Behind the "T"...

Angela and I live across the street from Currie Park, and if you look closely you can see one of the flagsticks right behind the "T" in "AT." In years past, it wasn't uncommon for the back nine to get flooded in the spring, but I never saw it happen in August until now. Thanks to a major water reclamation project completed about 7-8 years ago, the Menomonee River came up over the parkway but never got closer to us than that. Walking a just a few blocks to the south, we have neighbors whose yards are full of everything that used to be in their basements and garages. Continuing to the Village of Wauwatosa area, well, we've all seen that on the news.

The reason I mention this is because I think it's important to recognize all the people who selflessly came together from all over to help others recover from the damage. Walking Arnold this morning, I saw a dozen or so Amish men and women hauling wet garbage, furniture, and other things from several homes, others on forklifts bringing building materials and drywall into their garages for rebuilding. They were with Christian Faith Ministries. Samaritan's Purse was also there doing the same. It was impossible for me to not get a little choked up watching them as we walked by. I've seen the ads on TV, and I'm happy to say they walk the talk when it comes to giving up their time to help others. These are truly good people and deserve whatever support we're able to give them.

Things are slowly returning to normal, and here at Pastiche we're hoping for a busy week. We hope you experienced little or no flood damage, and no one you love got hurt. With any luck, nothing like this will happen again for a very long time.

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One of my favorite feelings has always been putting the final touches on the last plate of a busy service. Feeling like we beat the printer again, kept up with the servers, and made a lot of guests happy. One of the cool things about cooking is that the reward for your hard work comes immediately. All you need to do is look out the kitchen door to the dining room and watch people enjoy their dinners. 

It's got to be a busy night in order for the adrenaline to kick in. The chit chat stops, replaced by the callouts from the chef- "Order" "Fire," picking the items you're responsible for preparing off the list as he reads the ticket. One ticket after another, your focus narrows and you just put your head down and cook. All your training and experience might make it look easy, but it requires a lot of discipline and concentration. As the board fills with tickets, everything speeds up, and you hold on, hoping the train stays on the tracks tonight. Any one of a number of things can throw a wrench into the operation- a steak that needs recooking, an allergy, sauce on the side not noted on the ticket, or a detail the cooks or server missed requiring something to be remade. It's a long list. 

But every once in a while, everything clicks, nothing goes sideways on you, and you look up at the clock on the wall and see that three and a half hours have gone by since the last time you looked up. You look at the other cooks and they're smiling and beginning to wipe down their stations and wrap up their mise en place. None of the servers have any orders to place, and it is, as they say, "Miller Time."

These days, I don't get to cook as much as I used to, but the boys are absolutely up to the job and I only work the line one or two nights a week. Most of the time, I'm like the reserve troops waiting to be sent in when the situation dictates. I can jump right in and work through the rush to help get things out faster and easier.

A little less line work is fine with me, because it gives me a little time to do things like this- things that might bring people into our world just a little bit more and possibly make them want to check us out sometime. 

Are you old enough to remember John Ernst? What about the Bavarian Inn, Karl Ratzsch's, Kalt's, The Friendly Inn, and a dozen or more others. John Ernst (photo credit; Facebook) closed kind of suddenly years ago, for whatever reason I don't know. It was in the middle of a development phase in the area, maybe the timing and price were right. The Bavarian Inn, where I once worked, used to pack people in on Fridays and Sundays and had a great Oktoberfest, then entered a long, slow decline and finally settled into the Bavarian Bierhaus after a complete renovation and redirection to become a brewpub with long community tables and a dozen or more big screen TV's to watch sports on. Angela and I went there once just to see what it was like; the food was lazy and of average quality, lots of variations on the pretzel theme, and the service nonexistent because the staff seemed occupied watching the game on the big TV's. We haven't returned, but I guess enough people do to keep them in business. I wouldn't really consider it a German restaurant anymore, though. A meeting place to watch a game. Definitely a beer and pretzel house, but nothing like what it once was.

