Valentine's Day in Downtown Waukesha

Whether you have been struck by cupid's arrow or not, this weekend in downtown Waukesha will be great to wine and dine. Here are just a few of the many Valentine's Day specials going on. I hope to enjoy one of these with my fiance!

Yes, he is no longer just "my guy" as he surprised me on New Year's Eve and proposed in front of all of our friends at our NYE Party. I cried happy tears and then we really celebrated the night!

So here are some places to enjoy with the loves in your life this weekend.
225 South - Mia Famiglia is offering Valentine's Specials Friday - Sunday with entrees from Italy, France and Mexico, in addition to great live music. Make a reservation to get yourself a spot and they would like to remind guests that there is a parking structure with plenty of spaces just three doors down from them right on South Street.

Meli is also putting together a Valentine's Menu and I'm waiting to see the details of that.

Spring City Wine House has a full weekend of live music:
(From their Facebook Page)
 Friday, February 12th: Rebecca & The Grey Notes will be playing from 7-11.
Saturday, February 13th: Keith Pulvermacher will be playing from 7-11.
Please come support the local musicians, drink some wine.. and you never know, they may play some love songs just in time for Valentine's Day!

Crush Wine Bar will be having a magician on Friday night and live music throughout the weekend. Enjoy chocolates from Fazio's or a lava cake with your wine!

Pick up a sweet treat to enjoy this weekend from Periwinkle's Bakery on Broadway. February is the month of love and they have all sorts of treats to help you indulge your sweet tooth.


Eric's Porter Haus - Featuring Fish Frys on Wednesdays and Fridays during Lent and also New York Strip for $38.95, 8oz. Filet and a 8oz.Lobster Tail, w/2 sides and dessert for $56.95, 16oz. New York Strip w/2 sides and dessert for $38.95 and finally Prime Rib Dinner King and Queen Cut w/2 Sides. King Cut $30.95 and Queen Cut $25.95

Key Westconsin - We will be featuring our Surf and Turf (a 5oz Steer filet and a 5oz lobster tail) for $19.99.

Bernie's Tap Room - From their FB Page: Whether your Drinking Partner is Hot or Sweet we have the perfect Dragon's Milk Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout beer for you - New Holland Dragon’s Milk Reserve with Raspberries -or- New Holland Dragon’s Milk Reserve with Toasted Chilies (Chili de arbol peppers have earthy hotness but not totally crazy) - or the Original Dragons Milk with just the Bourbon - Try it with any of our Pizza's especially our new Bacon Pizza! Live Music Friday at 8:00 PM - Kevin Patrick and Greg Gerard (May I also recommend the Duck Confit flatbread!)

 
Other hot spots that you can check out for a great meal with your loved ones that I recommend include.

Magellan's on Main Street for a great 'za - try one of their 40 options or make your own

Mia's for Italian

The Clarke Hotel is decked to the nines for Valentine's Day - enjoy their great fish fry on Friday or their great Irish entrees.

La Estacion for some Mexican dishes and Margaritas

No matter where you go and what you do on Valentine's Day - remember it's an all around day of love. Enjoy it!

Meli & Waukesha Civic Theatre

The power of social media lead me to a great night out in Waukesha earlier this month. While scrolling through my news feed on Facebook, I saw that a friend posted that her daughter was going to be in Shrek the Musical Jr. at the Waukesha Civic Theatre. It looked to be a really cute show, and the tickets were extremely reasonable, so I bought a pair for my guy and I to check it out.

I also had my heart set on dinner at Meli to check the place out for a meal. Unfortunately, my guy came down with a horrible bought of pneumonia and couldn't attend. But mom came to the rescue and filled in for him. She was on board for my plan of checking out Meli.

We arrived very close to 5 pm and the place was already starting to fill up. We chose a high top table across from the bar and too a look at the menu for a few moments. I had a really hard time deciding what to get because everything sounded so amazing.

