Varied cold brews top Public Table
Not every pub has kombucha and cold-brew coffee on tap alongside craft beer, but Public Table does. That’s the restaurant-bar that opened to the public this week in West Allis, at 5835 W. National Ave.
The pub opens at 11 a.m., serving lunch and dinner. Sunday brunch will start sometime in September, said Christopher Kuranz, one of the restaurant’s owners. Public Table is closed on Mondays.
The pub, which seats about 45, is named for its community table. Tables, the bar and chair rail are made from old-growth cypress that was salvaged from a mash tun used for brewing, Kuranz said.
The bar has 16 draft lines, including taps for hard cider, Pilcrow Coffee Roaster’s cold-brewed coffee on nitro and fizzy kombucha that’s made in Madison.
The menu includes shareable plates such as a board of Wisconsin cured meats and cheeses, and organic heirloom tomato salad with sweet corn, fresh mozzarella and basil oil.
Other menu items include chorizo and goat cheese flatbread with kale pesto and roasted red pepper; sliders of pasture-raised beef with sharp cheddar spread; and soft corn tortillas filled with braised pork belly, red cabbage slaw and corn relish.
Prices range from $7 to $15 for plates. Seating is first come, first served. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, Public Table has live music. To contact, (414) 488-2948; it’s online at publictable.com. (Note that neighbor Kegel’s Inn is holding its Oktoberfest street festival on National Ave. this Friday and Saturday.)
Marking a passing
After his popular Pizza Man restaurant burned down on the east side in 2010, Mike Amidzich not only rebuilt it, he fashioned a small Pizza Man empire of three stylish restaurants, on N. Downer Ave., in Wauwatosa and in Oak Creek.
Amidzich died Aug. 17; his funeral was Tuesday at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral.
The original Pizza Man on E. North Ave., a go-to spot for four decades that held on to its ’70s, winegrotto vibe, was notable for its remarkable list of 650 wines and its thin-crust pizzas. Amidzich built the new Pizza Man on Downer in 2013 with nods to the restaurant’s past but in a modern style, with an updated menu.
Amidzich is survived by his children, Vatra and Brian.
Still time for new patios
Summer isn’t over until all the patios are open. On Aug. 30, View MKE restaurant at 1818 N. Hubbard St. will debut its remodeled lower patio, which it’s calling the Backyard.
The roughly 3,000-square-foot patio will seat about 100; it has its own bar, lounge furniture and fire pits, and a gazebo that can be used for private parties has a tinted acrylic-glass roof that lets in light.
Besides daily dinner and weekend brunch, the patio is open for snacks and drinks from 2 to 5 p.m. daily.
The restaurant also has an upper patio extending from the main dining room. The site has been known for its view of the downtown skyline since it first opened as Roots in 2004 (becoming Wolf Peach in 2012).
Meanwhile, over at Blue Bat Kitchen & Tequilaria, 249 N. Water St., a riverside patio has been refurbished, with new ipe-wood decking to match that of the adjacent Riverwalk’s, over a new foundation. It’s reachable from Blue Bat’s lower, riverfront level.
In all, there are seats for 64 on the new patio, the upper deck and on the Riverwalk for lunch and dinner daily. Plantings, a mural and lighting are to come.
Find reviews in Wednesday’s Food & Dining section. For more dining coverage, see jsonline.com/ dining. Contact Carol at carol.deptolla@jrn.com, (414) 224-2841 or on Twitter, @mkediner.