Braise & Mumford Night

Last night ranks really high on my list of dinner and concert evenings! My friend Shauna and I tried out Braise before the Mumford & Sons concert last night and we were really impressed.

Braise is one of a handful of restaurants in Milwaukee that really focuses on using local ingredients. It is Milwaukee's first Community Supported Restaurant (CSR!) We chose to go to Braise as part of the Eat Milwaukee Challenge, that I found out thru this Nibble, going on now through September 15. I figured if I couldn't make dinner with fresh Farmer's Market fair, I could at least try to eat local and this was a great option. I hope to get to the Waukesha Farmer's Market Saturday and pick up some goodies!

Ok back to dinner. We made a reservation not knowing that the place really isn't very busy at 5:30 on a Tuesday night, but we didn't want to risk the chance of being late to Mumford, so I'm glad we made one. We decided to sit outside on cute copper colored chairs and butcher block-esque tables. Shauna had seen on the restaurant's Facebook page that they offer different sliders each day, however the sliders are only available at the bar and we were already seated outside. When she found out they were a beef and horseradish slider, I thought I was going to be eating solo and texting her while she ate at the bar, but she said she would come back for the sliders some other time.

Our server promptly greeted us with water and fresh bread and butter and told us a bit about the menu. They have a Market Menu each week that is a 3-course meal - either Root-To-Leaf or Head-To-Tail. Last night was a pork option or a heirloom tomato and although tempting, I thought I would be too full if I ordered it. (No one wants a sleepy person next to them at a concert!)

After reviewing the impressive cocktail and wine list, I settled on a Zuma Rosso red and Shauna went with a white wine. I chose the Kale & Quark Tart with tomatoes and chickpeas on the side and Shauna got the Roasted Chicken with feta and veggies. We enjoyed the nice summer breeze and chitty-chatted a bit. On Saturday, Shauna asked me to be her Maid of Honor (squeeeee!!!!!) and so most of the talk revolved around wedding planning. I'm beyond excited and honored to be a part of her and Jack's big day next summer!

I was very impressed with the plate presentation of the food. Everything was so colorful and fresh.

Forgot to grab a shot before I dug in!

My kale was cooked down with onions and oil and placed onto warm Quark (from Clock Shadow Creamery I must assume) inside the tart. It was heavenly and not too rich. The cherry tomatoes were cut in half and scattered amongst chickpeas covered in a Greek yogurt sauce.

Braise Milwaukee

Shauna's chicken breast was sliced over a bed of veggies and she said it was lovely. It was very Greek and she liked the flavors together very much.

We enjoyed another glass of wine each and she got an espresso before we left. She said it was nice and strong just what she needed before the concert. I used the restroom before leaving and they truly are trying to leave as small of a carbon footprint as possible with their place. Actual towels are used to dry our hands and a basket is under the sink for the used ones to go into. Yay for not killing too many trees!

I will definitely go back to Braise for another meal (sliders) and classes. If I enjoy it as much next time, I might consider becoming a member. There are some great perks and I love staying local :)

We drove around for a bit trying to find free/close parking and ended up about a mile away on Barclay and Oregon. It was a beautiful night so we didn't mind the walk.

Beautiful Milwaukee sunset

Our friend Tory's "house" in the distance

The concert was at the Marcus Amphitheater and so before we took our seats, we enjoyed the views (and smells, whew!) of Lake Michigan. We caught it right at sunset. Bear's Den is a great opening act for Mumford, but The Vaccines were a bit too hard for my taste.

Milwaukee from Marcus

Mumford & Sons - Milwaukee

Mumford did not disappoint. I have waiting forever for them to come to town and regardless the review the silly JSOnline reporter gave the show, I thought it was outstanding. The intimate lighting was a highlight for me!

I thought the band was personable and fun while still being crazy-skilled musicians. Marcus choked on a bug during Light and laughed his way through two more songs while he reminisced the scene from Dumb & Dumber about eating a June Bug. Too awesome. Then they zoomed in on an instrument with a sticker that said Milwaukee America's Drunkest City and he told us he has shotgunned a PBR or two in his days! So fun. The lighting, the sound, the voices, the singing along of the crowd - it was a great show.

