Punch Bowl Social - MKE

We are very fortunate to live in an area that provides a vast variety of entertainment options. In Waukesha alone the variety is amazing. But by traveling just 30 minutes, the variety expands ten-fold.

I was provided an opportunity to check out Punch Bowl Social in the new Bucks Entertainment Block before it opens on Saturday. They allowed area influencers in during their soft opening week and gave us the royal treatment. I brought my friend Tory along to check it out with me--it's always more fun when you go with someone you know. Special thanks for the use of some of her pictures as well!

Punch Bowl Social (PBS) is located directly east of the Fiserv Forum. The roads have been reworked in that area so that there is an open air space and 4th Street no longer cuts through. Many other entertainment businesses are projected to open in this area in the coming year. But the two-story PBS makes quite a statement in that area already.

Upon arrival, I was in awe of all the glass windows that make up the front facade of PBS that look directly at the Forum and what will be the entertainment area. This will work well for those outside to see the fun in and vice versa. And many outdoor events are planned for the block during the warm weather to really make this a hub.

We were escorted to the upstairs area where our party was happening and walked past a large bar, plenty of seating areas, and many entertainment options. At the top of the stairs, your eyes take in the large bar and more seating, but also all the entertaining things that make up PBS. We self-guided ourselves around the space and took it in at our own pace.

After perusing the table display of the drinks and eats they were featuring that night, we grabbed a a beverage and continued on our way. I thought the display table was an excellent idea and the influencers "ate it up" too.

Being pregnant, I truly appreciate that they had a variety of unique n/a options in addition to their hand-crafted cocktails. We started with a strawberry rhubarb fizz for me and rum punch for Tory. They also had servers coming around with samples of their signature cocktails, allowing guests to try all the options without ordering full drinks.

Upstairs offers a variety of seating areas to accommodate groups of any size. There are three bowling areas featuring six lanes upstairs and four more downstairs that are first come first serve or by reservations really adds to the fun of a good time out.

Upstairsa also offer karaoke rooms, pool, jumbo jenga, ping pong, foosball tables (including one of the longest I have ever seen), a second bar and an arcade with some video and pinball games, and a lot more. Many of these are pay as your play or pay by the hour.

After our tour, we loaded up plates of food to try a little of everything and took in the sights and sounds of others enjoying themselves. The menu ranges from grain bowls and hummus to sliders, burgers, and tacos. They even offer a kids menu too, so this isn't just a destination for adults (though that is their primary target)

Everything that I selected to eat, I was extremely impressed with. The pickled carrots and cucumbers were an awesome palate cleanser after my sweet drink. The chicken and waffles were awesome--I think they use thighs which offer a richer, juicier meat and the breading was top notch. Homemade potato chips and a rice crispy treat fished off my plate and I was happily full.

All of the servers and other employees that were available that evening were super friendly and knowledgeable. One server that kept checking in on us was also pregnant, so she guided me to a second n/a cocktail--lime cilantro fizz. The smell of the drink alone had me already pairing it up with a street taco in the future. It was very tart, but still good. I would have never thought of cilantro in a beverage, but now I may consider it. She also told me that when we come back once they are fully open, the variety of homemade juices is amazing and I must try them all.

I don't think I have ever been to a bar or entertainment place in the Milwaukee area that offers so much variety under one roof. Their grand opening is Saturday night and tickets are still available. If you are looking for something to do with some hands-on fun, this place is an excellent option. I will definitely be back.

The Lucky Rabbit

Last week Tuesday, I had plans to go to a beer dinner at Bernie's Tap Room with a few friends but due to circumstances outside of Bernie's control, the dinner had to be cancelled. We are patiently awaiting the next dinner and hope it's a great brewery they feature!! 

But we didn't want to cancel our plans of a night out, so we started thinking of a different place to try. I have been going on a lot of walks on my lunches and noticed a sign outside of The Lucky Rabbit on St. Paul and Madison offering $2 taps and $2 pizzas on Tuesdays. I was curious about this and suggested it to my friends and they thought we should try it out.

