AROUND TOWN
FOOD, ART, ENTERTAINMENT
The first of many appearances of SANFORD RESTAURANT, Milwaukee's paragon of fine dining still today, in our pages was a doozy. Founders Sanford “Sandy” and Angie D'Amato graced the cover of the May 1990 Best New Restaurants issue, the story detailing the travails of the John Byron's restaurant alums' three-year ordeal to open a place of their own. (The D'Amatos' successor as Sanford proprietor, Justin Aprahamian, was a cover story subject in March 2019.)
Our July 1994 feature story on the VIOLENT FEMMES depicted the decade-plus-old Milwaukee-born band at an inflection point, with a new album, a new drummer (founding member Victor DeLorenzo was fired for
Guy Hoffman) and a new management team. Author Dave Luhrssen characterized the shakeup as a bid to find the success enjoyed by other alt-rockers of the early '90s.
It's hard to imagine KK River haunt BARNACLE BUD'S as a new place, but the “nautical but nice decor and cozy outdoor cafe” (September 1993) were a draw even before they were so well broken in.
Just two years after she moved from Whitefish Bay to L.A., actor KRISTEN
JOHNSTON found herself with an Emmy for “3rd Rock from the Sun” and our January 1998 cover story.
“After 12 years as a critic and thousands of restaurant visits, there are still times when this reviewer manages to get really excited about a new restaurant. This is one of those times.” – The opening to Willard Romantini's review of the new RISTORANTE BARTOLOTTA, May 1993
The January 1994 debut issue of M, our A&E-magazinewithin-a-magazine, featured a blurb on Nirvana's KURT
COBAIN's barefoot traipse around Grand Avenue Mall before a show.
In Romantini's March 1995 review of the food at notorious Downtown pickup lounge
VICTOR'S, you can almost read his eyes widening at the goings-on beyond his plate: “This ‘meet' market has garnered a well-deserved reputation as the spot in town to have a drink, dance and hopefully leave with a phone number or two.”
One of the Milwaukeeans of the Year in January 1996:
WILLY PORTER, the “folky” singer-songwriter whose CD Dog Eared Dream was “blazing up the Adult Album Alternative” charts. He stuck around, too, garnering a “Best of Milwaukee” nod in 2018.