Being the person that I am, and my friends will definitely get a laugh out of this, I ordered the Grilled Flanksteak and Hummus Flatbread. My mom too went with a Flatbread - the Mediterranean Grilled Chicken.

 It didn't take long for our food to come out though the restaurant was filling up nicely. The bar was very busy. My mom's flatbread was almost like a chicken gyro with tzaziki sauce and all. A gorgeous side of fruit accompanied the flatbread. She told me it was delicious.

 My flatbread was really good too. The chimichuri sauce added another layer of great flavor to the dish. The hummus was light, the steak was cooked to perfection and so tender. I ended up eating most of it off the pita and then enjoying the pita at the end. I got a side of sweet potato fries and honey mustard dipping sauce with my flatbread. The honey mustard is the best! I won't say that I made the best choice pairing sweet potato fries with the flatbread, but both of these items would be excellent on their own!

 By the time we left at a little after 6, the restaurant was hopping. I think every table was full, the bar was full and outdoor dining too! Friday Night Live draws a nice crowd to downtown and I hope that these people continue to patronize the businesses even after the event is over in Fall.

We had a little time before the play started so we wandered through a few shops in downtown before heading over to the theatre. While waiting for the show to begin, they have a video screen with cute stats about the production.

 I also received a pamphlet in my show program about movies that the Civic Theatre is hosting once a month. In October, it's Hocus Pocus and in December it's Elf. Just $5 to see the film.

Photos were prohibited during Shrek the Musical Jr., but it was really cute. I laughed a lot and had a smile on my face for most of the show. And I will say that my friend's daughter received the most laughs of all when she debuted as Lord Farquaad.

Though this show is done for the year, the Civic Theatre has an excellent line up this season with a little of something for everyone. I even received a voucher in the mail for a buy one, get one on a future show - excellent!  I will make one suggestion if you come to a show--it's a bit chilly in the theatre so dress accordingly. The performers are wearing more layers and have hot lights on them, so I understand why it was cooler, but I was ill prepared and couldn't wait to get outside into the hot summer night after the show!



So thank you to Facebook and my friends because my mom and I had a wonderful night in Waukesha. As for my guy, he is recovering nicely and we hope to be out in downtown soon for a bite to eat!

225 So. - Mia Famiglia

Ever since I heard that 225 South was opening in Waukesha, I wanted to check it out. Finally, last week Thursday, a few of my girlfriends and I found a night that our schedules aligned for a dinner, and we chose 225 South - Mia Famiglia for our dinner.

My parents used to frequent the Mia Famiglia in Hales Corners until the restaurant closed to focus on retail business. The food was fresh and always made to order. A friend of mine also took a cheese-making class at that location. When I heard that Mia Famiglia was coming to Waukesha, I followed the construction updates regularly. And then when it opened, I watched for reviews. From everything I read, it sounded like this was a Waukesha-favorite already!


I got to the restaurant a little earlier than my friends and took a seat at the bar. I was greeted by a friendly bartender who told me about the Happy Hour specials and the house-made sangria special. I selected a glass of the red sangria and took in the ambiance.

The garage door was open on the front of the location, allowing passersby to look in and see (and smell) the restaurant. The garage door area also serves as additional bar seating with stools so you can look out the door and check out downtown Waukesha. A few high top tables are in the front of the restaurant and then some low tables are down the middle. Against the side wall is a long booth with tables and chairs so they can accommodate groups of all sizes. 


During the ten minutes that I waited for my friends, quite a few groups came in for dinner. This is a great thing to see at a local establishment. Everyone seemed really friendly and ready for a great meal!

My friends joined me shortly and we got a table in the middle of the restaurant. Our server (Carrie, Kari, Kerry?) greeted us and because it was all of our first time here, she told us about the menu. Most items are homemade and made to order --a few are not, but most entrees are. She also said they try really hard to locally source as many products as they can, and the fresh produce they are using currently is from local farms. I love that they are being locally responsible! She gave us a few minutes to look over the menu and then came back to take our order.

