Each week on This Bites, dining critic Ann Christenson from Milwaukee Magazine and Radio Milwaukee’s resident foodie Tarik Moody dig into the city’s culinary and restaurant culture to help you find new spots, old favorites and the best ingestibles around Milwaukee.
So this is the podcast version of when a server comes back to your table and tells you the thing you ordered isn’t available because the kitchen just ran out of some crucial ingredient. The ingredients, in this case, are Ann and Tarik. I was told we were supposed to get a new shipment in time for this episode, but it seems to have been delayed.
I can, however, direct you to a few other things on our menu of culinary news items from this week. We have three very nice meaty entries, starting with a playful dish about the former location of Punch Bowl Social near Fiserv Forum.
The folks from Bars & Recreation — who own (among other things) the NorthSouth Club right next to our studios — will open The New Fashioned, which a release said will include “local food and drink favorites, immersive entertainment and a curated retail marketplace.”
For those of you who enjoyed the “Bowl” portion of Punch Bowl, it appears the alleys will remain operational. The full restaurant and beverage service will also carry over to what the release called “a modern state-of-the-art facility.” Details about an opening date were scarce, but Bars & Rec did say there’s more information to come in a Jan. 24 press conference with the Milwaukee Bucks.
If you’re looking for something a little earlier in the dining day, The Wolf on Broadway has added a weekend brunch to its offerings a scant six weeks after its official opening. With the new-restaurant smell still very much lingering in the air, The Wolf’s owners felt comfortable expanding service — and why not considering its sister (or uncle) eatery a mile and a half north?
The brunch menu has a little of the traditional (the simply named “Eggs and Toast and Meat”) and a lot of the creative, including a Fruity Pebble Parfait, Pandan French Toast and Breakfast Noodles of the ramen variety. The food lineup will be available only on Saturday and Sunday because that’s how weekends work.
Sticking with the daylight hours, we also got news this week that the developing Vel R. Phillips Plaza on Wisconsin Avenue just across the street from the Baird Center is on the verge of officially getting a food-and-beverage operator. Nomad Coffee Bar will open its second location in the space, provided it gets the final nod from the city’s Redevelopment Authority at a Jan. 18 meeting.
With things still waiting for a stamp of approval, details are scant about what kind of menu we can expect at the plaza. Nomad Coffee Bar’s location on North Warren Avenue serves everything from breakfast sandwiches and burritos to soup and salad, as well as drinks that range from coffee to … coffee with alcohol (jokes aside, there’s also tea and smoothies and such).
We’ll skip the usual list of other news this week in favor of some quick links if you want to learn about Tosa’s Mex Avenue coming to Crossroads Collective, Mae Velma’s Corned Beef adding a third location or the three new bars expecting to open this month in Milwaukee. Hopefully, that tides you over until Ann and Tarik’s definitely-not-kidding-this-time return next week.
