Ringing in the New Year - Out & About in Milwaukee with Good Friends!

Upon returning from Ohio in time to watch my Clemson Tigers beat Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl (yes, my priorities are a bit odd!), I found myself preparing for a visit from my dear friend Dana. Dana has been mentioned here (actually, she wrote that post!), here, and here.  She was driving in from Michigan the morning after I arrived back home, and planned to spend a few days in Milwaukee over the New Year's week.Dana is a wonderful and curious traveler, so she suggested several local things to try.  Before I get into how Dana and I ate our way through New Year's week, I'll share a few pictures of the other things we saw and did.First, Dana needed her Bloody Mary from AJ Bombers!I've mentioned AJ's before...Then, on to the Pabst Brewing Company...Not a traditional brewing process tour, but rich in history and quite interesting, in my opinion.Though the tour doesn't focus on the process of brewing beer, you still get to enjoy beer during the tour.  Plus, this facility has a wonderful and intimate space in which to host weddings, parties and other celebrations.Lakefront Brewery... My neighbor, and friend, Andrew also joined us for LFB and dinner later.(pro tip: The fried cheese curds are fantastic! The Beer Hall Wheat Ale batter is light and crispy...this is the only way I'll eat cheese curds, and I'm not generally a big fan of fried foods!)The Old German Beer Hall... Dana's pick for dinner on the evening of her arrival.After all we had munched on at Lakefront Brewery, we were not as hungry as we thought we might be. Total bummer, because the German menu seemed to have real promise!We did polish off the Hofbräuhaus Brotzeitteller, which consisted of classic beer hall style bread, meat & cheese board, a 10oz pretzel, Rye bread & Obatzter with (local) Usinger deli meats, Swiss cheese, beer radish, and pickles. A great appetizer to pick at - a lot of variety, and very good food!We may have polished off a few beers as well.  My choice... the Hofbräu Delikator - “Dopplebock” - actually, that was our server's choice, and it was quite tasty!Now...on to the main culinary events!New Year's Eve at Kanpai Izakaya... I made reservations for the five course dinner special.  $59 / person, for fresh sushi, sashimi, and wine/Saki pairing?  Yes, please!Courses one and two: Lobster Miso Soup and House Salad.  The addition of lobster meat to the soup...brilliant!Hamachi Ponzu appetizer (course three).Course 4: The "OMG" roll as it cooks. The roll has shrimp tempura, avocado, eel, shrimp, spicy and wasabi aiolis, and is served flaming under the fire of burning rum.  The resulting taste is of a delicious grilled sushi roll.Everyone at the table enjoyed this roll immensely, as do I!The Chef's Choice sashimi plate was the final delivery.  Please allow me to say that, OMG, this was amazing!!If I had a proper camera, this plate would have looked even better.  However, even with a phone camera, I hope you see just how beautiful all of the seafood looks!  This lovely plates hosts a party of Crab, White Tuna, Yellow Finned Tuna, Salmon, and Talapia (the chefs were advised that Scallops were off-limits for this gal).  I'm not even kidding when I say that the fish melted in my mouth - and, the Yellow Finned Tuna was my favorite, by far!I've always enjoyed the food and service at Kanpai, but I think they managed to (somehow!) step up their game on NYE! And, Mary, thanks for wonderful service - always with a smile!Kanpai was a great start to our NYE outing!  We then walked over to Cafe Benelux for a drink, and ultimately cabbed back to East Town to enjoy acoustic music (very good acoustic music!) at The County Clare.The County Clare was busy, but not overly crowded.  Dana, Andrew and I had a great time just chatting, listening to the music, and watching folks (overly) enjoy their evenings.  We also thoroughly enjoyed the complimentary bottle of champagne The County Clare provided just prior to midnight! What a wonderful way to ring in 2015!And...then came the After, After Party at GoodKind.After having heard about GoodKind from a colleague, and reading about it being one of the top 21 new restaurants in the US, I decided we should make reservations for the After, After Party Brunch on New Year's Day. We had a lazy morning and then headed over to GoodKind in Bay View with my friend Katie in tow as well.   We walked into an inviting atmosphere, busy with other brunchers!This was the inaugural brunch at GoodKind, so nobody, including the staff, knew exactly what to expect!After reviewing the day's menu, I knew I couldn't decide (except to eliminate the Smoked Rotisserie Pork Belly served with a Maple Buttermilk Cake.  I LOVE pork belly, but there is no way anyone will get me to eat anything maple-flavored!)  Everything else was fair game.Our server, Caitlin, advised us that most tables had been ordering tapas style and sharing dishes, so we decided to do the same.  We took a few recommendations from Caitlin, and I asked her to choose an additional dish to surprise us.We started by sharing a bottle of wine.  This Ramon Bilbao Rioja was rich in flavor and definitely improved as it sat.We then ordered:Polenta Madame with hometown ham, goat cheese curds and fried egg.  What an extraordinary and savory delight!!The Pork Cheek Donut - it's just like it sounds...a sugary donut filled with tender pork cheek and served over a chocolate raspberry sauce.  I LOVED the concept here, but I think the sweet overpowered the savory a bit.  I would have loved to have a bit more pork in each bite.  However, if you have a sweet tooth, this dish may be the one for you!The aforementioned Smoked Rotisserie Pork Belly with Maple Buttermilk Cake was highly recommended by our server, so we did order that dish,  After being assured by my friends that the pork did not have a maple flavor, I gave it a try.  As it should be, the meat was very tender, if a bit high in fat content.And, Caitlin's choice for us was the Dungeoness Crab Bread Pudding with frisee, tarragon and lemon vinaigrette.  I thoroughly enjoyed this dish too!  The crab meat was not overpowering, but what a rich flavor!  I loved having a serving of savory bread pudding for brunch!  And, the frisee with lemon vinaigrette...so light and fresh!As if my friends and I hadn't tasted enough goodness at GoodKind, Dana made the executive decision to order each of the two desserts that were being offered that day!  I don't recall what GoodKind named these desserts, but one was Door County cherry tart with whipped cream and anise sprinkles, and the other was chocolate cake, topped with chocolate mousse and brittle bites.We enjoyed both desserts, although the chocolate cake was deemed a bit too rich for my rookie friends!  (I, on the other hand, thought it was super tasty!).I think the menu at GoodKind, being so unique, may seem a bit intimidating to some people.  I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to take the leap of faith and to dine at GoodKind, knowing you'll have great flavors served up!GoodKind will begin regular Sunday brunches this month, and I hope locals and visitors give it a try!  If you're into sushi, sashimi and the like, I really suggest Kanpai in the Third Ward.  Neither my guests nor I have ever been disappointed there.  And, for  local fare that is not fancy, but is just good, AJ Bombers, the Old German Beer Hall, and Lakefront Brewery are great local options.I hope you enjoyed our tour of Milwaukee over the past few days!Happy new year!Cheers!Ker