t deter us from shooting up to the quaint, nearby town of Cedarburg for the annual Strawberry Festival.

Milwaukee and the surrounding areas have summer festivals for just about every ethnicity and food concept you can imagine – Serb, Greek, Polish, German, Arab, Mexican, Indian – you name it and we’ve got a festival for it. I arrived too late last year to catch any of these, so this summer I am determined to hit as many as we can. 

The Strawberry Festival sounded like a good way to start.

As we drove down the tree lined streets of Cedarburg looking for parking, visions of strawberry pie and strawberry shortcake danced in my head.

We finally found a spot and followed the crowd to the main street which was lined with white tents featuring the usual assortment of nature paintings, tree carvings (A floor lamp with roots! Who can resist!), quilts, homemade soaps, beads, and, this being Wisconsin – brats.

We tried a cup of the blonde root beer (tasty!), watched Bella Lei salon’s cool hair expo, and then asked around to find out where we could score some strawberry shortcake.

A nice lady pointed us in the direction of a tent sponsored by Grand Dad’s Bakery. We couldn’t get there fast enough. I handed over $3.00 and in exchange received a bowl full of lush strawberries mounded over shortcake and topped with a mountain of whipped cream.

Yum.

 

While that was enough to satisfy my strawberry craving for the day, other people indulged in decadent looking chocolate covered strawberries, strawberry ice cream, strawberry slushes, and fresh glasses of strawberry lemonade or Strawberry Blush wine from Cedar Creek Winery.

Schmit's Berry Farm also offered strawberries by the quart, but not wanting to carry them through the crowd, I decided to consult a list of local growers and try to pick some up later in the week for freezing.

Satisfied with our strawberry experienced, we hopped back in the car and hit the road.  After a brief pit stop at an Airstream turned coffee shop, we headed north to Port Washington.

Launched into national limelight lately by Dustin (a.k.a. “Screech”) Diamond’s desperate publicity antics, Port Washington lies about 30 minutes north of Milwaukee on the shore of Lake Michigan. It boasts a picturesque harbor and claims to host "The World's Largest Outdoor One-Day Fish Fry" in July.

Dinner with Mom & Dad at Sticks & Stones

Last week my parents drove 800 miles and past hundreds of corn fields to see us.  It was great to see them and show off all the special spaces we’ve discovered in Milwaukee. 

We picnicked at Jazz in the Park, sipped coffee at Alterra, took walks along the lakefront, sampled custard from Kopp’s, took a tour of the Boerner Botanical Gardens, grilled some gourmet burgers, and of course, hit a few of my favorite food spots.

Since Eddie Martini’s lingers in my mind as quite possibly the best meal I’ve ever eaten, I desperately wanted to take them there for dinner.

Unfortunately they couldn’t find a table for four until after 9:30.

While it’s nothing for restaurants to be filled to the max after 9 or 10 p.m. in Argentina or Spain, here my family likes to get our grub on a little earlier.

That said, I made a quick call to Sticks & Stones, a sister of sorts to Eddie M’s located out in Brookfield, where we were assured a table would be ready at eight. With its clubby, wood-paneled surroundings and polished service, Sticks & Stones would no doubt be an entirely appropriate place for family dinner.

At 7:45 we pulled in the parking lot. Since we were a little early and our table wasn’t quite ready, Scott and I headed to the bar and ordered glasses of Pinot Grigio while my dad sank into one of the deep leather seats near the door. 

A few minutes later, the hostess ushered us to our perfectly set table.

Looking for Cherry Pie and Good Coffee . . . Hot!

Don’t ask me why, but for some reason the short but eerie intro to the Killer’s “Smile Like You Mean It” reminds me of Twin Peaks.

It’s a reach, I know. But there’s just something about those first five seconds of track #3 that have the same haunting quality as Angelo Badalamenti’s soundtrack to the bizarre and twisted world of Twin Peaks, which David Lynch created in the early ‘90s.

And I can’t possibly think about Twin Peaks without having a strong urge to consume a nice slice of cherry pie with a good cup of joe.

Any ideas on which place in Milwaukee has the best cherry pie? If so, please leave me a comment or email me . . .

Popcorn Gets Real at the Rosebud Cinema

There’s nothing better than going to the movies on a really hot day (To me, “really hot” means something above 95 degrees.) and catching a cool new flick while munching some popcorn and sipping a Diet Coke. And I emphasize here that Pepsi simply will not do. It must be Diet Coke.

Not long ago, in a Dallas-area theater that shall remain nameless, I forked over $11 for a bag of popcorn (no butter, thank you) and a Diet Coke, only to watch with utter dismay as one of the staff members brought out a massive plastic bag full of pre-made popcorn, ripped it open and poured it into the “popcorn maker.” 

What?! Was I really paying for some warmed over prefab popcorn imported from who knows where?

