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Shirley Fong-Torres Visit Shirley's website at www.wokwiz.com and find out about her walking tours of San Francisco Chinatown. (Milwaukee's popular River Walk, above, where you can have a bite on the water -- Greater Milwaukee Convention & Visitors Bureau photo) Because my traveling partner Wroburlto is a bi- polar bear and because I believe that travel, at its best, is an improvisation on confusion, we both embrace cities with identity issues. Milwaukee has long been known as "Brew City" of the Big Four Brewers. It used to be said there that "kitchen sinks come with three taps -- hot, cold and pilsner." Nowadays, Schlitz is a wind-grieved ghost, Blatz is a wistful memory, and the Pabst brewery has been recycled into apartments and offices, living on mainly as a renowned theater. Miller is the only big brewer left, and St. Louis, not Milwaukee, has become the real "Brew City" of America. Yet cute little micro-breweries, many along the new River Walk, ferment the old tradition in a hip third millennium manner.
(Miller Park, a sure sign of the influence of beer in the city -- Greater Milwaukee Convention & Visitors Bureau photo) That suits Milwaukee's image makers, who now call this "New City." That title acknowledges a recent civic renaissance, which has, in just seven years, launched Midwest Air Center - a 188,000 square foot convention facility; Potawatomi Bingo Casino - an ever growing downtown casino; Miller Park - an indoor-outdoor baseball stadium; a high speed ferry to Michigan; a serious River Walk expansion; and an instant civic icon, the Salvador Calatrava addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum. A planetarium and a science center plan to open later this year, and the Harley-Davidson Museum will blast through ribbons in 2008. Yet the "New City" label only half fills Milwaukee's beer stein, at least from the perspectives of two slightly eccentric Californians. To us it seems more like "Chicago the way it used to be," as a T-Shirt proclaimed in the Marquette University neighborhood where we checked into the Ambassador Hotel. Sticking to the nostalgia theme, the hotel is described, without hyperbole, as "an Art Deco jewel." A Pure Example of Deco Design Built in 1928, it's a pure example of Deco design; the hotel's owners just spent $12 million preserving the Ambassador's historic character while updating services and amenities. Anywhere in this place, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers would be in their natural habitat, although the free high-speed Internet connections might confound them for a few steps.
(The Ambassador Hotel -- an example of Deco design in Milwaukee) The Ambassador did what we ask a great hotel to do -- it transported Wroburlto and me to another time and place. Plus, few hotels suit us so well, with shuttle service to the nearby casino (I'm Chinese and the casino is open 24-7!), the baseball ball park (Beat the Dodgers!) and downtown shopping. Most importantly, the hotel restaurant is open for three meals a day and boasts Dan Smith, a great chef who honed his skills under Jeremiah Tower. We love tasteful nostalgia. A rare commodity in California, it is prized like a blue ribbon in Milwaukee. People joke that the German immigrants who dominated the city for a century, and still influence its aura, were too frugal to ever bulldoze an old building and build something new. Thus, the city is filled with marvelous Victorian buildings like the Romanesque Pfister Hotel and the flatiron shaped City Hall. Nearby, a neon flame on top of Wisconsin Gas Building reflects weather forecasts, the Rockwell Clock claims "largest in the world" status and a Helmut Jahn high-rise adds a touch of modernity to the time-warped skyline. On the lake front, the Milwaukee Art Museum best represents the dual personality of the city. Since Native Americans called this spot "Milliocki" for "gathering place by the water," this is the ceremonial birthplace, and tombstone, of the city. You see, in 1957 the great architect Eero Saarinen was given the impossible commission of designing a combination art museum and war memorial. To that inevitable mausoleum, the great architect Santiago Calatrava has now added a wing flapping monument to the eternal spirit of design. But we'll talk more about that after we eat. The Original Comfort Food: Mader's Mader's, Ernst and Karl Ratzsch's were long considered the holy trinity of German dining in America, not just in Milwaukee. Ernst is gone, but the others live on. We chose Mader's because my gay bear has the hots for knights, and Mader's maintains a $3 million collection of medieval Germanic weaponry, stained glass and fine arts. The restaurant began over 100 years ago when immigrant Charles Mader threw his life savings into a small saloon he would name "The Comfort." He offered upscale fare for the times -- steins of Cream City beer cost three cents.