We met up at 6:30 and found some comfy lounge chairs inside the bar and sat down for the evening. The owners of The Lucky Rabbit have done a fantastic job rehabbing the place from what was once a place I never wanted to go into with a sketchy crowd, to a modern, young and fun place bar. It's painted orange on the inside with a very cool wooden soffit that adds architecture and ambiance. There is a stage for the DJ or band to play on, lounge seating, high-top tables, and lots of seating at the bar.

A very friendly server came over right away and explained the drink and food specials for the night. $2 domestic taps, (they have quite a selection of craft and imports on tap as well) and $2 pizzas that are 9" hand tossed or thin crust with 1 meat and 2 veggies on top. Also, the jumbo pretzels were $2 that night as well. We ordered drinks and took a look at all the different topping choices we could get on the pizza while we waited for the drinks to come back.

My friend Brandon saw they had Pumpking on tap and if you haven't had this pumpkin beer, it's a must! It's like pumpkin pie in liquid form - so yummy! I had to have one or two of those with my pizza.

We all decided on pizzas and Tiffany ordered us some garlic toast as well. The garlic toast came out quickly and was 5 pieces of french bread lightly coated with a garlic butter/oil spread and marinara for dipping. The bread was cut thin and toasted to a nice golden crisp - just the way I like it. And the marinara was pretty excellent too! We could have gotten by with one order, but the server wasn't sure how many pieces came per order so we went with two to be safe.

Then the pizzas came out. We all ended up with thin crust on accident but for $2, I wasn't gonna complain. And they were delicious! I probably shouldn't have eaten the whole thing and garlic bread too but it was so good. The marinara has great flavor and they are generous with the toppings.

 Sausage, Black Olive & Mushroom

 Pepperoni, Pineapple and Banana Peppers

 Green Olive, Tomato and ? - This one was just three veggies

 Pepperoni, Black Olive and Onion

We ate, chatted, watched the Yankees game (Funny that the Brewers weren't on any of their TVs though they were playing that night - oh well - we watched one of Jeter's last games at least).

I have been friends with this guy since preschool and I'm glad that we can still meet up and hang out. We hope to meet up again soon and do another dinner out.

The Lucky Rabbit also does brunch on Saturdays & Sundays. They are advertising Breakfast and a Bloody for $10 currently. I don't like Bloodys but the breakfast options look pretty good to me! Since this place is owned by the same folks that own Fuzzy's, which has amazing breakfast, I'm sure it's top notch food. Maybe they will sub a mimosa or other morning cocktail  for this girl!

I'll have to watch what specials they run other nights, but I definitely want to go back for more pizza.

Waukesha County Fair

You may or may not know that my company works media relations and promotions for the Waukesha County Fair . And for the last eight years, I have put in the extra hours to make sure we get the Fair the best  media coverage we are capable of for this organization.

We have had good Fairs and bad (many more good than bad, but you can't control the weather) but regardless, I could not ask to work with a nicer group of volunteers and one heck of an amazing Executive Director who put their heart and soul into this Fair to give you the best event in Waukesha County every year. If you see them on the Fairgrounds when you go (yes when, not if!), please thank them for all their work.

As a Foodie, you know that I am always excited when I get the information on the new foods and vendors at this year's Fair.  And again this year, there is no shortage of new and unique eats. I am personally looking forward to trying the Reuben nachos, bacon cream cheese on a stick and John Deere churned ice cream. (I caught a glimpse of this in action at the Jefferson County Fair this weekend and you will be pretty amazed by this feat.)

Not to mention we have some of the Fairgoers' faves back this year - Catfish Johnny's, Black Angus sandwiches, cream puffs, fudge, Silver Spur, jumbo turkey legs and much, much more. You cannot leave this Fair wishing for more variety. We have it all covered!

