Bacon makes a morning better. I had some for breakfast yesterday, along with a few slices of French toast. Later, I consumed even more. I made a huge batch of bacon wrapped water chestnuts for an afternoon Christmas party and ate half of them myself.
I always say, you can’t trust a cook who won’t eat her own cooking.
But enough about my frightfully unhealthy eating habits and what I’ve been baking. Let’s talk about another kitchen. Specifically, the kitchen at Café Hollander and the thing they serve that, in addition to bacon, can make a bad day look even brighter.
I’m talking about frites, of course. Thinly sliced and cooked to a crispy, golden perfection that I naively only thought fast food places like McDonald’s could produce en masse to my satisfaction, the fries at Café Hollander are served up in true European fashion with honest-to-goodness real mayonnaise or one of their other dip selections, which rage from garlic aioli or Sriracha mayonnaise to honey mustard or basic ranch.
Occupying the corner across from the Downer Theatre, Café Hollander’s exposed brick walls, dark wood tables, and abundance of available beer (Belgian and otherwise), exudes the air of a longstanding European bar or coffee shop where you’d pop in for a drink or something to eat, and feel equally at home whether you were discussing the latest novel you read or celebrating the win of your favorite soccer team.
With its warm atmosphere, friendly staff, and abundance of twinkle lights lending a festive, holiday spirit to things, it seemed a natural place for us to gravitate to on a blisteringly cold evening earlier this week. Well, it actually wasn’t that warm inside. All three of the people seated next to us were still wearing their coats, and once I took my own coat off and felt the slight chill hanging in the air, I thought about putting it on again. Like a lot of restaurants, I think the thermostat is usually set to suit the staff, who no doubt works up a sweat running back and forth between tables or dishing up food in the kitchen, while patrons huddle over the single flame of a lighted candle for warmth.
But eventually the heat was cranked up, amber-hued pints of beer, were downed, paper-wrapped cones of frites ($5.00) were consumed, and the people next to us shed their heavy outwear and looked a lot more comfortable. We bit into some large, juicy burgers, and equilibrium was restored.
I had the Hollander burger ($9.50), a pan seared patty of beef topped with sautéed mushrooms and Swiss cheese, while Scott tired the slightly spicy Tulip burger ($9.00), which is made with ground turkey, bell peppers, and onions then layered with some lettuce, tomato, curry ketchup and Sriracha mayonnaise.
If burgers aren’t your thing, Café Hollander also offer a few classic breakfast items all day or you might want to go for one of the more traditional entrée items such as mac and cheese, steaks and frites, Benelux meatloaf, or the everyday fish fry. But whatever you do – don’t miss the frites. They’ll make everything better.
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Café Hollander
2608 N. Downer Ave.
Milwaukee, WI
(414) 963-6366
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