Mumford & Sons - Milwaukee

Mumford is going to take some time off and just live for a bit and then get in the studio and write and record another album but the plan to be back and I plan to be there!

Foodie Penpal Month 9

I had a really fun and unique opportunity with my Foodie Penpal this month.

First, I will share that I sent my package off to New York with some of my favorite local treats from Allo! Chocolat and Poppin' On Broadway. I received a nice email from her about my package:

I adored the package you sent and have slowly been making my way through it. My favorite was deff that amazing popcorn with the cheese being a close second! Thank you so much for everything :)

Now the really fun part!!!

I had the good fortune of being paired with a Penpal from Wisconsin, and in fact she was so close to me that she suggested we go out to eat together and actually meet up. Yep a Foodie Penpal Meetup!!

Christina is also a local food blogger. We decided to meet up at Cafe Corazon that is known for using many local items in its dishes. I hadn't had the fortune of dining there yet, but heard so many wonderful things about the place.

It's a small restaurant in Riverwest, but just walking in the door, I was overcome with the scent of wonderful mexican spices. Christina had grabbed us a table for two by the bar, which is also near the kitchen and just about everything else because it is so small. But the place was perfectly busy and the outdoor patio was hopping as well. Looks like a patio expansion is on the way for later this summer!

We reviewed the menu and I asked Christina what they were known for. She told me everything was great and she had eaten a lot of the dishes and had no complaints. I settled on the special of the night; tequila orange shrimp and Christina got the tofu fajitas.

I ordered myself a drink called El Diablo that also came recommended from Christina and it was named properly as it was devilishly delicious!!! A perfect combo of tequila, orange liqueur, pomegranate and grapefruit juice.

While we waited for our food, we talked about a few other restaurants in the area that we liked or told the other to try and talked about our blogging. Christina loves to bake versus me that loves to cook. :) I told her about a few of the foodie things that I do around the city, like the MKEFoodies events and she told me about a few blogger groups as well. We hope to meet up at some future events!

Our food came out a short time later and I knew just from the look of the plate, I was in for quite a treat. The shrimp was strong (not overly) with citrus flavor and just a small bite from the tequila. The black beans had a sort of sweet taste to them that was surprisingly different but really, really good. The rice was good as well. I did get corn tortillas with it, but decided to not fill up on those and just eat up all the shrimp.

Christina's fajitas came out sizzling and she was only able to eat about half of the huge portion. It was one of her favorite dishes and she took the rest home in leftovers.

After our plates were cleared, she gave me my Foodie Penpal package and I couldn't wait to look inside.

So many great treats!

I love rice crackers, but didn't know they came in this larger size - JACKPOT!

 Tea! You can't go wrong with tea!!!

I had a strawberry patch when I was a kid and can't wait to grow this!

 

This smooth dark chocolate bar helps restore the Amazon - www.alterecofoods.com. I ate this while writing this post :)

Pepitas are shelled pumpkin seeds and these just happen to be Mexican spiced from a local store . Can't wait to try them.

These cookies reminded me of Ritz crackers with Rolos mushed in the middle that my family used to have at holiday parties. But these are on a gourmet level. The wafers are so light and flaky with a hint of salt and the chocolate creme is almost like mousse in the middle. I will have to ration these like I do my Girl Scout cookies until I find more!

 While watching Mad Men on Sunday, I polished off about half of this bag of popcorn the other night.

I thanked her for the lovely treats and after we paid the bill, we went outside and took a picture. It was a beautiful night out and a great way to end the evening.

If you want to join the fun of the Foodie Penpal program (and maybe have as fun of an experience as I did this month), here are all the details.

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
-Foodie Penplas is open to US, Canadian & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa.

Top 12 of 2012

This was the first year that I really spent quality time on my blog and making fun posts for you all to read. I can't believe that I have over 19,000 pageviews when just a year ago I think I was lucky if anyone read my blog and now I'm averaging 50-100 views a day!

This blog started as a way for me to put a personal diary out in 2007 about my life. But then I realized that I wanted to really share something that people wanted to read about and not a journal of my daily tasks. So I began slowly and kept at it. This year I attended Online BlogCon which really helped boost my readership and I started a Facebook page. It's only up from here.