Every year, I promise myself that by the end of Sunday, I can treat myself to a funnel cake and gorge on the whole thing myself. But I have yet to keep this promise to myself. By the time I am done working and remember to get one, the food vendors are already closing up shop. So it's my goal this year to have one on Saturday night (instead of waiting until Sunday). I'll just walk more on Sunday instead of ride in my snazzy golf cart :)

There is so much more to the Fair than just food, and I'm glad that I get to see it all - Demo Derby, Live Music, 4-H Exhibits, Truck Pulls, Rides, Games, Vendors, Livestock Auction, Alligators, Fun Run, Classic Car Show, Pancake Breakfast, Animals and again, so much more. Just check out that cake above, such detail and skill from someone so young! I love seeing this sort of dedication and these kids are going to be the ones most likely taking care of me when I'm older. This make me feel really good.

I hope you have some time this weekend to come out to the Fair and if you have never been, come see what it's all about. There are great deals almost everyday to help you save on admission and once you are on the grounds, almost everything is free (midway, rides and souvenirs excluded).

Vegas Thru My Belly

Last month, I went on a Las Vegas vacation with the ladies to celebrate my friend's final fling before the ring. We stayed at the gorgeous Aria Resort and Casino at City Center and we were not disappointed. As you all know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, unless we post pictures on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to share (which we all did!). But the only part of the trip that I'm going to share on the blog is all of the food we ate while out there.

Though I didn't manage to take shots of everything we ate, I did take a few and luckily the ladies helped out and shared their images with me so I can in turn share them with you.

Let's break it down by location.

When we arrived at the hotel, we were famished and just went to the Cafe Aria and grabbed a drink and meal. This became a hit for all of us and an easy go-to. They have a wonderful breakfast and lunch selection. I had the Club that was seriously the largest sandwich I have ever gotten. I couldn't even eat half of it and we then realized that we needed to order a fridge for our room for our leftovers.

I also had the French Toast and Belgium Waffle for breakfast. They were again gigantic and delicious!

One of the other ladies captured this lovely image of the Eggs Benedict with the hash browns that everyone raved about on the trip. I never had them, but they looked very crispy on the outside and mushy, buttery on the inside.

I also dined for lunch and ordered the Asian Chicken salad that could again easily feed two people!  It was chock-full of all sorts of amazing eats -Napa Cabbage, Romaine, Bibb Lettuce, Carrots, Bean Sprouts, Cucumbers, Red Peppers, Snow Peas, Crispy Wontons, and Sweet Soy Vinaigrette.

Also in our hotel was Jean Philippe Patisserie that had crepes, sandwiches, salads and these amazing pastries. These are really the spotlight and because I have diligently been playing the MyVegas game on Facebook and my phone, I was able to redeem a reward and get some pastries for the mini-party we had for the Bride-To-Be in our hotel room. Pastries start at $7 and go up from there. I purchased 2 small pastries - Snickers and Chocolate Indulgence. Though they are no larger than a coffee mug, the desserts are so rich and amazing, you only need a bite or two. We actually had some left over after all six of us had some bites.

Saturday night, we dined at Gordon Ramsay's BurGR. Though it was over an hour wait for a table, it definitely was worth it. (NOTE: they do not take reservations and the website is completely out of date) They told us they would text us when our table was ready, so we were able to wander Planet Hollywood and here is where I found one of my favorite slots. It paid out every time! I will leave that a secret and get back to the food.


BurGR has a 30 ft. wall of flame to divide it from the casino and all I could wonder it how much fuel they use to keep it burning.

The menus come as part of the table set up - very ingenuitive and as you can probably guess, it's a burger joint.

We had a server and tablehand that took great care of us. The drink menu was on an iPad, which was pretty awesome to flip though. I decided on a grapefruit cocktail and the bride grabbed a martini. The drinks were nice and strong and really flavorful.

Then we had to choose our food. I saw goat cheese and I was sold. I went with the Euro burger that had truffle aioli, argula, tomato and goat cheese on top of the burger. It was seriously the best burger I have ever had. The meat was perfectly cooked medium and the flavors went together so well. I didn't leave anything on my plate.

