Fall Tour in Milwaukee, Saturday, October 20, 2012

Weather is a mix of sun and clouds....55 degrees.......

It's supposed to be mid 50s and mostly sunny.
 
Lucy - Yes. People around here go out for Sweetest Day, but it's usually to a "lesser" (i.e., not a Valentine's Day calibre) restaurant, such as Ginger or Riviera Maya (or, of course, Applebee's, Olive Garden, Red Robin, etc).
I know Honeypie does not take reservations, I'm just sayin' we may have to wait a bit longer than expected. In which case, we can drift across the street to Hi-Fi for coffee and such, or wander into Rushmor Record Store.
 

My only concern is the distillery tour-they only take 50 people at a time. I may suggest we skip that due to that fact, and time constraints, and perhaps, as x1 suggested, longer waits at places...

We've done the distillery tour.  There was not much to it, unless you are drinking.

Hey everyone.  Man, I hate to do this, but I'm calling in sick.  I can't eat.  I feel awful, and really disappointed.  I was so looking forward to this.    Hope you all have an awesome day.

Bummer, girl.
 
We'll catch you next time. Feel better.
 

Get well...no problem.

OK, I'm officially a "not sure".  I just about had 1 foot out the door this morning when my boss called because part of the computer system apparently went belly-up overnight, so now I'm here at work trying to get everything back to normal.  It's probably going to take at least another hour or more so if I'm lucky I'll be on the road by 10:30.
 
The irony, though, is that he couldn't look into the problem...because he's in Milwaukee!

Thanks everyone, had a great time...I think I'm done eating for a week!
Alyce, thanks for the Hoosier pies, Bob and Mark & Nina, thanks for the kringles, Mark, thanks for introducing us to Dr. Dawg himself!
 
 

This was indeed a marvellous gathering. Thank you Ann Peeples and stricken_detective for organizing it--the venues chosen were great. And I echo X1's props to Carolina Bob (and CSD) for kringle, and Alyce's pie from Hoosier Mama. Mmm, that Persimmon Pie was perfect.... Alyce, I hope the rest of your stay in the Milwaukee-Chicago corridor is a pleasant one. As always, I enjoyed seeing so many members of The Contingent today, and I'm already eagerly awaiting the next round. 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to AlyceinRoadfoodland, ChicagoStyleDog, Carolina Bob for bringing treats. Annie, thanks for the ginger-ale & girly items on the way home.
 
Thank you to everyone who came, I hope you enjoyed yourselves. I had a great time with all of you, as usual.
 
quijote: So I have to ask--did you and that last slice of persimmon pie from Hoosier Mama find a nice quiet place where the two of you could just talk and get to know each other a little better, or did you just get a room @ The Pfister, and have room service bring up extra towels, a bowl of ice cubes, a teapot full of hot water, 4 extra pillows, and an extra sheet to protect the carpet?

Wonderful time seeing everyone again. I thought the food choices turned out well-I, myself tried many things i have never had.......what was most special to me was:
Meeting Carolina Bob( he said he was beginning to think I never existed)
Ceviche and mole's
Bobbie's blue( you know what I mean)
Dining on desserts ala trunk, and people asking what we were doing ( I said we were well dressed homeless people)
Buying Aimee fun nail polish at CVS, as she was kind enough to stop for my husbands lottery tickets........Thanks, all. I had a blast.

Standouts at each place, for me:

Groppi's Food Market --hands down, 100%, banana tart.
Honeypie Cafe --Scallops Benedict
Riviera Maya--pumpkin mole
Dr Dawg --cheeseburger & GREEN RIVER
Palomino --they make their mac & cheese with Velveeta. I am allergic to Velveeta. doesn't matter, I was too full & passed on eating here, except I did swipe MFL's crackers that came with his gumbo & ate them. 
Dining ala trunk across the street from Groppi's -- persimmon pie from Hoosier Mama. Holy smack that was awesome!
Kopp's --too full. 

Forgot about the scallops benedict.....THAT was fantastic!

Really?  I found the pumpkin mole at Riviera Maya to be the weakest of the flight of five (tasted like plain green mole with pumpkin seeds tossed in for visual flair).  The sesame mole, on the other hand, was made of unbridled deliciousness and joy.  I was similarly disappointed in the much vaunted "green river" which tasted to me like a can of sprite with green dye.  It did not live up to the hype.

Hi, Pip #1. I'm glad you & Pip #3 came along today. I'm the only one who really loves Green River. The others tolerate my obsession.    Also, for whatever reason, it doesn't taste the same from a fountain. We'll have to get a bottle from Woodman's & go back & do a blind taste test.
 
The sesame was a very close second. I think I liked the pepita mole (I'm renaming it, since it's just the seeds & not the flesh) because it was the sauce for the shrimp thing I shared with ScreamingChicken. I had more of that than any other kind. 

 
I think we should take a day & go back there when we are not doing 4-6 other places.

