Great Lakes Foodie » Milwaukee WI

Crazy Water – Milwaukee WI

Great Lakes Foodie — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:06:27 +0000

For Dale’s birthday dinner, he chose Crazy Water. This restaurant in the fifth ward area of Milwaukee was a great choice. According to the restaurant’s site, this was an old feed building. We sat outside, in the back of the restaurant. However, our walk through the intimate dining/bar area gave us a great feel of the place. It’s clearly a good place for couples to go. Also…a great place for a group of friends. Out in the back, their patio is fully covered with framing, screening and air conditioning (ceiling fans).

We started out with the goat cheese tart appetizer. (This appetizer also makes an appearance on the dessert menu) This was an absolutely delicious choice. The goat cheese enveloped a spread of mint pesto and sweet, decadent fig preserves. The dish was served with two kinds of crackers and grapes on the side. I may have to try to duplicate this at home. Dale had the glazed salmon and I had the trout amandine. Both dishes were delicious. However, I have to talk about one of the sides on my plate, the tomato tarte tatin. I could have eaten this as a standalone dish with just a small, bright salad of bitter greens (coincidentally, bitter green salad was the other side on the plate.) This tomato dish was surprisingly sweet with the delicious, bright, slightly tart flavor of a sun-dried. The catch is that these tomatoes seemed to be fresh! I may have to go back in a few weeks just to have another bite. Having been disappointed with the tomato crop in my garden this year, I feel a bit deprived of good, summer tomatoes this year. Last, we had to have dessert. This is something that we don’t often do…and typically never order if we’ve had an appetizer. Dale ordered the chocolate ganache tart. This tart is an abundance of rich, dark chocolate flavor and definitely was the right size. Any larger and Dale would have gone into a chocolate coma. I had the Door County cherry bread pudding. This was a small, individually baked round of bread pudding. It definitely capitalized on brown sides…giving each bite that great “corner piece” taste.

You can find out more on this great place with the link to their website below. They don’t take email or Open Table reservations at this time.

Crazy Water

839 S 2nd St

Milwaukee, WI

414.645.2606

www.crazywaterrestaurant.com

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Bosley on Brady – Milwaukee WI

Great Lakes Foodie — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 14:25:47 +0000

Last night, we had our annual Bonde cousin gathering marking the first weekend of August. Each year, some or all of Dale’s cousins come to town for the large family reunion that takes place about 90 minutes north of Milwaukee. I have to admit that these four, amazing women are some of my favorites to visit in his family. Each brings her own perspective on life but all have this united, caring attitude that clearly shows the great value system their parents have passed on. Okay, enough about the people…I could go on for days!

We stopped at Bosley for the first time. I can’t believe we’ve never been to this restaurant before.

First bite

Service started with an amuse-bouche of sliced cucumber, goat cheese, almonds, and honey. This very interesting combination did a great job combining sweet with pungent, crunchy with smooth and will be added to my future food pairing plans.

Appetizer

We then ordered a few small plates to share. Some of us had never had conch…so we ordered the fried conch fritters. These golf-ball sized, fried goodies were excellent and served with a sweet chili sauce and a tangy aioli. The other plate we ordered were the tempura green beans. We felt it necessary to order something healthy. Ignore the fatty breading that created an amazing appetizer. The result was a crunchy outer coating with a firm, but softened fresh green bean. They were drizzled with a teriyaki-soy reduction. The only warning on this dish is that it’s HUGE! You may want to ask your server how large the portions are. Otherwise, you may not be able to get to the main course. Last, we were served a small loaf of bread from Peter Sciortino’s bakery. This is a Milwaukee icon bakery also on Brady street. Though a very simple loaf, it was a special point to know that this restaurant partners with local businesses to create a great menu. I only wish that our city had more local bakeries. Unfortunately, our grocery stores in the area tend to focus on frozen dough bake-off to ensure uniformity of appearance and flavor. What happened to the art of baking?????

Main

We all ordered different menu items. Dale ordered the Brown Sugar Salmon. He was very pleased with the dish. Chris ordered the special..which was a mahi-mahi fillet marinated in a lemon olive marinade served over pasta with patty pan squash. It looked absolutely delicious. Liz had a chicken dish that looked fabulous. I can’t remember the name of the dish and their website is not current with the menu. I wound up having the Seafood Symphony. This dish is a series of smaller portion seafood items which included a beautiful, sweet scallop, blackened mahi-mahi, sesame crusted salmon, and butter-poached shrimp. All were over a large portion of risotto and broccolini.

Again, I can’t believe we haven’t been to this great Milwaukee restaurant before. I’m ashamed that I’d have gone to one of our “go to” local spots in lieu of this hot spot. If you have an opportunity to be in town and have a taste for good seafood, try Bosley out. In addition to the great food, our service was professional, attentive, and downright excellent. Last note…our server pointed out that Bosley recently was awarded the Wine Spectator Award for Excellence in 2010.

Bosley on Brady

815 E Brady Street

Milwaukee, WI 53202

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Riptide Seafood Bar & Grill – Milwaukee WI

Great Lakes Foodie — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:46:41 +0000

We stopped at Riptide tonight for dinner. My dad came into town for the weekend and misses our great Milwaukee fish fries. We’ve never been to Riptide, a restaurant on the river in the Third Ward. To our surprise, it was more of a casual restaurant than originally anticipated. Service was great…food was decent…noise was high. I’d definitely come back in the summer and try one of their everyday dishes out on the patio.

Riptide Seafood Bar and Grill

649 E Erie St

www.getriptide.com

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Cubanitas

Great Lakes Foodie — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 03:04:49 +0000

Had a great lunch today with friends. We stopped at Cubanitas. I’ve been there several times in the past…but not for quite a few years. This Cuban restaurant is a great find in the Milwaukee area. I highly recommend it. Try the Cuban sandwich and definitely order a plate of tostones (fried plantain.)

Cubanitas

728 North Milwaukee Street

Milwaukee, WI 53202

www.getcubanitas.com

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Merkt’s Cheese

Great Lakes Foodie — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 15:57:25 +0000

I forgot to tell you about one of my favorite holiday foods…Have you ever tried Merkt's cheese? This processed cheese spread out of Bristol, Wisconsin has been a family staple for years. I tend to stay clear of things like processed cheese spreads…but you have to keep your comfort foods around at Christmas. My favorite flavor is the port wine cheese spread. It's good on just about everything. I've even had it at the Chancery, a local pub & grill chain in the Milwaukee area. What's better than a patty melt smothered in Merkt's cheese! I can say that I've only had two in my life. Each time I have it…I think I might be encouraging a spontaneous heart attack! Oh so good…

Merkt's Cheese Website

Chancery Website

Technorati Tags: Bristol WI, Cheese, Christmas, Milwaukee WI