We each had a hard time choosing which dish to go with as so many sounded good, but we all knew we wanted pasta. I decided on the Rigatoni, and my friends chose the Mac and Cheese and Fettuccine. My friend also ordered the Bruschetta as an appetizer for us to try.

The Bruschetta came out just a few minutes later and looked absolutely divine. The tomatoes were so red and juicy and the aroma was delightful. The bread was lightly toasted and the tomatoes were piled high across the toast. It tasted even better than it looked and I highly, highly recommend this to everyone that dines there.

Our entrees came out a little while later. Because everything is made to order, the dishes do take a bit to come out, but it's not an unbearable length of time. We had time to catch up on what we have each been up to the last few weeks. I also noticed that the restaurant was almost completely full, bar area included. This is a great sign for a new restaurant.

When the entrees arrived, we were all extremely impressed. Portions were very generous and the food smelled amazing. And then the table got extremely quiet because we all dug in and couldn't stop eating. Everything was exceptional!

About my entree -- the chicken was possibly pulled from a rotisserie chicken as it had that flavor to it. The cream sauce was delectable but not overwhelming. It did have a little pepper kick, but knowing my taste buds, it's probably a pretty typical amount of seasoning. The dish was also generous on mushrooms and everything went together so well.

I took about half of my meal home, as did my friend with her mac and cheese. My other friend's entree was so good, she finished the whole dish. I bet I would have if I was her too, the shrimp looked so appetizing! Not to mention, shrimp doesn't reheat as well as chicken or mac and cheese, so it's best to eat it fresh.

We didn't save room for dessert, but Carrie told us to definitely save room next time. And we will, because we will definitely be returning! The have a great happy hour special until 6 pm with drink, appetizer, and flatbread specials. And I read on their Facebook page that they have late night specials as well on the weekends.

Serrano's

My guy and I are slowly eating our way around the city and its Mexican food establishments. We have tried El Sol de Mexico, La Estacion, The Spot (tex-mex flair) and recently we checked out Serrano's.

I had been to Serrano's once before with my friend Tiffany and we both really enjoyed our meals. I had a watermelon margarita that was amazing - so refreshing and unique. I knew that I wanted to come back again soon.


I told my guy about this place and how it's off the beaten path but the parking lot is always full of cars. We tried to go here on Cinco de Mayo but the parking lot was completely filled and we would have to wait too long to eat. But that didn't mean we weren't planning to never try again.

We finally made it to Serrano's a few weeks later and had a wonderful dinner. They sat us at a high top table in the bar and gave us some chips and salsa to start. I love homemade chips and these were nice and crispy. The salsa had a mild kick, but was very good.

The menu had plenty of options and it was hard to slim it down. I chose the chicken enchiladas. I was very excited that it came with a side of guacamole as it's not often you get it on your plate. The chicken enchiladas were scrumptious - plenty of flavor in the meat AND plenty of meat. This enchilada was huge! The guacamole and sour cream helped calm my palate a bit with the red sauce. It wasn't overly spicy, but you know me and my sensitive buds.

My guy chose the Tilapia tacos and loved them. The fish was seasoned well but it didn't overpower the flavor. We both agreed the rice was a little bland but we really enjoyed ourselves.

I think we would return. They have a nice patio outside to grab a cocktail on a warm night. And being close to the freeway, this would be a nice meeting point for me with my friends that live all over the five-county area.

Ride & Dine

Earlier this year, I was treated to lunch at a client's office and they served us pizza and bread sticks. The pizza box was unmarked and really tasty, so I asked where it was from. They told us they have a great relationship with Ride & Dine just up the street and order them all the time. I made a mental note to definitely try them out myself soon.

