La Dama’s Mexican is a vital addition to Milwaukee
Twitter is a place to find almost daily food-related outrage. This month, the question “How does everyone feel about pomegranate in guacamole?” triggered general offense from those not in the know. “They should just go to La Dama,” I thought, “or to Mexico.”
That’s how to find out firsthand how delicious this gorgeous and traditional pairing is, and going to Walker’s Point is a good deal more convenient. The sweet-tart crunch of the ruby seeds against rich, buttery avocado is a flavor to remember.
La Dama, of course, is the former Crazy Water, the venerable modern-American restaurant by chefowner Peggy Magister. In summer, she reinvented the restaurant, giving it a new name and a modernMexican outlook. And she made her longtime employee, Emmanuel Corona, the chef in charge of the menu.
Already I consider La Dama indispensable. There’s nothing else quite like it in Milwaukee, and it’s a perfect outlet for Corona, combining his finer-dining chops and flair for contemporary cooking with his intimate knowledge of the food of Mexico (specifically, the states of Puebla and Oaxaca, where his family is from).
La Dama changes its menu from time to time and recently added some seafood dishes for Lent. Halibut ($36), marinated in red adobo and grilled to crisp it, was served with a puree made from mayocoba beans and with green adobo sauce. Over the fillet were arugula, apple and feathery shavings of fennel, a pretty and delicious dish.
A new taco, called Santo Cameron, holds a miniaturized version of the airy dried-shrimp patty that’s a Lenten dish in Mexico, served traditionally with guajillo sauce and slices of nopales, or cactus. La Dama added grilled shrimp to the taco. It made me wonder, “Should abstaining from meat be this pleasurable?” What a delicious taco.
So were others, including cochinita pibil, the pork that’s cooked in banana leaves and flavored with orange juice. And one of the best things I’ve eaten in the past year is
a stunning pairing of swordfish with scallop pico de gallo — scallop “cooked” with lime and diced with cucumber, tomato and serrano pepper.
La Dama’s generous tacos, designed as carefully as its entrees, are three for $20, and diners can mix and match. Side dishes are a la carte, such as rice with corn ($4).
Two other side dishes are musthaves, not afterthoughts. Ayocotes charros ($6), an uncommon bean stewed with chorizo, pork belly lardons, jalapeño and crema, was so good that I’m tempted to call it dinner some night. It and repollitos ($9), caramelized brussels sprouts with cotija cheese, chimichurri, pine nuts, and pomegranate and sesame seeds, are dishes I still think about.
A dish of the moment across Milwaukee, birria, is served as lamb ($28) intact on the shank at La Dama instead of shredded. With it are the restaurant’s own tortillas and consomme with chickpeas, its flavor boosted with savory pasilla peppers.
For smaller bites, consider those house-made tortillas with mole negro and mole poblano, complex sauces for dipping ($10). Or little empanadas ($10) with fillings such as chicken tinga, or a crisped tlayuda ($8) topped with mashed fava beans, roasted butternut squash, oyster mushrooms and salsa macha, sauce made from dried chiles and sesame seeds. (La Dama still serves Crazy Water’s popular bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with chorizo, too.)
At dessert, I’d order the churros ($9) again in a heartbeat, their twists and turns evidence that the fried pastries were made from scratch: crisp on the outside and tender, almost creamy, within. They’re coated in cinnamon sugar and served with chocolate and caramel sauces for dipping.
Another dessert, a pair of crisp buñuelos ($9) that sandwich mascarpone cheese, traveled surprisingly well. They’re served with sauteed apple, pecans and a sauce of bourbon and piloncillo, the distinctive raw cane sugar, for a dessert that’s not overly sweet.
My dinners were all takeout, but La Dama does have in-person distanced dining, dividers in the dining room and masked servers. In milder weather, even in winter, its heated patio is open. Certainly, I’m eager to dine in the restaurant myself someday — to take in the decor’s dramatic makeover and to check out the mezcals and tequilas and the Spanish wines, sure, but most of all, to enjoy some of the best new menu items to appear in Milwaukee in the past year.
839 S. Second St. (414) 645-2606. la damamke.com
Hours: 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, 5 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday (takeout until 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday when the restaurant is busier). Call ahead to order takeout; pick up inside or at the curb. Delivery through GrubHub available. Reservations taken at the restaurant website through OpenTable or by phone. Handicapped access through patio.
Contact Carol Deptolla at carol.deptolla@jrn.com or (414) 224-2841. Follow her on Twitter at @mkediner or Instagram at @mke_diner.