(Wro finds a comfy spot at Mader's, near the $3 million collection of armor and ceramics) He prospered until Prohibition forced a shift of emphasis from beer to the rustic comfort foods of Germany. Wife Celia and daughter Katherine Mader ran the kitchen until Katherine's retirement in 1975, after 52 years as head chef! Pork shanks and wiener schnitzel kept the place out of red ink until April 7, 1933, a date that is remembered in Milwaukee like it is nowhere else. "Happy Day" -- The End of Prohibition. The Big Four brewers survived Prohibition by making other products, many for people who might make beer at home: near beer, juices and chewing gum for Blatz; malt syrup, tonic, cheese and near beer for Pabst; cereal beverage, malt tonic and carbonated drinks for Miller's. Schlitz lost about $17 million on a chocolate venture, but survived on wise real estate and aluminum deals and by unloading their tobacco stocks just before the stock market crashed. Today Mader's "Knight's Bar" is the holy shrine of the German-American brew heart. Few places anywhere give a traveler the sense of having found the soul of a city. Mader's bar proclaims "This is Old Milwaukee, drink my German juices." To that end, they offer over 120 German beers. Mader's "Hall of Fame" of guest imbibers made us think we were in "Las Vegas, the way it used to be." It ranks with that of any of the Strip's showrooms -- Frank Sinatra and Bill Clinton to drop two names among a hundred or so. Any one of Mader's long time employees can tell stories about homeboy Liberace, who frequently kept his private parties here going all night long. There was even a 130 year old, carved oak table and captain's chair that once graced the castle of Baron von Richtofen, yes, the Red Baron himself. A Star-Struck Wro Wro was star struck, but Mommy was more interested in the nobility of comfort food. We ordered some oxtail soup, very unlike the Chinese versions of this dish, with tomato and sherry dominating the stock. We added signature baby spinach salads, with Chef Shawn Monroe's hot bacon dressing. Moving on, we again cross referenced a Chinese classic with roast duck in raspberry-Chambord sauce. Germans eschew the crispy school of duckdom for something more like sweet & sour. Served with sweet potato puree and baby spinach, it was lovely as the North Rhine flag. Wro ordered the classic pork shank that had sustained the restaurant through Prohibition. Today's version is served skinless, another strange concept to Chinese chefs, with an apple demi glace, sauerkraut and red potatoes. We shared a sampler platter that included the other old Mader's specialties: Bavarian sauerbraten that is marinated 10 days and served with ginger snap sauce; pan-fried wiener schnitzel; and a rouladen style beef tenderloin stuffed with smoked bacon, caramelized onions and pickles.
(Don't forget to make some time for shopping in Milwaukee, including the shops at Grand Avenue) We barely had room left for their prize winning dessert service but managed to finish the evening off with some strudel. Back at the Ambassador, I acquiesced to the hotel's siren song - "Come to another time and place." The elevator's double bronze carved doors reminded me happy days half a century and half a continent away, but more easily accessed in Milwaukee than most places. City of Neighborhoods After a light breakfast at Envoy in the Ambassador (which also has a delightful little coffee house serving Alterra, the Milwaukee version of Peets), we headed off for a tour of this city of neighborhoods, starting in the fashionable East Town with its historic churches, shops, museums and theaters.
(The lobby of Milwaukee's Pfister Hotel, which has a 19th-century Victorian art collection) From the Pfister Hotel and its 19th-century Victorian art collection we took a drive along the lake shore where we spotted Roots, a restaurant that uses almost all locally grown produce from farmers who support sustainable agriculture. Then a drive-by of some mansions on the historic East Side and a stop at Comet Café, a scratch cooking diner with over 100 "Craft Beers." Only in Milwaukee do comfort food and beer share the same bar stools. Brady Street tells the story of Milwaukee in an edible manner. This was first the main street for the immigrant German and Polish communities, before Irish settlers moved in. It became predominantly Italian during the 1930s and 1940s. In the '60s and early '70s it became the hangout for Milwaukee's hippies and various underground newspapers. Today, "I Closed Wolski's" bumper stickers are ubiquitous, and that place sits on Pulaski Street, but that was the most Polish thing about it. Brady Street is now one of the trendier neighborhoods in Milwaukee with various ethnic restaurants, pubs and coffee shops and small, hip cafes and specialty food shops. We visited Glorioso's where I found half a dozen whole prosciutto hams from La Quercia, an Iowa company that Wro and I recently visited. They make Parma-style hams (just kosher salt and nature) and use only humanely raised, organic hogs. It's unusual to find their upscale product at all, but to see so much of it in a small store indicated that this neighborhood has the double aged foodie gene. Wro heard a siren calling from across the street at Peter Sciortino's Bakery where we met Maria Vella, whose family owns the place now. She told us about the Sicilian specialty baked goods, which of course we ate, along with cannoli that were filled with fresh ricotta when we ordered them. A devoted shopper could spend an entire weekend on Brady, but we had tickets to a baseball matinee. Milwaukee may not be Brew City anymore, but it's still the Brewers' city. Sausage Race Stadium Appropriate to this time-warp town of multiple personalities, Miller Park is one of those brand new, old fashioned baseball stadiums. On the new side, it has a retractable roof and even retractable windows. They were all closed on the day of our visit; otherwise there would have been no game. Strange as it seemed to be watching indoor baseball, the game got even weirder. Brewers' pitcher Tomo Ohka decided to bat left handed for the first time in his life and he got two hits and four runs batted in! Two other Brewers hit homers, which meant that Bernie the Brewer slid down his slide. He no longer plunges into a huge stein of beer though. We asked for an interview, but were told Bernie is mute. We were also informed that the Klement sausages don't talk either. Wro thinks someone is covering up the fact that these mascots drink too much. The sausages' seventh inning race is as highly anticipated at Miller Park as Barry Bonds home runs are in San Francisco. In recognition of Milwaukee's changing demographics, the Polish, Italian, Hot Dog and Bratwurst sausages decided to let Chorizo join the race this year. But Major League Baseball actually had a rule that prevented this from happening - until Chorizo's green card is approved by the High Commissioner in 2007. I wanted to ask the other sausages if they would also let my Chinese sausage buddy Lob Cheung run. That would improve baseball attendance with Asians, especially if we can bet on the races. After my request to interview the sausages was rejected, I took consolation in a brilliant Brewers' promotion - Baseball Bingo. It combines scorekeeping with gambling and if the Giants offered it I would be forced to learn how to keep score. At any rate, the Italian sausage and the Brewers won that day, so we stopped at the Potawatomi Bingo Casino on our way back to the hotel. En route we noticed a place near the stadium called Long Wong's Chinese Sports Bar and Bowling Alley. Why didn't I think of that?
