New brewpub to open with full menu

Explorium Brewpub will open at Southridge Mall in Greendale on Wednesday not just with beer but with a full menu, including shareable snacks, burgers, pizzas, steak, Friday fish fry and other entrées.

The chef is Nick Scheeler, most recently the chef at the Packing House and, before that, sous chef at Jackson Grill, both popular south side steakhouses.

The menu follows the general template of the menu at Tampa Bay Brewing Co., which is operated by Explorium owner Mike Doble’s family, but Scheeler has made the menu his own.

A couple of meaty options are a nod to his background: a 10-ounce pork chop ($23) from the Duroc heritage breed that’s brined in Explorium’s barleywine, served with cider-mustard glaze and apple-cabbage slaw, and a 12-ounce flat iron steak ($24) is seared in cast iron and served with chimichurri, the usual olive oil substituted with oil infused with hops in the kitchen.

That hop-infused oil (currently made with lemony Citra hops, but it will change now and again) also appears in an appetizer: the Squeaky Cheese ($8), fresh curds marinated in the oil with fresh herbs, lemon zest and pepper.

Because the hops aren’t cooked, the result isn’t bitter. “They just release floral and aromatic properties,” Scheeler said.

The dough for the 11inch pizzas ($10 to $15) is based on the chef’s own sourdough starter that he’s been cultivating for eight years from yeasts in Rodenbach, Cantillon and other Belgian wild ales.

Because of those beers’ particular microbes, the dough “smells tangy but has a buttery, nutty flavor,” Scheeler said.

The dough also will be wrapped around one of Explorium’s burgers, the Bomb ($13). “It comes out looking like a giant burger Wellington,” the chef said.

Other entrées include daily fish and chips made with cod ($16); the Friday fish fry will feature a different Great Lakes fish weekly ($14).

Desserts, aside from ice cream, will be made in house, including applepear cobbler ($7).

Scheeler started homebrewing about 15 years ago, shortly after turning 21; his recipe for an Irish red ale is the basis for the Irish red Explorium will brew for St. Patrick’s Day, he said.

That background will be an advantage when it comes to planning beer dinners with Explorium’s head brewer, Kyle Ciske, Scheeler said. “We kind of speak the same language.”

Besides Explorium’s own beers and guest beers, it will have wine on tap, sodas and kombucha. Because non-beer drinkers inevitably are among the customers, “I just like to make sure we have something for every-

body,” Doble said.

Explorium hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday; after 10 p.m., appetizers and pizzas are available.

For now, the brewpub will take reservations by phone, (414) 423-1365, but online reservations will be available in June, Doble said. It does have ample seating for walk-ins — 180 seats inside, and another 100 outside when the warm weather arrives.

The patio also has a fire pit and its own bar, with the same 24 taps as in the restaurant.

Explorium is on the west side of Southridge, 5300 S. 76th St., between Macy’s and Boston Store; it shares an entrance with Buca di Beppo.

FreshFin Poke open

Milwaukee’s first all-poke restaurant, FreshFin Poke, is open on the east side and has started delivery.

Delivery, which began Tuesday, is by way of GrubHub, co-owner Nate Arkush said.

FreshFin had its soft opening Jan. 12 at 1806 E. North Ave. and has been busy since then, serving about 100 people a day, Arkush said.

The menu carries five signature bowls in two sizes ($7.95 or $8.95, and $11.95 or $12.95) — the best-selling spicy tuna, the Mango Tango with salmon, curry coconut shrimp, cilantro chicken and a vegan shiitake-sweet potato-avocado mix, built atop rice.

Diners at the counter-service restaurant also can design their own bowls from 30 or so ingredients, from chopped fish, chicken and vegetables to vegetables and sauces, served over white or brown rice or mixed greens.

Customers can dine in at FreshFin, which has about two dozen seats, or take orders to go, which about 40% so far have done, Arkush said. Besides ordering through GrubHub, diners soon can order through the website to pick up meals, fresh finpoke.com.

Amilinda brunch

Bowing to customer demand, Amilinda, the Spanish- and Portuguese-inspired restaurant at 315 E. Wisconsin Ave., will have a popup brunch on Feb. 26.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Amilinda will serve brunchy appetizers and entrées.

The menu is still being finalized, but “expect a variety of eggs combined with pork products,” chef and coowner Gregory León said. The menu will have vegetarian plates, too.

The chef also is planning a Spanishstyle omelet with salt cod, inspired by a recent vacation in Spain, as well as Bloody Marys spiced with peri peri.

Amilinda will take walk-ins for brunch, but diners can reserve seats by calling (414) 369-3683 or by going online, amilindamke. com/reservations.

Depending on how the first one goes, there might be more monthly brunches in the future, León said.