Lent time came around and fish frys are extremely popular meals to eat on Wednesdays and Fridays for Catholics (or really anyone that lives in Wisconsin). I saw on Facebook that Ride & Dine offers a nice fish fry at a very reasonable price so I called them and placed an order to go. I scheduled the pick up for a certain time and when I stopped in, the order was ready to go and piping hot.

Even in the short drive to my guy's place, the food stayed very warm and crispy. Each fish fry comes with 3 nice-sized pieces of battered fish, french fries, rye bread, coleslaw and tartar. I splurged and order the deep fried pickles too. Everything was great. The fries were super crisp on the outside and mushy on the inside. I call this a double-fried fry, but I'm not sure that is the right term. The coleslaw was pretty basic, but a little pepper added by yours truly made it tasty.

And the pickles were really yummy. They come with a dill ranch dipping sauce. I like that they are spears and not slices because I can taste more of the pickle and not the breading. We were big fans and had almost clean plates by the end. There was so much food, we just couldn't finish it all.


I kept this place in mind the next time I needed a good meal. One evening, after running a few errands, I ended up heading to my guy's place. They had already had dinner, so I stopped into Ride & Dine and scoped out the menu for something delicious. I decided on the pulled pork and took the menu's suggestion to try it with melted cheese. I again order the fries because I liked them so much last time.

I took a seat at a table while they prepped my meal and checked out the decor. Though I don't have confirmation from anyone at the restaurant on this theory, the name makes more sense to me. There were jersey's hanging on the walls that I believe to be from motor-cross racing (or another type of racing). I am guessing the owner has a love of riding and dining :)

The menu hangs behind the counter on a very tall wall and though they offer a lot of items, I didn't find the menu overwhelming.

My meal was ready in a few minutes and I headed off to my guy's place. I ate as soon as I got there and the sandwich was wonderful. The pulled pork had a lot of flavor with some BBQ sauce mixed in and the addition of melted cheese is a must. It really brought another level of savory, deliciousness to the sandwich.

I was a member of the clean plate club that night and I can't wait to go back and check out the place again soon. They are very active on social media and post pictures of their food and specials frequently. This really helps show their diverse menu. They are closed on Sundays but open Monday - Thursday 11 - 2 and 4 - 8. Friday and Saturday they are open 11 - 9. Definitely take a ride and dine with them soon! (pun intended)

Pasta Sarah

A few weeks ago, my creative juices were flowing and I decided to make a pasta dish for dinner. I didn't really know what I wanted to make, so I just grabbed some ingredients out of the fridge and let the magic happen. 

I had some Italian sausages from Sorgs Quality Meats and Sausages so I chopped them up and decided to pan fry them. browned them and made sure they were cooked through and then removed them from the heat and set them on the side.

 I boiled up some Fettuccine noodles in salted water.

 Then I grabbed some zucchini, gold and red cherry tomatoes and chopped them up.

I put them in a pan with a little EVOO and sauteed them for a few minutes. The spinach wilted really nicely.

Then it was time to put it all together. I chose to cut up the sausage a bit more to 1) make more pieces in the dish and 2) make the pieces more bite size. I received a small tasting of Tomato & Basil cheese from World Market and decided to shred it up and add it to the dish.

I added just a bit of the leftover pasta water to keep it from gluing together and then added some grated Parmesan to complete the dish. In a matter of 10 minutes, this meal was done.

This came together really quickly and smoothly and I think the cheese is what made the meal have such great flavor. I'm sure I won't be able to make this meal taste the same again, but I'm really proud of my creativity. I shall call this Pasta Sarah.

Oconomowoc Night Out

My friend Kacey had his birthday last week and invited his friends out for a night of food, drinks and fun in Oconomowoc.We started at Lakerz because they have ample seating for a large group. Check out the birthday boy anxiously awaiting the arrival of his friends (or food, not quite sure which was more important at that moment - LOL).

Our server was absolutely amazing. She wrote down very little and remembered just about everything. At one point our group was up to 18 people and she kept on top of drinks and even separated all our checks at the end.

