D Mo's at The Clarke Hotel

The Clarke Hotel has been a topic of conversation since it opened in 2006. A boutique hotel in downtown Waukesha? Who would come to that? Apparently enough to keep it open with occupancy at high levels year round. The restaurant of the hotel has changed formats a few times since it opened. And being in the center of the city, its hard to not see the empty tables time and time again.

However, I think the restaurant has finally found a format that works as the tables have been full almost every night since the new management. The hotel is now leasing out the restaurant space and the two entities are run independently. D Mo's is the name of the new restaurant and I had the opportunity to enjoy a great dinner with my mom there last Thursday.

We got to dinner right around 6 pm and the bar had a large party having cocktails near the fire place and comfy couches. The dining room also had another table of 2 and a large party of 10+ in it. As we ate dinner, more and more of the tables filled up and even though there was the large party in the dining room and bar, the noise was mellowed and did not bother us during dinner.

We were greeted almost immediately by a very cheery server who gave us time to decide on wine and dinner. The menu had appetizers, chops, pasta dishes and salads. My mom and I ordered wine and the prices were not too ridiculous for the pour that we received. (Having worked in liquor retail, I know traditional restaurant markup and it was decent.)

As I heard rumors that the new head chef worked with Bobby Flay in the past, I immediately became consumed with the pasta dishes. The pasta is homemade!! I ordered the Seafood Ravioli in a sun-dried tomato basil cream sauce and I was very impressed with the smell when it was placed in front of me. I took my time to slowly enjoy the sauces and flavors and I think I fell in love with the dish. The seafood was all chopped up and mixed together and I could still tell the flavors apart even though I couldn't see what was what. 5 large ravioli and enough sauce to enjoy with a piece of the warm bread that was served with oil and balsalmic vinegar dipping sauce.

My mom ordered linguine with veggies and veal sausage and it looked amazing. I didn't have a chance to taste it but my mom completely cleared her plate and she never does that. We then decided on chocolate lava cake for dessert. We split it and that too was great. You can't eat it on your own especially after a full pasta meal but for $5 it was a amazing dessert.

We are planning on going back for another dinner and we also found out that they will be serving brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 - 2. The brunch comes with a bellini, bloody mary or mimosa and you choose options from a menu. There are plenty of gourmet breakfast options as well as sandwiches and soup.