(photo form outdoor.com)
When anyone mentioned the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, (since I had never visited) visions of a city filled with beer factories would come to mind. An unexpected invite for a book event took me away to Milwaukee, the place that I thought (embarrassingly enough) was the land of beer and cheddar cheese. Not very much beer being produced there now and the cheddar cheese is worth the trip, but it is a city with so much more to offer! Milwaukee is a sophisticated city, and a great place for foodies
The Milwaukee Public Market (located downtown at St Paul Avenue) is bright and airy and just happens to be one of the hot spots for local foodies. Here you will find artisan Wisconsin cheddar and many other cheese. The smell of fresh bread was enough to drive me, through my nose, to a baker to get fresh bread to go with that Wisconsin cheddar to make the perfect lunch
And in between eating you will definitely want to check out the Milwaukee Art Museum, famous for Architect Santiago Caltrava’s design. But you must go at noon to witness the wings atop the museum’s Windover hall fold and unfold. A must see when in town,the Burke Brise Soleil is a 90 ton sun screen that spreads 217 feet at its’ widest point. As a plus the museum is located on the Milwaukee lakefront and you may just want to walk along the lake for an after lunch stroll.
Of course there are museums to see of the men that started many of the beer companies there that have been sold out or closed. But the restaurants,there are so many to choose from, so I did not have time to visit the museums. My (food)priorities were in order and I got to savor some really fine cuisine. My favorites were Mimma’s cafe (www.mimmas.com, located at 1307 E. Brady Street) which is a destination for lovers of Italian cuisine. And they have a wide variety of dishes from Tuscan to Sicilian. They make freshly baked pizza, just the way I like it with a thinner crust, and who could forget the homemade gelato. The Spaghetti con Frutti Di Mare was a treat too.
The other restaurant was :Lake Park Bistro, (3133 East Newberry Blvd.) for the food as well as the view. Sitting in the middle of a park and with a spectacular view of the shoreline it is an intimate dining spot with interesting menu choices that happen to be mostly French cuisine. My only warning-don’t eat too much of the freshly baked bread they bring to the table (it is irresistible)! You will want to savor the fresh seafoods and salads and cheeses.
Sorry Milwaukee , I owe you an apology… will definitely be visiting again soon
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Sunday October 16th –spend the day with me in Philly listen in on 95.7 at 7:30 AM for my Woman of the Week interview with Marilyn Russell and 1:30 –3 PM at WIlliams-Sonoma at King of Prussia Mall. See you then. For more info or questions email events@marialiberati.com