Apparently so.

Enter into the Milwaukee scene the Rosebud Cinema Drafthouse. The Rosebud not only has cool plush couches and offers a selection of wine or other mixed drinks, but it also makes its own popcorn. Fresh. Right there in front of you.

And if the fresh hot popcorn isn’t enough, there’s also the fact that it doesn’t deluge you with lots of pre-feature-presentation ads for personal hygiene products like that “Axe” body spray or whitening strips for teeth.

Instead, you can just cozy up, sip your drink, munch some freshly popped popcorn and catch the latest show.

With a whole slew of summer blockbusters like Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Nacho Libre, and Miami Vice coming out soon, I can’t wait.

I Heart Sushi

Several years ago my best friend Candi and I decided we wanted to live abroad. Somehow we concluded that Japan was a good option.

A lot of people we knew thought it was crazy. They said the culture was too different. The language was too complicated. The food was too unusual and we’d probably starve.

We thought it sounded great and applied for visas as soon as possible.

As it turned out, the culture was fascinating, the language wasn’t a completely insurmountable barrier, and we definitely didn’t starve.

(Although I did have quite a time trying to figure out how to use my rice cooker, and thus developed a newfound appreciation for the vast variety of samples distributed in larger supermarkets as well as the ramen noodles and second-rate bento boxes available from a nearby convenience store.)

Anyway, despite the fact that those years in the East are far behind me, I often still find myself craving the fine flavors and artful presentation of Japan. Last time that craving hit I rounded up my gal pals Sam and Kacy and we headed to Sake Tumi.

Located on the same block as Carnevor, Sake Tumi was recently featured on Erin’s blog, Play in the City. It bills itself as a “contemporary Japanese and Korean restaurant specializing in new school sushi, Korean BBQ, and Asian fusion.”

Despite being less than full on the evening we went, the staff opted to seat us on the upstairs landing. We were ushered through the main dining room, past the kitchen, around the restrooms, up a flight of stairs, and down a short hall and finally seated at a table so far from civilization that we started wondering if we had inadvertently broken some Sake Tumi taboo!

No matter, the staff still took good care of us and saw to it that our edamame and gyoza arrived tout de suite.

As we munched on the lightly salted soy beans, a waitress passed by holding a platter with a massive roll called the “Godzilla” maki.

Primal Appeal

The python-patterned wallpaper in Carnevor’s restroom reminded me of a fabulous pair of Jimmy Choo boots I spotted a couple of years ago and in a moment of madness, briefly considered purchasing with the month’s rent money.

Thankfully, dining in the aforementioned restaurant did not present the same dilemma. Since they were participating in Downtown Dining Week, we were able to get a great meal for minimal cost.

Tucked between Cubanitas and late-night hot spot Eve, Carnevor has only been open about six months, but already it has won several coveted awards. Inside tall ebony-hued walls sweep upwards from dark wooden floors, while the glint of yellow lights cast a primeval glow over the tables and bar.

Since the house was completely packed on the evening we showed up sans reservations, the hostess offered to seat us at the bar and provided us with menus created especially for the Downtown Dining experience.  Having vowed to incorporate more fish into my diet, I had to go for the salmon filet with Béarnaise sauce.

Preceded by a salad made with baby field greens and tomatoes with sherry mustard vinaigrette, the salmon and side dishes proved to be small on size but big on flavor. 

Scott’s steak packed even more of a punch – it was cooked to perfection and revealed just why the name of this steakhouse has recently been on everyone’s lips.

Although predominantly known for serving up prime cuts of beef as well as other protein-packed plates laden with pork chops cooked in brandy apple cinnamon sauce, Cornish hen, and lobster tail, Carnevor also offers a nice assortment of soups, salads, and small plates for those not in need of a massive meal. A couple of items that caught my eye were the nested squash, made with seasonal squash, goat cheese, roasted walnuts, and blackberry sauce, as well as the tuna citrus – seasoned raw tuna with micro greens.

Side item selection is also fantastic, the rosemary parsnip puree and potato leek gratin sounded good. And I can personally testify that the truffled mashed [potatoes] are divine; I sampled them courtesy of the girl next to me who overheard me ask the waiter what was in them and shoved a massive bowl my way with an invitation to sample. I simply couldn’t refuse. There were truffles involved, okay?

Anyway – big thanks to you girlfriend, whoever you are. Those truffled mashed potatoes were the highlight of my meal. Scott would beg to differ though; he was most impressed with the mini donuts we had for dessert.

Not just any mini donuts mind you, gourmet mini donuts mounded in a sleek white serving bowl and accompanied by three different dipping sauces – chocolate, cream, and apple. Simple, tasteful, and just enough over the top to make it completely irresistible. Kinda like those Jimmy Choo’s. . .