Each Friday at 8am on 88Nine, Milwaukee Magazine’s dining critic, Ann Christenson, and 88Nine foodie Tarik Moody discuss Milwaukee’s culinary and restaurant culture.
On this week’s show, we talked about the new Scandinavian bar & restaurant, Valhalla located in downtown Milwaukee. We also discussed the annual Milwaukee Oyster Roast, Merriment Social's new lunch menu, a unique pop up dinner at Phoenix Cocktail Club, and the Gypsy Cow Pop Up.
Valhalla
Milwaukee has a new restaurant and bar that serves Scandinavian food and drink called Valhalla. Located at 215 W Highland Ave, Valhalla will serve dishes from several Scandinavian countries like Sweden, Denmark, and more. You will be able to get dishes like a Danish hot dog, which is a extra long Frank in natural casing topped with fried crunchy onions, raw onions, thickly sliced pickles and choice of sauce. Other items include Norwegian fruit salad, Swedish meatballs and Lefse which is a Norwegian potato pancake topped with a variety of toppings. Check out Valhalla's menu here.
Merriment Social's new lunch menu
Beginning March 28, Merriment Social will serve lunch. They will offer a wide variety of dishes from salads, small plates, sandwiches, hamburgers (including a veggie burger), and more. Plus, they will be serving three types of fried chicken – Red Hot, Georgia Gold BBQ and The O.G. And if you don't have to go back to work after lunch, you can get one of their adult milkshakes like the Sarsparilla (dark rum + butterscotch root beer, cherry bark vanilla bitters, ginger snap frosting, butterscotch oreos).
Milwaukee Oyster Roast
On April 1, the 14th annual Milwaukee Oyster Roast will take place at Black Swan in the Third Ward. The oyster roast will benefit Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
The evening features all-you-can-eat, steamed South Carolina oysters alongside a mouthwatering mix of creole and low-country comfort foods provided by Milwaukee's very own Maxie’s. This year we're shipping 50 bushels of "cluster" oysters up from Bowens Island, South Carolina, home of one of the most renowned oyster shacks in the U.S.
You can find more information and tickets here.
Sprezzatura's “A Bitter Embrace” pop up
“A Bitter Embrace” will be featuring 9 bitter spirit flights, five cocktails, and three courses + dessert for a mere $80/person. The first ten reserved seats will receive a copy of Spritz: Italy’s Most Iconic Aperitivo Cocktail, with Recipes by Talia Baiocchi and Leslie Pariseau.
Dinner will be held at The Phoenix Cocktail Club (785 N. Jefferson St., Milwaukee WI) at 6PM on Sunday, April 2, 2017. Gratuity is not included in the ticket price; please inform us of allergies when making your reservation. Nota bene: seating is limited, so book quickly!
This dinner is kind of in reverse pairing-wise. Cocktails were drawn up and then the chefs had to come up with courses to pair. The idea is to combine Italian flavors and spirits with the flavors of other regions. For instance, we have a cocktail that is French cognac and Campari, so the course is part french, part Italian.
Sprezzatura brings modern Italian Aperitivo drinks and cuisine to Milwaukee, WI.
Gypsy Cow Pop Up
Today(3/24) at Bumstead Provisions in Bay View, Chef Mitch from Gypsy Taco welcomes Oconomowoc's Crafty Cow from 5-9 pm to introduce Crafty Cow to Bay View. The Gypsy Cow Pop Up will feature two special Crafty Cow burgers and a collaboration Butter Burger Taco and of course all the Gypsy Taco favorites.
