Milwaukee’s restaurant scene offers visitors and locals a variety of great new options.

Just a scant two decades past, Milwaukee’s fine dining scene consisted mostly of heavy, wood paneling and dim lights— supper clubs and steak joints from the ’60s. The cuisine presented was an American-style affair, and if a restaurant dared offer an ethnic spin, it was decidedly German.

Today the transformation is nothing short of extraordinary. There’s a wide and worldly array of restaurants, an adventurous and ever-changing culinary landscape just waiting to be savored by gourmets. The city’s downtown condominium boom, coupled with expanded or new cultural offerings, have seen an increase in the number and variety of restaurants. In fact, the city’s convention and visitors bureau employed its first food blogger, Audra Shalles less than a year ago.

“There’s an increased sophistication of Milwaukeeans, and the city’s become far more cosmopolitan, and I’m not just talking about those drinks that those ‘Sex and the City’ girls have,” says Dennis Getto, who’s been restaurant critic for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel since the early ’80s. “What’s going on here is amazing, and as far as ethnic diversity goes, there isn’t another Midwestern city that comes close to what Milwaukee has to offer.”

That includes the work of chef Marc Bianchini, a Culinary Institute of America grad who’s a New Yorker by birth but a Milwaukeean by choice. Bianchini first discovered Milwaukee when he was hired as consulting opening chef for Ristorante Bartolotta in 1993.

Bianchini was sufficiently charmed to return a year later to open the upscale Osteria del Mundo. Four years ago, he and his wife Marta opened up the more casual Cubanitas (cubanitas. us). This year, he transformed the old restaurant at the Wyndham Milwaukee into the new InterContinental-Milwaukee’s über-chic, Kilawat. “It’s all about illumination, about light and energy, and the name Kilawat fits—especially since it overlooks the intersection of Kilbourn and Water,” Bianchini says.

The menu’s unusual arrangement reflects the restaurant’s theme, as it isn’t organized vertically but categorically, with each grouping representing a type of energy—spark, cool, ambient and sizzle, to name a few. Under “spark,” you’ll find small plates of Thai meatballs and curried nuts, while “cool” covers salads and ceviches. “Ambient” includes a squash napoleon with herbed goat cheese and a decadent, caramelized bacon dish, while “sizzle” replaces fried with fabulous—think crab tater tots and shrimp beignets. “It’s eclectic and choice-driven,” Bianchini says.

Choices abound also at Sabor, a Brazilian churrascaria that opened up around the corner. In a space occupied formerly by a brew pub, an intricate dance of degustation tangos in its nightly show. After sampling a bounty of salads and sides, including artisanal cheeses and asparagus spears so fresh they snap when you bite into them, the gauchos begin to court your table, plying you with anywhere from 12 to 16 different carvings of meats, along with sides of fried bananas, rice, potatoes and black beans. Meals are capped off by house-made desserts and French pressed coffee. “After we came up with our custom blend of coffee, I asked our purveyor [Alterra Coffee] how we should best serve it, and she said ‘You’ll never do it,’” says owner Paul Berlin. “I said ‘try me,’ and she recommended French press. It’s a challenge operationally, as we grind the coffee fresh with each order, but I’d never do it another way.”

Operationally, it was also a challenge to reopen the newly restored Ambassador Hotel and its Envoy Restaurant. This Art Deco gem had fallen on hard times until current owner Rick Wiegand took over. To match his vision in the hotel’s restaurant, Wiegand hired Dan Smith, a chef who had spent two decades in San Francisco before returning home. Smith’s cuisine is fusion-driven and incorporates elements from his favorite ethnic haunts. “It’s new American cuisine, and it’s taking the best from ethnic immigrants of the last 30 years,” Smith says. “But when I introduce these flavors for an American palette, I’ll hold back on the fish sauce, for example. Smith’s spareribs have a Korean flare, while the salmon takes on wonderful Japanese overtones.

Fusion and flare have also found their way into the once industrial and now happening Third Ward. One of the newest offerings in this art district boasts an old name, the Holiday House. Owner Joe Volpe’s grandfather owned the original Holiday House from the ’40s to the ’60s, and back in the day, it was a place to watch Tony Bennett and savor a big steak. Honoring history, the retro mod walls of the restaurant are decked with black-and-white pictures of his grandfather and the various stars who sang there. Offerings include Washington mussels served with a spicy tomato broth; Virginia black bass topped with beurre blanc and olive tapenade; and vegetarian crepes with savory fondues and sauces. If you look at the menu closely, you might notice an absence of chicken. Indeed, the closest thing to it is a locally raised pheasant that comes with a wild mushroom ragout and mascarpone polenta. But the absence of bird isn’t an oversight. “You can cook chicken at home,” Volpe says. Most customers, Volpe adds, don’t even miss it. That’s a testament to the changing tastes of Milwaukee diners.

Where the Chefs DINE

With a dizzying number of dining options, it’s hard to know where to eat in Milwaukee. So, we asked the experts—the chefs and restaurateurs themselves—to name their top choices.

Bianchini: “Sunday night it’s Palermo Villa for pizza. I also like Riversite (262-242-6050) in Mequon, and Sanford, of course. One of the best-kept secrets is the Palm Tavern (414-744-0393)—they’ve got all the right glasses for beer.”

Smith: “I like to go to Fortune in West Allis (414-328-9890) and Hop Sheng (414-906-8888)— they do great dim sum. I also like Cielito Lindo (414-649-0401) and the lunch counter at El Rey Market (414-383-7786). I’m really in it for the food, not so much for the atmosphere.”

Berlin: “I’m a sushi lover, so I love Izumi’s. But if I’m in the mood for a filet, I go to Butch’s Old Casino Steakhouse (414-271-8111). I also love Zarletti’s (414-225-0000) and Crazy Water. Peg [Magister] does a great job.”

Volpe: “I go to different places for certain dishes. I like Coquette for coq au vin. I like Crazy Water for its scallop dishes and the amazing simplicity of the crab cakes. I love Coerper’s (414-342-3553) for steak. I think the chefs there are having a lot more fun.”