Bakeries bloom in Bay View, Walker’s Point
It’s a bakery heyday for Milwaukee. At least two shops/cafes will open in the coming weeks serving coffee as well as adult beverages (exact dates to come), and more bakeries are on the horizon.
Smallpie
Maybe it’s destiny. The former garage at 2504 E. Oklahoma Ave. sits on a pie-shaped lot between New York and Delaware avenues.
It caught the eye years ago of Valeri Lucks, and that’s where she’ll open Smallpie in July. Lucks, who calls herself the chief executive pie maker of Pie Inc., operates Honeypie Cafe and Palomino in Bay View, and PieGram, the pie-delivery operation based at the bakeshop in Palomino.
Smallpie will have the hand pies Honeypie has been selling at farmers markets and street fests (the snack wagon will go on hiatus at least for the summer, Lucks said, as the cafe gets its sea legs). Expect a couple rotating flavors of sweet pies, more of the savory, plus two or three salads a day that can be matched with a savory pie — or maybe call it a pasty — for lunch.
Lucks also is planning items like cinnamon rolls, triple-chocolate cookies, vegan banana bread, bagels and a cheese-filled monkey bread served warm — it’s almost like a pull-apart grilled cheese sandwich, Lucks said. Sweet pies like apple and cherry can be heated, too, she said. A la mode? It might happen. Stay tuned.
Smallpie will have session beers by the bottle and wine by the can — “hangout stuff,” Lucks said.
The counter-service cafe is only about 800 square feet, with room for a half-dozen tables or so, but it has a big patio and a garage door to open on warm days.
Greige Patisserie
A place for people who’d like dessert and a drink at night while they’re out and about — that’s the kind of bakerycafe Jessica Reinhardtsen wanted to open.
Greige Patisserie, projected to open in late June at 408 W. Florida St. in Walker’s Point, will have the mornings covered, too, Reinhardtsen said, with breakfast pastries and Colectivo coffee.
For later, the cafe will have three rotating cocktails on tap from bitters maker and drinks consultant Bittercube, plus whites, reds, sparklers and rosés from distributor L’eft Bank Wine Co.
Reinhardtsen, who worked as a pastry cook at Tre Rivali in the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel and decorated cakes in the Delafield area, plans to have on hand some American classics, like brownies, lemon bars and cookies.
But she’ll also make fancier desserts that take their cues from classical French sweets — macarons, tartlets and layered confections. Reinhardtsen, whose schooling was in interior design, is drawn to the design of desserts, too.
She likes trying unusual flavor combinations; one that customers might see in the pastry case is black sesame cake with matcha cheesecake, white chocolate mousse and crunchy feuilletine.
Greige will have seating for about 25 customers. The cafe will be decorated in neutral tones — gray, black and white.
“We really want the pastries to be what stands out,” Reinhardtsen said.
More brunch
Diners have two new brunches in Walker’s Point, at Crazy Water and Snifters Tapas & Spirits.
Chef-owner Peggy Magister’s Crazy Water, at 839 S. 2nd St., started serving Sunday brunch June 3. It’s available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For a sweet tooth, the casual fine-dining restaurant has apple turnovers with orange glaze ($6 each) and house granola with yogurt, berries and white chocolate streusel ($10).
And it includes vegetarian dishes, like a fried green tomato option for eggs Benedict, with jalapeño hollandaise and quinoa hash browns ($12). On the meatier side is a breakfast burger topped with caramelized onions, Gruyere and an egg, served with fries ($14), for example.
Reservations can be made at crazywatermilwaukee.com. Call (414)
645-2606.
At Snifters, the soul food-Latin tapas bar that opened last year at 606 S. 5th St., brunch is available 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Like the dinner menu, brunch incorporates Latin and soul food elements.
One dish is a sope; the cornmeal cake is topped with refried beans, overeasy egg and avocado ($8). Another is Southern-fried chicken and waffles ($12). The waffle, like the pancakes ($8), is gluten-free.
Reservations are available through snifters mke.com; the tapas bar’s number is (414) 6350882.
Opening delayed
The opening of brunch restaurant Zisters in Elm Grove has been pushed back because of construction; it’s now expected to open June 13 at 13425 W. Watertown Plank Road. The patio is projected to be ready by July 1.
Find Carol Deptolla’s restaurant reviews in the Food section on Wednesdays. Contact her at carol.deptolla@jrn.com, (414) 224-2841 or on Twitter, @mkediner.