In 2013, I'm attending the Build Your Blog Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah in February with my friend Tiffany and I can hardly wait! But before I get ahead of myself, here are my Top 12 posts of 2012.

12. Wine Maniacs

I haven't gone back like I thought I would have but the place is still on my list.

11. People's Park 2X

Haven't gone twice in one day but I been back many times. Actually the second time I was at People's that day is when my profile picture for my Facebook Fan Page was taken.

10. Melthouse Bistro

This place is really having fun on social media and offering deals to fans that dress up in Packer gear or know an answer to trivia questions. Not to mention, they are coming up with yummy new sandwiches all the time.

9. Good Friend Inc. Drop N Shop

I wasn't able to attend the Drop N Shop but I have spent more time volunteering for these lovely ladies and can't wait for what 2013 has in store for them.

8. Meiji Cuisine

A Fifth Friday event was held here and it gave me a chance to eat at the sushi bar. This is the best sushi I have ever had and I can't wait for someone to invite me to go again soon :)

7. What a Difference a Year Makes

It's only been half a year since this post but there have been a lot of changes already. I better get to writing those down so I don't forget by July!!!

6. Couch to 5K #3

Although it was a really hot day out, running through a city is such a rush and I can't wait to do it in 2013.

5. Bernie's Tap Room 

I have been back a few more times and I really hope this place makes it. The pizza is amazing and I'm drooling over that beer cheese soup!

4. Cookies for Kids' Cancer Cookie Swap

I am planning to make the Greek cookies early in 2013 because they were so good. And I can't wait to participate again!

3. Fifth Friday Events

The Waukesha County Biz Alliance, and all the wonderful ladies (and gentleman) that work for it put on the best events. I missed the last Fifth Friday at Thunder Bay Grille due to being out of town, but I can't wait to be more of a participant in 2013.

2. Pizza Battle???

Nothing has yet come to fruition, but I really hope that it can happen next year. And there are some additional contestants since I wrote that - The Lucky Rabbit???

And Drum Roll Please.........

1. Make & Take Chocolate Class

Thanks to Allo! Chocolat for sharing my blog post in one of their newsletters as it contributed to this being my most viewed post of 2012. I bought my mom a gift certificate to take another one of the classes as well as some of the nice chocolate discs to melt and coat the biscottis that she is dying to make. 

So those are the most popular posts of 2012. I am surprised at some of them, but I am not complaining at all, just overjoyed that people are actually reading me.

Coming up will be my personal Top 12 highlights of 2012 and my 2013 resolutions goals.:)

A Night Out: Best of MKE - Shepherd Express Style

A few weeks ago, I got an email that shared details about Shepherd Express' Best of Milwaukee event at the Intercontinetal Hotel. It was just $5 for a ticket and said it would have food and beverage samples, giveaways, services and more. My friend Tiffany and I are always looking for fun things to do in downtown and decided to check out this event.

I wasn't really sure what to expect to happen at the event, but we dressed up a little and drove into downtown. I scored an excellent spot just a few blocks away on Broadway and we walked on down to the event.

We were greeted by very friendly event staff and upon entering the room, were overwhelmed with the delicious smells and beautiful people of Milwaukee enjoying some eats. We did a lap around the room, got a Horny Goat and Captain Morgan Black sample and then decided to jump in line for food. We got there at just the perfect time because when I visited the ladies room, the line was down the stairs now.

I will admit off the bat that I was horrible at taking photos and remembering where I ate what from but I will do my best to describe it. From the website, here is an event description:

     Thousands voted in the 22nd annual Shepherd Express Best of Milwaukee readers’ choice awards, and some of the winners may surprise you. We’ll reveal them at this award ceremony and party at the downtown InterContinental hotel, which will feature complimentary food from more than a dozen Milwaukee restaurants and bakeries, including Shahrazad, Motor, Centro Café, Revolucion, Zaffiro’s, Miss Cupcake, Alterra, Zak’s Café, Tazino’s, Kiku, Jow Nai Fouquet and more. The event is open to the public. Admission is $5 in advance, $7 at the door, and the proceeds benefit St. Ben’s Scholarship Fund.