My most favorite thing of the day was the Xel-Ha Flan at Rivieria Maya. Best Flan I've ever had.
I loved both the burger and the char-grilled salami at Dr. Dawg. 
I'm at Groppi's all the time, so I was just happy everyone else enjoyed it as much as I do.
I forgot to thank for MFL and Iris for dragging my arse around for the day, and to Q for rescuing me when I thought I'd been left behind. Y'all. That was the weirdest feeling, turning around and facing a silent, empty street that had been full of my friends only a minute before. 
And yes - thanks to Ann and SD for organizing the tour.

That flan was awesome, X1!Actually, all the food I tasted was good, great and , meh. Rivieria's guacamole was bland-I make better. I loved that you and Aimee shared the fried salami with me-fantastic-as was Dr. Dawgs Italian beef w/sausage sandwich.Poor Bobbi-I shared that with her, but had ordered it w/everything, dont think it was to her liking.I want to spend much more time at Groppi's-maybe one day we can meet there and you can guide me!

Don't worry about me, Ann. I was so full at that point, I couldn't eat anyway. Thanks to Amiee and Ann for organizing such a wonderful day! Thanks to Gloria for bringing pie and to Mark and Bob for kringle. Jim, I and the pips had a great time. 

AimeeAnn,
 
Thank you for taking us to places we hadn't tried before.  Riviera Maya and Honeypie will make good stops for meals on the way to the airport.
 
JRP

By the way, Bobbi and Jim-great to see, and talk to, the pips!

I, myself, agree, Jim. Two very good places.....Glad to see you guys again.....

By the way-Aimee was the strong one on this tour....I just work the room.lol!

I certainly 2nd the kudos for the Scallops Benedict at Honeypie but what about those BISCUITS!!!  Crispy on the outside and not at all doughy on the inside.  The cheeseburger at Dr. Dawg was excellent.  The meat comes from
Niman Ranch in California ( pronouced NIIIman not Niman like Marcus).  I always pronounced it wrong way.  When I asked Dr. Dawg if he couldn't get great meat closer to home he looked reverential and said, "Not like that."
Thanks to Ann and Amy for all the planning.  Great to see everyone again or for the first time.

Being that the only thing I had from Groppi's (since Honeypie was our first stop, and I was too full to eat anything when we came through at the end of the day) was the banana tart, that's my favorite thing from there...with how much I love bananas, it probably would have been my favorite anyway.  

The bite I had of scallops from Honeypie were really good.  The meals we ordered and split when we got there (the Mr. Crispy and the Southern Gentleham) were very good.  I wish the ham on the Mr. Crispy was a little more "off the bone" style and a little less lunchmeat style.  It was good, but not up to par with the rest of their food.  

At Riviera Maya, the coconut shrimp was very good, the shrimp with pumpkin verde sauce (again, more pepita than pumpkin) was okay.  I was disappointed with the guacamole- it was a very good start- lots of cilantro, good chunky texture to the avocado, but it was very bland because there was no acidity- no onion, no lime, not even a prevalent tomato flavor (there was something red in there, not sure if it was tomato or maybe minced bell pepper, judging by the total lack of acidity.)  The horchata was good, the shrimp that Buddy brought down to us was good.  The standout there was definitely the flan.  I could eat a soup bowl full of that stuff.

We split a burger, char salami and rosemary-garlic fries at Dr. Dawg's.  They were both very good and I'm going to be very conflicted about where to get my burger, once they open their second location by the Greenfield Kopp's.  They're very similar (Kopp's may be slightly larger)...choices, choices...

We got the Velvet Elvis and the catfish po'boy at Palomino- the Velvet Elvis wasn't as good as the last time I had it.  A little heavy handed with the peanut butter and the bananas could have been warmer and riper.  The catfish was very good and I'd like to go back and try a whole sandwich.  The mac & cheese was pretty good, as Velveeta mac & cheese goes.  Smoque, down here in Chicago, is still my gold standard for mac & cheese, and it didn't even come near that.
 
Persimmon and cranberry aren't my favorites (sorry, Alyce!  I left more for everyone else!) and I was pretty damn full after that, so I didn't try the savory Hoosier Mama pie...I've had their pie before though, and they are very well done.

Pete's already eaten his half of the Choco Bella chocolates, so I'm off to catch up!

Thanks to Aimee and Ann for planning the whole thing and it was great to see everyone!  

P.S.  Hope Carolina Bob posts soon so we know he got home okay! 

And, of course, the non-food highlight or low point, depending on your perspective, Amiee's t-shirt!

Which will never be seen by Roadfood eyes.
 
Buddy

BuddyRoadhouse


Which will never be seen by Roadfood eyes.

Buddy

But the Facebook world has been made witness!

ChiTownDiner

BuddyRoadhouse


Which will never be seen by Roadfood eyes.

Buddy

But the Facebook world has been made witness!

If I'm going to be the most inappropriate one here, I'm going to do it right!!!
 
