Farmer’s Wife serves homey comforts
The bitter cold of early January might feel like a distant memory, but I remember the perfect pot roast I had at the Farmer’s Wife in West Allis on one of those chilly evenings as if it were yesterday.
It couldn’t have been more warming, a balm on a winter’s night — meat browned well to bring out its full flavor, with carrots, potatoes and onions in rich juices ($14).
The Farmer’s Wife, opened in late September by Robin Matovich Mastera with chef Joel Christie in the kitchen, has a tavern-meets-diner vibe — completely casual, with TVs over the bar and condiments on the tables.
The Farmer’s Wife does have some pub food — like a plateful of deep-fried pickle chips ($6) in crisp cornmeal as an appetizer for the table; juicy burgers, such as one with caramelized onions and melted cheddar, American and provolone cheeses ($13); and crisp housecut fries in several versions of poutine, like one topped with pulled pork and cheese curds ($14).
But the Farmer’s Wife does what I wish more bars and casual spots would do: from-scratch cooking to enjoy in a low-key atmosphere, maybe while trying one of the many Wisconsin craft beers the Farmer’s Wife stocks (mainly by the bottle) and taking in a game.
There were stumbles along the way over a few visits, but also a number of delicious, satisfying plates.
Soup one night was a lightly spicy squash bisque ($4 cup, $6 bowl) laced with curry, a real pleaser; an ultimate comfort food, chicken pot pie ($12) in mellow gravy with peas and carrots came draped with a square of puff pastry.
Dinner entrées include some other home-cookin’ favorites, like well-made oven-fried chicken ($14), two thick and juicy boneless breasts under a crisp breadcrumb coating, and a substantial pork chop, grilled right and served with applesauce.
But the menu goes a little more upscale in lollipop lamb chops ($18) with excellent flavor (they’d need a bit more trimming to be considered lollipop, but really, the chops are good as they are).
And it goes really upscale in offering a dry-aged tomahawk steak for two ($75), though I imagine a hungry steak lover could polish one off alone.
The steak started as a Tuesday night special but now it can be reserved in advance for any night. Which is good, because this is a steak that says weekend: The ribeye that’s around 2 pounds with the bone is dryaged 60 to 90 days to intensify the flavor.
It comes from Kettle Range Meat Co. in Milwaukee, as many meats at the Farmer’s Wife do, and it brings the funk as much as or more than dry-aged ribeyes at Milwaukee’s best steakhouses (at a lower price, too).
Entrée prices in all are relatively modest, considering they include a simple salad and jalapeño corn bread, served in a small iron skillet.
The tomahawk steak’s price includes two side dishes; the best might be mashed sweet potatoes; chopped quahog (the large clam from the East Coast) in stuffing, which diners can douse in butter and hot sauce; and greens so robust I was sure they’d been cooked with meat. They weren’t; they’re vegetarian (bacon optional).
The menu has sandwiches galore for lunch and at dinner — 10 that include a classic New England-style lobster roll ($15) that stuffs the lightly dressed lobster chunks into a grilled split-top roll, and a great meatless wrap that combines grilled mushrooms with house-made ricotta, greens and balsamic reduction ($10), plus seven burgers and grilled sausages.
The restaurant makes its own desserts, and they change from day to day.
Take note if Southern-style banana pudding with vanilla wafers is on the menu, or the custard-like bread pudding, which manages the neat trick of seeming rich and light at the same time.
The menu trips up here and there: the meaty chicken wings ($9 for 10) could be crisper; garlic in mashed potatoes left them acrid; house potato chips were nicely thin but fried past the optimal golden; the tomato-based topping on excellent meatloaf ($12) would have been more appealing warm; carrot cake skewed dry.
And service needed polishing; it was friendly but could be scattered — forgotten salads one night and issues with speedy pacing between appetizers and entrées, for instance. The restaurant uses compostable containers for leftovers, a plus, but servers really should package leftovers for guests.
Still, the Farmer’s Wife is a good casual spot to remember, especially for those nights when a body could use a good home-style meal — or an outrageously good dry-aged steak, without a lot of fuss.