Ardent reopens for takeout after pivot
Milwaukee is full of finer-dining restaurants that have had to pivot because of the coronavirus pandemic. Ardent, which reopens Thursday with a carryout menu, is unusual in that it made its pivot before the pandemic hit.
The east side restaurant, known for its multicourse tasting menu and modernist aesthetic, closed in February for six weeks of remodeling. The plan was to add a full bar and lounge with a menu that is less pricey and a quicker meal, while still serving its tasting menu at the back of the restaurant, which ranked No. 1 on the Journal Sentinel’s list of Top 30 restaurants in 2019.
It’s a change that now seems prescient.
“We were very fortunate in our timing, and restructuring Ardent to be more accessible,” said chef-owner Justin Carlisle.
Thursday kicks off Ardent’s first day of offering takeout, including home kits of items that would have been on the lounge menu. (Restaurants in Milwaukee now are allowed to reopen at 25% capacity, but Ardent will remain closed for in-person dining. Dining for small private parties might start soon, Carlisle said).
The takeout menu will open with two Ardent Lounge menus, one featuring beef, the other chicken. Each is $90 and serves two.
The debut beef menu’s multiple dishes are radishes with uni butter and ramp greens; Ardent’s own cured caviar with green garlic custard and crisped barley; asparagus salad with egg dressing, bottarga and beer vinegar; house sourdough with cultured butter; New York strip steak; charred rapini with lemon and chile flake; and rhubarb tart with ginger and cream cheese mousse in a sourdough crust.
The second menu has chicken crisped in sourdough starter accompanied by potato puree with confit chicken and sauce. That menu also has the radish, caviar, asparagus, sourdough with butter and tart.
Menu to go
The takeout menu will have the Ardent burger and seasoned tots that the restaurant was selling at the Laughing Taco, its sister restaurant in Walker’s Point, and at Fiserv Forum, before the pandemic interrupted arena events.
Besides prepared foods and meal kits, the restaurant is selling cuts of beef from the Carlisle family farm as well as ground beef ($8 a pound), beef hot dogs ($10 a pound) and tins of its caviar ($35 an ounce).
The home meal kit menu and butcher shop offerings are expected to change frequently.
Ardent is at 1751 N. Farwell Ave. Menu items are ordered through the website, ardentmke.com, under the reservations tab, through Tock. It will be open for takeout Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The lounge at home kits are at dinner only. Hours will be 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and 5 to 8 p.m. Burgers will be available for delivery through DoorDash.