Another favorite burger was the American - where you choose your toppings. We splurged for 3 orders of fries - two truffle fries and one regular and we definitely could have gotten by with two. However, you must get the fries as they are delicious with specialty ketchups and sauces on the side.

On Friday night, I made us reservations at Twist, one of the bride's top choices for a fancy night out. And Fancy it was.

Right away we were greeted by a the wonderful staff and sat at a table for 6 in the middle of the dining room. Being on the 23rd floor, we could still see the strip out the window and the tables by the windows didn't really interrupt our view.


We were asked if anyone had allergies to be made aware of and they offered us some small nibbles to enjoy that the chef created for tonight. I don't remember the official names but upper left was a cracker with fig on it, upper right was some fish (that tasted really fishy), the bottom right was a lard wrapped breadstick that was delicious and bottom left was a macaroon tart that tasted sweet and savory.

They came time to order our meals. Although the place came with a floating wine room over the dining room, none of us chose any drinks besides water. We were all recovering from the day at the cabana, so we kept the "water boy" quite busy doing laps around our table.

The menu was simple but decadent. But the service is what really stood out to me. No one's glass was ever more than half empty with water, plates were cleared and tables combed before the next course came out. and the main meal presentation was something I wish I video'd. Six staff got together, took our plates and circled the table. All plates were set at the same moment and silver lids removed together. Each dish was then explained again to us and made sure everything was to our liking before they walked away.

I went with chicken instead of steak - hard decision but it just sounded so interesting, I just had to go unique.

MARY’S ORGANIC FREE RANGE CHICKEN FROM CALIFORNIA

Shimizu Chicken Breast, Morel Cream & Grapefruit Confit

Creamy Polenta, Snow Peas

Tomato Otti Ice Cream

 

The chicken was the most juicy and flavorful breast I have ever eaten and the morel cream was fantastic. It melted in my mouth. I was a little worried about the grapefruit confit but it added an asian infused element to the dish. The polenta was crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. I wasn't a fan of the snowpeas on top because I believe they were cooked with fennel, but I just pushed it on the side and ate the rest. And the tomato ice cream had coconut in it! I had to eat this quick before it melted but it was quite lovely like a gazpacho. I have never had coconut that was sliced instead of shaved but it wasn't too overpowering with the tomato.

 

Some ladies ordered a salad with their meals, I opted not too, knowing I didn't want to fill up.

PIERRE’S SALAD

Mixed Salads & fresh Herbs with Lemon flavored Olive Oil

Avocado, Dried Tomato, Kalamata Black Olives

Grilled Chicken Breast with Rosemary

Mendiant Toast, Tapenade

 

I was able to try the toast, that resembles a cheese crisp over the tomato tapenade that looked like Port Wine cheese spread. It was really tasty and I wish I had more crisps to eat it all. Definitely something I would like to try to make at home. 

The Bride-to-be treated herself to a fancy filet of Wagyu beef. We were told that it actually is white when pulled out because of the marbling but then when cooked, that melts into the steak to make it the most "like butter" experience. I was offered a bite and it was actually extremely heavenly. Besides the few bites she offered up, the bride enjoyed the steak very much and had it cooked to the chef's liking. The server even complimented her on knowing how to order.

 

 

 

 After all the plates were cleared and coffee was offered, the server came over with a special dessert from the chef for our bachelorette. We were all able to try it and if this doesn't look rich to you, you are crazy. One bite was all we needed to enjoy this with her. The chocolate was excellent and dark.

Little trays of small desserts prepared by the chef also came to our table - Jellied apricot crisps, mini macaroon looking treats and something with nuts. My stomach had reached it's rich food limit for the day, but others enjoyed it.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Twist and you must splurge and try this when you are in Las Vegas. You will not regret it. And try all the other places I listed above, I have no regrets and my belly came home happy and inspired to try to recreate some dishes at home. But I will leave the Wagyu Beef to the pros.