I was told their burgers are superb and they have a lot of them on the menu so I knew I was going to order one. I went outside the norm and order the Brie burger with chips. It had brie cheese, apricot chipotle spread, mushrooms and bacon. I made a wise choice as this was excellent. I like that the bacon is made into a circle and holds the sauce on the burger. The brie cheese melted from the heat of the patty and made it delicious. The burgers are cooked medium well, but mine was actually more medium. No complaints and I enjoy a my burgers a little more pink.

They also have cute presentations for some of the burgers. Everyone finished their meals with extremely satisfied bellies. But a discussion was started about which place in Oconomowoc has the best burger. The discussion was between Lakerz or Crafty Cow. It seemed to be a 50/50 split from those that have tried both. Unfortunately, I haven't eaten at Crafty Cow yet to try theirs, but they stuff the fillings between two patties to make a unique burger. I'm hoping to try it out soon and weigh in.

Kacey even got a free birthday shot - he let our server pick and we believe it was a Slippery Nipple because it tasted like butterscotch. He liked it until he found out the name.

Kacey's Birthday Gang at Lakerz.

Something interesting that Lakerz just added this past week is The Lobster Zone. I didn't believe it was actually a game at first, but sure enough, you can pay $2 and try to pick up a lobster. If you get it, you get it cooked for you for free. "You catch it, we cook it" is the slogan on the machine. Not sure it's my thing but it definitely drew people in to check it out.

Next up we made a stop at Crafty Cow for a some "fancy beers" as Kacey called them. Though the place looked really busy, the host quickly pulled tables together for our group and sat us near the back - yay for not having to wait! The only unfortunate thing about this spot is the slow closing back door. A wave of cold came over the table every time someone opened it. Apparently the door used to have a sign asking people to not use it unless necessary, but there was no sign and we shivered from time to time.

Crafty Cow has an industrial-art vibe on the inside - exposed heating and cooling vents and unique art on the wall. I didn't get a good look at the bar area, but they do have plenty of beers on tap and it changes often.

I was able to find some new beers to try and liked them. I would definitely come back for a beer atan and I definitely need to come back for a burger. But until summer, I don't want to sit near in the back of the bar.

Our last stop for the night was Splash.  I have been here before and really like the martinis. It also had a patio that overlooks a lake and is really beautiful on a summer night.

Kacey received a free drink on his birthday, but he has to show his ID. This began the discussion of all of us showing our IDs and how different we look since we got them.

I ordered the Wild Elderberry Martini that would be awesome to sip on a hot summer night. It was refreshing and lemony.

The favorite martini of the group is the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and this is Splash's signature drink to. Our server told us the recipe is top secret and even the employees have to sign a waiver that they won't give out the recipe.

There was a band playing live music and our friends Angie & Jeremy that recently got engaged, went up and danced a bit. It was really cute to see them so in love.

All in all it was a great night in Oconomowoc with merriment had by all. Downtown Oconomowoc is similar to downtown Waukesha with the selection of bars and shops. I have never shopped in downtown, only enjoyed the eats and drinks, but I think I will have to change that soon.

Door County Weekend Trip - Part 1

My guy decided that we needed a little getaway and asked if I was interested in a long weekend in Door County. I jumped at the opportunity for a mini-vacation with him and checking out a part of the state that I haven't been to in decades.

We headed out Friday morning and had a smooth ride up to Sturgeon Bay.

Once in Sturgeon Bay, we stopped at The Draft Haus for lunch. The bar has a nautical, sports bar feel - light fixtures made out of boat wheels and awesome etched mirrors with sports team logos on them. Our server recently moved from Milwaukee to the DC--she welcomed us and told us a bit about the area. It was at this bar that I tried the only Door County beer of the weekend, Door County Brewing Polka King Porter. It was pretty heavy with coffee and hops but it warmed me up on the cold day.