Food tables filled the outer three walls of the ballroom with a large bar in the middle and projection screens on the back wall. We decided to just jump in line and start filling our plates. We started at Shahrazad and had the Hommus (that I am a huge fan of lately) and Kashkeh-E-Bademjan with pita. I picked up a menu and saw they have a Sunday brunch and my menu offered me a $5 off coupon. SCORE! The Kashkeh-E-Bademjan is similar to a hommus dip but made with eggplant, whey and onions. This was absolutely delicious and I didn't grab enough pita, so I used a bun top to scoop up the rest. 

Best of Milwaukee food!

 We then tried some sushi from Kiku that I saw was the Best of Milwaukee winner in 2010 when I drove by their restaurant a few weeks ago. The California roll was super stuffed with avocado (double yum) and the other roll I tried that I thought was filled with mango, but ended up being something yellowish and crunchy was also really good. Sorry I don't know what was in it. 

The pork belly sandwich with crispy deep fried onions was really good from Motor. Tiffany and I split the wrap from Two Bucks which was chicken, peppers, lettuce and a lovely creamy ranch dipping sauce. 

I grabbed a plantain wrapped in wonton from ???? (help!) that was absolutely delicious. My foodie penpal last month introduced me to plantain chips and I am a big fan. This warm plantain "egg roll" was heavenly as an appetizer or a semi-savory dessert. 

We went out into the hallway to eat our findings. In the hallway was the door prize table, dessert tables, massages and photo booth. We registered for door prizes, but I don't think either of us won, however we didn't eat any desserts this night. We headed back into the hall for wine and this is when I caught a glimpse of one of my ex-boyfriends. About three minutes later, I spotted a guy that I went on a not-so-good date with. Funny that in the last week, I have had so much interaction with my past :) 

I grabbed a glass of wine, Tiff went back to get more of the delicious sushi and I waited for pizza from Tazino's. I tried their basil, mozzarella, tomato 'za - excellent. It was a little piece and I wish I grabbed two but I didn't want to be greedy. While munching on these, the awards started and we watched as each place was revealed. 

Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio - very refreshing in a warm room!

Some of the winners were ones that I picked, others I hadn't heard of and a few of the winners surprised me  - like At Random for most romantic bar??? Here is the complete list of winners. 

Best of Milwaukee Award Time

I'm planning to do a post about the winners that I have been to in the next week or so, but I have added so many new places to my ever-growing list, I don't know how I will ever get to all of them! I need to win the lottery and stop working, or grow a money tree but I seem to have misplaced the seeds for that :)

A Night Out: Swig & La Merenda

Me at Swig

Two weeks ago my friend Kathy and I had our monthly dinner out. We decided to go to La Merenda, and after a lunchtime conversation with some co-workers at Rochester Deli (delicious as always), I found out that we probably need to make reservations. When I got back to work, I went to La Merenda's website and saw they have Open Table. If you haven't used this for reservations, you should. It's a great program and you earn rewards. I logged in and found out the only reservations available were 5:45 or 8:30. The early time wasn't possible because I was coming from Waukesha so we picked the 8:30 and decided to check out the Third Ward first.

Because we were using the trusty CityTin again, we decided to check out Swig for wine and maybe an appetizer. We took a table outside because it was a gorgeous night (and NO ONE was inside the place). As we were looking through the menu, I couldn't help but notice that everyone walking by was dressed really well and super fashionable. (Some of the fashions were a little questionable, but I know I had seen them in magazines - just not my style). I then went on my phone and saw it was Fashion's Night Out. I ran into my cousin and Aunt and they were all decked out for the event too. We didn't partake in that and just wanted food and wine :)

Classic Bruschetta from Swig

While we enjoyed the "tableside runway show" we sipped on some wine and enjoyed a delicious bruschetta. The tomatoes that Swig used were perfectly ripened and the touch of oil and cheese was just perfect on the crostini.