(Shirley and Wro stopped at the Potawatomi Bingo Casino, whch is growing faster than the speed of roulette) The casino is growing faster than the speed of roulette. Just five years since its last major expansion, it was breaking ground on another. Unwilling to expose his clothes to second hand smoke, Wro visited the kitchen of the Dream Dance restaurant, the only Indian casino restaurant I know of that raises its own meat, including both elk and deer, in a humane manner on its reservation. I visited the black jack tables where the Great Spirit of Numbers blessed Mama Bear. Dan Smith: Envoy to the World We were excited about dinner because the Ambassador's Envoy restaurant is run by Dan Smith, a Jeremiah Tower protégé. Daring like few others, Tower is an authentic genius - even Mark Miller says so and he is one of the harshest judges of American cuisine. Wro says that paring of a daring chef with a unique hotel is "really hot."
(Here's Shirley with Dan Smith of Envoy Restaurant) It isn't exactly what one expects to find in a mid-sized Mid Western city. Dan said that he was enticed to Milwaukee from San Francisco because of relative real estate prices. Wro said it was starting to look like a super lucky day.
(Tandoori Duck Breast plate) Wro loves forbidden fruit of any kind so we tried Dan's -- seared and presented with a yellow tomato sorbet, plus a fried green tomato and a nectar made from Nebraska Wedding tomatoes. The dish married a traditional heirloom groom to a wild bride with splendid tattoos. We toasted them with an unoaked chardonnay from Plantagenet. And then we got serious. Dan confessed that he doesn't visit other fine dining establishments, instead he prowls Asian and Mexican family restaurants. Those influence him as much as the European classics. His take on Milwaukee's traditional fish fry was a fish cake made with fresh lake fish (perch on our night) which otherwise resembles Thai comfort food -- served with cucumber salad and a syrup made from Asian chile oil and Latin chiles.
(Yummy fish cakes made with fresh lake fish!) Dan's escolar jumped all over Asia for inspiration -- seared and laid on its side over Thai-like coconut lime rice noodles, with an herb sauce redolent with South Asian curry and a Japanese melon salad. His rack of lamb was a wild imposition of classic Escoffier preparation on a trio of Thai standards: a green papaya salad that was sweet as picnic cole slaw; a masamam curry; and some coconut cream. I still dream about it. Wro
Orders Carnitas
(Delicious lamb chops from the Envoy Restaurant's kitchen) He said that this dish is one of those "wonderful things that happen when a chef listens to his line cooks." We finished ourselves off with an order of the "fish of the night," which was sous chef Andy Bechaud's whitefish with corn stock. Dessert deranged me, beginning with "Mayan" crème brulee made with dark chocolate and guajillo chile, cinnamon and roasted corn kulfi. It was the finest crème brulee ever, "de-wimped" as Wro put it. Because it was still summer, I felt compelled to also try buttermilk summer shortcake on a house caramel sauce. Wro had a Belgian chocolate bread pudding on fudge sauce, with malted chocolate and a grilled slice of fresh pineapple laid on a pistachio-dusted cheesecake. Oh and a caramelized banana and brunoised mango. Then we split a peach and blueberry pudding with a "strussel top" and fresh whipped cream with a pistachio praline and several kinds of fresh berries from the farmers market. Black berries make me think of black jack. I could barely walk to the shuttle bus to the casino... For more information on travel to Milwaukee, contact the Milwaukee Convention and Visitors Bureau at www.milwaukee.org. Shirley's Milwaukee Touts Ambassador
Hotel Envoy
Restaurant
Mader's Restaurant Potawatomi
Bingo Casino Dream
Dance Restaurant Miller
Park Peter
Sciortino's Bakery Glorioso
Brothers Grocery
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