From the menu, I chose the Asiago Chicken sandwich that came topped with a sundried tomato and kalamata olive spread. It was really tasty. The warm chicken melted the spread and brought the flavors together well. 

My guy had a giant walleye sandwich, that was the special that day. It came with fresh tomato and really good tartar. I found out my guy doesn't understand the value of a pickle after a meal. That is one of my favorite parts of the meal! A crisp pickle spear is lunch's dessert. I got half his pickle from him :)

After lunch, we had some time to burn before we could check into the B&B, so we decided to drive around and explore. The Wisconsin Motorcycle Memorial is in Sturgeon Bay, so we made a stop hoping to pay our respects to a fallen rider friend. I found out from the family that this park is the only one of its kind in the US currently. Although the memorial bricks were covered with icy snow, and we couldn't find his, the park was very peaceful. You can see and feel the love that friends and family of fallen riders have put into the park.

After the memorial stop, we tried to check out a few stores on Hwy 42 but had no luck--they were closed for the season. We back-tracked to downtown Sturgeon Bay and walked the main drag, wandering in and out of stores. We found a great antique shop and picked up some unique finds, and the owner suggested we check out two other antique shops in the city that would be open this time of year. We also found a candy shop with amazing chocolate dipped pretzels, a home decor store with cute Christmas items on sale, and a really interested kitchen gadget store. You want a gadget, they had it!

Then it was time to head to the Chanticleer Guest House and check in. It's out of town a bit on a back country road. When we arrived, I already loved it. The barn building is adorable from the outside and it's the main building for the B&B. Next to it is another building with guest rooms and both face an open field where we saw lots of animal prints in the fresh snow. I'm sure in the morning, guests see lots of wildlife.
  

We met one of the owners and got the key to our cabin. Chanticleer built four cabins across the road from the main building tucked into a wooded area. My guy thought this would be a little more private for us and we would have our own kitchen to cook together in. He is always thinking about my love of food, not to mention he is a huge fan of my cooking :)

Here is a video tour of the cabin.

Because my video doesn't do justice to the beautiful sunset, here is our view from the upstairs of the cabin.

Although we had a full kitchen, we did decide to go out to eat for night one. Many friends told me we had to try Wild Tomato and to get there early so you don't have to wait. Wild Tomato is located in Fish Creek, so we got in the car and headed north up the peninsula. We arrived shortly after five pm and the restaurant was already hopping. It's not a very large place--a community table for eight, six tables of two and a bar that seats four people is the entire dining area. The wood-fired oven is viewable from all the tables. It was very awesome to watch the cooks toss the dough in the air and move the pizzas around in the oven.

The last seats left in the place were at the community table, so we joined another couple whose meal was already in progress. We picked out wine and beer to enjoy and then had the daunting task of deciding on a pizza. Everything sounded so good and the place smelled soectacular. Our server informed us that we could do half and half but substitutions aren't allowed. I let my guy pick and he made the decision to do half Fun Guy and half Sausage and Pesto.

The pizza was beyond amazing. The crust was thin and crisp at the edges but softer in the middle. Our server brought us freshly grated Parmesan too. My first piece was the Pesto and Sausage. The sausage had a ton of flavor and wasn't too spicy. The pesto tastes fresh and was a nice compliment to the sauce and sausage. I really enjoyed this slice, but it didn't compare to the Fun Guy slice I had next. The onions were caramelized perfectly and the garlic cream cheese sauce was amazing. I couldn't figure out all the different mushrooms but each held its own on the pizza. My guy loved the Sausage and Pesto the most and raved about the sausage and how much flavor it had.

I wanted to eat more but I just couldn't find any more room in my tummy. We took half the pizza back with us to the cabin. Then it was time to for us to relax after a long day of driving, shopping and eating.

My guy made us some of his Whiskey Old Fashioned Sours and we enjoyed some time in the Whirlpool tub while watching the Food Network and having the fire place going. I was in heaven and it was only day one. Stay tuned for Part 2 of the vacation coming soon!