When Kathy got to the bottom of her glass of wine, there was a ton of gooey sediment. We mentioned it to our server and she apologized and said she had never seen that in a glass before. We weren't  asking for a discount or anything, but it definitely didn't make us want to stay for another glass. We paid our bill and headed back to the car and over to La Merenda.

I didn't read the address properly so it took us a few trips around the block to find the restaurant as it is all by its lonesome. We found a close spot on 1st Street and walked over. From the outside, the place doesn't look like much but there are some really nice condos/apartments right across the street. I believe the restaurant does valet but there is plenty of close street parking.

We walked in the front door which leads to the bar area that was really full. The host stand was beyond the bar just before the dining room. I asked the host if it was possible to be sat early, but we were fine waiting in the bar if needed. He happily told us that we could be seated then and took us past two large parties in the dining room to a table in the middle (almost 45 minutes before our reservation!)

The room has cement block walls that are painted a warm orange color. Mirrors, artwork and other household decor made the room very inviting. I then realized that all the tables and chairs were different and looked like they would have all been picked up at rummage sales. It's a very comforting concept.

We dove into the menu and asked our server how many tapas two people should order. We were told that the average is 2 - 3 per person and we could order them throughout our meal.  We started with some wine but I was very impressed when I saw all the local beers on the list - YAY Local! (sorry for the dark pics, I didn't want to ruin other diners' experiences.)

We saw one item that stuck out to us right away - the Goat Cheese Curds. I have really gotten into goat cheese lately and the creamy sauce sounded awesome. We then decided on the falafel, empanadas and jerk pork loin in order to try things from all over the world.

We enjoyed our glasses of wine for only a few minutes before the food started to come out. It comes out as it is done so that you can focus on just that one dish at a time. The goat cheese curds from Wisconsin came out first and we dug right in. (Per the menu La Clare Farms goat cheese curds smothered in Tia Paquita chorizo tomato cream sauce over garlic crostini) The curds were fresh, the sauce was perfectly spicy and it all went together so well. In a unique way, it reminded me of the seafood fondue from Thunder Bay Grille.

Goat Cheese Curds

I wanted more, but I decided to eat the next tapa. I stabbed a falafel ball from Lebanon and some tahini sauce and dug in. (Per the menu crispy chick pea fritters served with pickled turnips over tahini sauce) I had only had falafel once before at Casablanca , so I didn't have much to compare to, but it was pretty good. It was a larger ball to be eaten on its own, where Casablanca's were in a wrap. It was still good and he tahini was very flavorful. I liked the picked turnips but Kathy wasn't much of a fan of that dish. It was a little drier and maybe an acquired taste.

Falafel

 

Next I grabbed an empanada from Columbia (Per the menu Savory fried pastry filled with braised grass fed beef, pears, tomato, local beans and Carr Valley sheep’s milk feta, served with a toasted cumin vinaigrette truffled). Yay goat cheese again and they were fried perfectly. I loved the toasted cumin vinaigrette, but I was sad that I couldn't taste the pear, only a lot of meat and beans. That was the reason we ordered it and we couldn't find any pieces in it or taste it.

Empanadas

Last was the jerk pork loin from Jamaica. (Per the menu Hometown Sausage pork loin marinated in Jerk spices and grilled, served over sweet potatoes topped with vanilla mango sauce). This was the largest tapa and so we each had a decent sized piece of pork along with some sweet potatoes. The pork was extremely peppery with a little jerk taste, so using the sweet potato sauce on the pork, helped bring down the bite. The potatoes were amazing! It was a perfect Thanksgiving dish in place of that marshmallow yam thing and I'm going to try it this year.

Jerk Pork Loin

We were so stuffed but both of us saved the Goat Cheese Curds for our last bite. I highly recommend this dish as well as the restaurant. We did enjoy this restaurant during Eat Local Week in Milwaukee but it was almost all by fluke. They use as many local ingredients as possible and the menu changes up often. I definitely want to return with a group of 4 so I can try more items on the menu.

They also have a "rewards program" as I found out in our check sleeve and signed up. When you sign up, you receive 200 points right away, and for every 250, you receive a $25 reward. (This will go a long way here). The points never expire either so you don't have to rush to fit them in in the year.

Until my next post, Happy Eating!