Karl Ratzsch's had also slowly fallen out of favor over time. Like many restaurants resistant to change, their loyal clientele aged out and had diminished to the point where it was finally put up for sale and bought by a highly talented and successful chef who also had a modern fine dining restaurant in Walker's Point. Hopes and expectations were high; if anyone could resuscitate the old girl it'd be him. The first thing he did was clean the place up, removing all the patina from over a century of pipe and cigar smoke, tableside cooking, birthday candles, and general use. He took down most of the old decorations and hunting trophies, and put in some new and tasteful decorations. He traded in the old traditional server uniforms for some that were more modern and comfortable. He installed new LED lighting that really brightened things up but he lost the mystique of the dimly-lit corners where the old timey businessmen had done clandestine deals or entertained their mistresses. His menu retained several of the old signature dishes, some changed or lightened up a little, along with some newer and snazzier items. We went there a couple times, but, and this is just my opinion, the things that had made a trip to Ratzsch's a special evening had been removed and cleaned away and the old school German dishes I loved had been tweaked and changed just enough that they no longer evoked the same sense of comfortable nostalgia they once did. Most of what was left of the original clientele abandoned the restaurant, and they weren't able to find new customers to backfill the old ones in time and it closed less than a year after reopening. I believe it was eventually sold to overseas real estate investors several years ago but I could be wrong. I felt particularly bad about losing Ratzsch's because he'd have had so many resources to draw on had he wanted to. Some of the great German chefs are still here in the city, like Eddie Schroeder and Axel Dietrich, who probably would've happily advised him to change very gradually, and not to reimagine the classic "plowhorse" dishes the restaurant was known for. It's much more difficult to take over an iconic restaurant than it is to open a brand new one. Even the most talented chefs don't always succeed.

What's left? Kegel's and Maders and probably a few supper clubs that have a few German things on the menu. Mader's is an overpriced tourist restaurant attached to a gift shop, and the food has never been worth writing home about. Over time, it's become more of a caricature of a German restaurant than it used to be. It's funny, though, that it's the last of the big three left standing. Kegel's is still good, the prices are on par with the food and service, and the atmosphere still has that old gemütlichkeit we love. 

I was raised on German food and I love it. Why did it fall out of favor? People think of it as heavy- smoked meat, sausage, dumpling and potato-laden, high calorie and carb food that isn't good for them, but the same thing can be said of any cuisine originating in a land where people work hard for their livelihoods. There's also a lot of preserving, tasty balances of fat, salt, sugar and acid in things like pork shanks with sauerkraut or duckling with red cabbage. German food is really good, and it's a shame there aren't more good German places to go to in Milwaukee anymore. If I were half my age, and was just a little bit smarter, maybe I'd make an attempt at a nice little German restaurant somewhere in the suburbs or just out of the city. Maybe in one of those old brewery taverns like the one Three Brothers is in. I'd put a lot of my Grandma's dishes on the menu. Have a nice selection of German beers and wines, and of course, proper music. Who doesn't love a soft accordian and a nice roast duckling?

 Tuesdays and Wednesdays on bottles up to and including $60. If that's not enough great news for you, we're extending Happy Hour service to the patio as long as the weather's nice!

Did you know that walleye like cold water, so in the heat of summer, they sometimes disappear in the depths of the Great Lakes and can't be caught by the fishermen who supply the people who supply us. Now that we're having a little cool stretch and September is just around the bend, we've heard they're returning and might be available as early as this weekend. Keep in touch if you love walleye- it may be back on the menu soon!

Have you watched the recent documentary Martha on Netflix? Angela and I are both fans, so we did one rainy Monday afternoon and it was terrific. Most people know the basic story of her early success, legal problems, recovery, and subsequent success, so I'll just say that I learned a lot from her and have always been inspired by her ability to take everything on her own terms and never give up. Only in America? I think so.  (photo credit; marthastewart.com)

One of the most beautiful and historical places in France, Marseille is home to hearty fisherman's dishes like bouillabaisse, beautiful beaches, and of course the Corsican Mafia, the famous "French Connection." Angela and I went there on the last leg of our trip to France years ago, and it was wonderful; sunny and warm compared to Paris and the middle of the country. We enjoyed a tour of the market and lunch, then were headed to the airport to fly home. It'd be nice to return some day and spend a little more time taking it all in.

One of many famous dishes originating in Marseille, bouillabaisse is a fisherman's stew made with tomatoes, garlic, maybe a few vegetables if available, and a selection of whatever was in the nets that morning. Served with a spicy rouille made of mayonnaise flavored with cayenne, saffron and garlic, and some bread slices, washed down with some local wine, it's hard to imagine anything better. It loses so much of its charm when taken out of it's proper context, I couldn't bring myself to order it if I saw it on a restaurant menu anywhere else.

We've been getting inquiries and even a couple bookings for special dinners, so if you're interested, give us a call or send us an email and we can answer your questions and maybe even get you in the book! Whether it's a one-off menu created with wine selections especially for you or a group of friends and family to order off our regular menu, or even a luncheon, we'd love to talk about it! 

Got a Rehearsal Dinner, Birthday, Promotion, or Special Occasion?

Let us know what we can do for you. We can accomodate medium (40-80) or smaller (10-40) groups, larger groups at certain times, create special menus, pair wines, pretty much anything within reason- just no glitter on Angela's carpet, please! Talk to Frank and he'll get you all set up.

OPENING HOURS

Tues - Sat: 5:00 to 9:00pm

Sun - Mon: closed

Happy Hour Tuesday-Friday

Patio is Open (Weather permitting)