‘People don’t want to stop celebrating’
Venue ‘The Mitch’ plans October opening
The operator of downtown Milwaukee’s Cubanitas restaurant and other businesses plans to open an events venue on Historic West Mitchell Street.
Marta Bianchini plans to open the venue, The Mitch, at 1104 W. Historic Mitchell St. by October.
The Mitch will host weddings, birthdays, quinceaneras and other events, Bianchini told the Journal Sentinel on Monday.
“I’ve always wanted an event space,” said Bianchini.
With her husband, Marc Bianchini, she operates Cubanitas, a Cuban restaurant with locations at 728 N. Milwaukee St. and Oak Creek’s Drexel Town Square mixed-use development. Another Cubanitas is planned for The Corners mixed-use development in the town of Brookfield.
The Bianchinis also operate Indulge, a wine bar at 708 N. Milwaukee St., and a catering business.
The Mitch will have capacity for up to 99 people, Marta Bianchini said.
She said the 5,400-square-foot business could accommodate a higher number of patrons.
But Bianchini wants the atmosphere to be “incredibly spacious” — especially given the social distancing requirements for combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
She’s not concerned about the pandemic having a long-term effect on demand for event space.
Birthday parties, weddings and other events might be postponed, Bianchini said. Or they might be smaller.
But, she said, “People don’t want to stop celebrating.”
Also, there’s a lack of such venues in the Historic Mitchell Street neighborhood — which Bianchini views as “the next up and coming area in Milwaukee.”
She noted that Cubanitas opened its first downtown location in 2003.
At that time, what is now an active nightlife area along Milwaukee Street, north of Wisconsin Avenue, had a fair number of vacant storefronts.
Historic Mitchell Street reminds Bianchini of the Bergerline Avenue business district in Union City, New Jersey — her hometown.
Recent developments on Historic
Mitchell Street include various art galleries and artist studios.
One of those galleries, Scout, led to the redevelopment of the building where The Mitch plans to operate.
Scout, which opened last year, is moving to another location, said Ryan Pattee, whose investment group owns the building.
Scout operator Jeff Redmon couldn’t be immediately reached for more information.