Snack Boys near opening
Think of it as a giant snack bar. In fact, Snack Bar almost was the name of the restaurant taking over the All Purpose space at 814 S. 2nd St. in Walker’s Point.
Instead it will be called Snack Boys, which is nearing its opening. It was a name that began as a joke, one of the three owners said, but then began to roll off their tongues.
The boys in question are John Revord, the owner of craft cocktail bar Boone & Crockett in Bay View; Mitchell Ciohon, the owner of Gypsy Taco, the food truck parked on the Boone patio that’s on the Journal Sentinel’s Milwauukee 50 list, as well as Gypsy Burger downtown; and Shay Linkus, who was the chef at the Vanguard in Bay View, another Milwaukee 50 restaurant.
Both chefs come from fine-dining backgrounds — Linkus from Odd Duck in Bay View and Ciohon from the late Beta downtown — and both plan to stretch those fine-dining muscles again with Snack Boys.
For Revord, it’s a chance to loosen up at the bar; odes to ’70s drinks or a little pink paper umbrella in the glass would be out of place at Boone, but in character at Snack Boys.
From the men’s descriptions, their new restaurant sounds freewheeling and fun-loving, a place for diners who like their restaurants loud and, actually, more like a bar.
“We’re doing it in an ultra-casual, ultra-loose setting,” he said. Tables have been removed from the bar area and 10 bar stools added for easier movement.
The bar area also will have a raw bar with oysters and seasonal items like stone crab claws.
“It’s true small plate,” Revord said of the menu, with portions sized for one instead of sharing. Prices are likely to be mostly $3 to $12 for plates.
“It’ll be like a giant appetizer menu,” Linkus said, or like a sushi restaurant, where someone might order one piece of salmon and a couple of tuna.
So, a diner could have just a snack, or make a meal of snacks by ordering four or five plates. Or ordering everything on the dozen-item (or so) menu.
“It is exactly the way that I like to eat,” Ciohon said. “I want to try 10 things, maybe order doubles.”
Diners might see dishes like duck nuggets, breaded and fried and served with foie barbecue sauce. “It’s really tacky but good,” Linkus said.
Snack Boys’ opening date will be set after its liquor license application goes before the city Dec. 5. It will be open at 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, serving the full menu until 11. After 11, it will have a menu of smaller, creative snacks.
New in poke bowls
FreshFin Poke is growing: The counter-service restaurant opened its express location in the Historic Third Ward this week and is planning its largest restaurant in Brookfield in spring.
The restaurant at 316 N. Milwaukee St. is open from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.
Founder Nate Arkush said he’ll consider adding dinner hours in early 2018. FreshFin, in the lobby of the Landmark Building, has a dozen seats for dine-in customers in its space and in the lobby.
FreshFin will sell the restaurant’s signature Hawaiian-style bowls, in combinations such as raw salmon with mango, edamame and avocado, but not the build-your-own bowls that the original store at 1806 E. North Ave. has.
In spring, Arkush expects to open his third FreshFin Poke at The Corners development, at 20111 W. Blue Mound Road.
The Brookfield FreshFin Poke will be near the recently opened Grimaldi’s pizzeria and Von Maur department store.
It also will be near the Lululemon store, which sells yoga and running clothes, and CycleBar, an indoor-cycling
space. Arkush called it one-stop shopping for people interested in working out and lower-fat eating.
A new culinary director
Stand Eat Drink Hospitality Group has a new culinary director, and he’s already recast the menu at one of the group’s restaurants.
Matt Kerley, formerly of Hinterland, Blue Jacket and the Rumpus Room, now is overseeing all of Stand Eat Drink’s restaurants. Before moving to Milwaukee, Kerley worked at restaurants in Australia and San Francisco.
A new menu by Kerley debuted at Yokohama, 1932 E. Kenilworth Place, last week.
Kerley said he aimed to make the menu items more like ones at the Japanese restaurants he remembers from San Francisco, “so rich in flavor but never overpowering, just really clean.”
The plates include the savory pancake okonomiyaki ($10), this one made with kimchi instead of plain cabbage.
The restaurant still serves ramen, including one that is topped with two whole, seared prawns ($16).
Next, Kerley will focus on the menus at Hotel Madrid, 600 S. 6th St., which has the Spanish steakhouse Bodegón and the bar Vermuteria 600.
On Dec. 6, the restaurant will have its one-year anniversary dinner in the lower-level wine cave, with seatings at 6 and 8 p.m. The seven-course dinner plus reception and flamenco performance is $110, another $50 for beverage pairings.
Tickets are available through hotelmadridmke.tocktix.com.
Make other plans
The Villa at Heaven City in Mukwonago closed to the public about a week ago, owner Robert Klemm announced, though private parties will be held the rest of the year. Klemm said he will be the executive chef for two Delafield restaurants, Zin and Fishbones, to allow him to spend more time with his family.
The Rocket Baby Bakery outpost in Bay View closed Sunday. The main bakery at 6822 W. North Ave. in Wauwatosa remains open.