Benny Sieu Tender braised short ribs ($16) at INdustri Cafe, 524 S. 2nd St., are served with flavorful veal demi-glace and a "risotto" cake made of barley and dried cherries. Be ready to wait for a seat at Walker's Point café
An hourlong wait for a table on a busy Saturday night at INdustri Café in Walker's Point crystallized one thing for me: Go to dinner with people you like. It makes the time go faster.
But so did the people-watching, with lots of 20- and 30-somethings in the room - OK, maybe a little people-glaring, in a vain bid to will lingering diners from their tables - and restaurant gossip almost completely accidentally overheard at the bar. (INdustri seems to draw a fair number of service-industry workers, which was its aim with the late kitchen hours it keeps.)
As amusing as all that was, it was good to sit down to dinner.
INdustri - opened in January by Robert Klemm and chef Chris Miller - takes comfort food and gives it a little twist. "Shelter from the ordinary" is its slogan, hence the fallout-shelter symbols scattered here and there amid the Cream City brick, wood and metal interior. Nothing too unfamiliar or cutting-edge on the menu, though, no foams or spherification.
But the rumaki appetizer ($9) wraps thick, crisp bacon around water chestnut and duck liver instead of the classic chicken liver. This is a good change. There's a little maple-soy sauce for dipping on the side of this plainly presented plate.
And rather than oysters Rockefeller, here are scallops Rockefeller ($12): two scallops sliced into coins, pan-seared and presented with Pernod-sautéed spinach, pickled red onion and dabs of roasted-garlic aioli, a pretty presentation.
A vegetarian appetizer updates the staid cucumber sandwich: cute cuke sliders ($7) on toasted marble rye rounds, stacked with thinly sliced cucumber, fresh spinach, pickled red onion, a tangle of microgreens and dill yogurt sauce that made the flavor pop.
Mushroom gratin ($9) in cognac cream sauce was utterly delicious; served without toasts for scooping or spreading, though, it read side dish more than shareable appetizer.
In fact, I'm tempted to order the gratin on the side sometime with the braised short ribs ($16). In this entrée, the gremolata's clear lemon flavor was a boon to the tender Angus beef, served with full-flavored poblano veal demi-glace and a "risotto" cake of barley dotted with dried cherries.
Homey thick-sliced meatloaf ($14) was a crackerjack dish - particularly if you consider the cross-section of Polish sausage in the center "the surprise inside." Smashed red potatoes with it: terrific. Sautéed apples and red onion: not as much. A better-tasting apple this night would have helped.
Pan-seared chicken breast ($12), sliced and fanned on the plate and garnished with a fragrant rosemary sprig, was beautifully juicy but needed just a touch more salt. And sautéed spinach that night could have done with a bit less garlic. But the plate's sweet little corn fritters stayed on my mind for days - light fritters with an ethereal, crackly crust.
When it comes to plates to remember, though, the brunch burger ($10) stands with Milwaukee's best burgers. It was thick, juicy, loosely packed; ideal, really. It came on a sourdough roll with smoked Gouda, thick bacon and a fried egg. (A burger with different toppings, at $13, is available at lunch and dinner.)
It's a good brunch all around. Corned beef hash with two basted eggs ($8) was the rare hash that was moist rather than overcooked and dry - wonderful. Instead of oatmeal, INdustri serves hot Irish barley ($4), sweetened and flavored with cinnamon. It had an incredibly pleasing chewy texture; the only thing I'd change would be to offer it with a richer milk.
It doesn't seem right to call what's on top of the Bloody Mary ($13, discounted at brunch) a mere garnish. It's an entrée in itself, topped with one of the jumbo prawns that appear in appetizers and entrées on the regular menu, along with an entire length of celery rib, a chunk of smoked Gouda, a beef stick, olives, pearl onion, pickled asparagus . . . it goes on. The drink itself was sweet for a Bloody.
The real sweets, an ever-changing lineup of several desserts, are worth checking out. Black Forest cheesecake ($7) layered chocolate-almond crust, cheesecake and chocolate cake topped with a chocolate glaze. And the cherry on top: heavenly sweet cherries on the side, actually, in a delectable sauce.
The desserts are posted on a blackboard in the dining room, but servers cheerfully recite them for diners. Service in general was reliable and usually very good, although I'm beginning to wonder if leaving food spills on the table is now epidemic in restaurants. Pacing could be off - once too slow, once too fast - but changes to the menu could well help that. Currently, the full menu is served all day. Klemm, the co-owner, said the lunch menu will be abbreviated to focus on sandwiches, and dinner will focus on entrées.
That menu change is coming in two weeks. Some dishes are staying or being tweaked, he said, and many are leaving. The restaurant also has made changes to get that wait time down on the weekends to 20 minutes or so, Klemm said.
INdustri makes an effort to source locally - from the grass-fed red Angus beef to the Wisconsin-only beer list. It's a member of Braise RSA, a network that links restaurants with local farmers. So, in a state where it snows in mid-April, that means many more fresh takes on food still lie ahead. I'll be eager to see what the farms' bounty brings to this INdustri.
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