I really miss having a camera & taking pics of the food. Lots of other people took pics though, can't wait to see them. Maybe Santa will bring me a nonbroken USB cord for the old one. (I can find one online for like $3, might as well do it before our next tour.)

Imagine, my horror,as her co captain......fun, fun, fun!
 

Had lunch at Benji's in Milwaukee this afternoon. Matzo ball soup, corned beef sandwich, and chocolate phosphate were all outstanding. I could see a corned beef throw down between Jake's, Benji's, and McBob's. This one could be close!

My first stop of the day was at Riviera Maya, which features this mural on one of the walls.

 
But I was not alone.  MilwFoodLovers, AlyceInRoadfoodland, X1, and Abe_Froeman were among those perusing the menus.

 
Drinks came first and horchata was a popular choice at the south end of the table.

 
Most orders were for tapas and the leader here was the aforementioned mole sampler.  Going from memory, L-R is chocolate, pumpkin/pepita, sesame, almond, and peanut, and my favorites were the pumpkin (the spiciest) and the peanut.

 
I'm not sure what the red sauce accompanying the guacamole was.  It had a sharper, somewhat spicy flavor with a slightly bitter aftertaste.

 
Cocteles de camarones in different glasses, or 2 different things?
   
 
The JRPfeffs were across from me and they ordered the steak with pipian rojo sauce.

 
Shrimp in pipian verde, which Stricken Detective and myself thought was the pumpkin mole from the sampler tray.

 
I remember the fonduta had melted cheese and chorizo but the other ingredients escape me, probably because they were vegetable in nature.

 
What remained of the flan by the time it got down to our end.

 
Eventually we ("we" being PfeffPip Eric, Ann Peeples, JRPfeff, Pie Diva, PfeffPip Martin, Stricken_Detective, Mr. Maki, Buddy Roadhouse, and MilwFoodLovers) gathered like a flock of confused sheep in advance of the trip northward to Glendale and Dr. Dawg.

Great pics, Screaming!!

ChiTownDiner

BuddyRoadhouse


Which will never be seen by Roadfood eyes.

Buddy

But the Facebook world has been made witness!

Bloody hell!
 
Buddy

Aimee's shirt might have had something to do with it, Saturday was such a prideful day.  Towards the end of the tour ScreamingChicken and I admitted some long secret feelings to each other.  We finally confessed our desire for brussels sprouts.  Forget that you heard it.  Its our little secret.

I would have posted here earlier today, but I didn't get back from my all-night drive home ( 360-plus miles ) until about 7:30AM, at which time I hit the bed face first and didn't come to until late afternoon; I think I'm getting too old for stunts like this. Anyway, it was good to see everyone again, along with getting to meet AlyceinRoadfoodland, and I was especially happy to learn that Ann Peeples is not a figment of the Contingent's collective imagination. Since I had other commitments that evening, I only had time to have one meal with the gang, but it was a goodie. Dr. Dawg does an Italian beef n' sausage combo that's as good if not better than many beef stands in the Chicago area. Thanks so much, Aimee ( oh, that shirt! ) and Ann, for putting together a great event.

AlyceinRoadfoodland


Thanks to Ann and Amy for all the planning.

Yes, many thanks to Saturday's Dynamic Duo for a job well done!  Although next time matching shirts are in order....
 
And thumbs down to me for not expressing my gratitude in a more timely manner.

Thanks to Ann and Amy for all the wonderful planning!
Loved Bayview-what a fun neighborhood!
Best hidden gem was the fun and amazing art at Maya Rivera.
I will try to post some pix when the craziness that is work lets up-
 
Another wonderful Contingent get-together
Great Friends + Great Food = Best Fun of all 

Glad to hear you made it back to Southern Indiana in one piece, Carolina Bob!!!
 
Thank you also to X1 for bringing 2 kinds of beer--cherry & raspberry from Groppi's to Honeypie to share with the group. Yes. This is Wisconsin. We had beer with our breakfast.

Awesome pics Brad, thanks for those.
Glad to hear it was another successful Contingent get together. 
Wish I could have been there since it's my current stomping grounds but I'll be at the next one.
I had a great time at Lambeau south cheering the Packers to victory along with thousands of other Packers fans who made the trip to St. Louis. 

Yeah, thanks, X1. I was pleasantly surprised by those beers, especially the cherry. Very tasty.
 
Q
 

stricken_detective


Glad to hear you made it back to Southern Indiana in one piece, Carolina Bob!!!

Thank you also to X1 for bringing 2 kinds of beer--cherry & raspberry from Groppi's to Honeypie to share with the group. Yes. This is Wisconsin. We had beer with our breakfast.

This is a fun group of people, and when I learned to roll with the punches,  I totally relaxed and had a wonderful time....cant wait to do it again.....

Actually, I need to point out that I bought the beer at Honeypie, not Groppi's. 
We did a taste test because the pips insisted Cherry was better, and I insisted Raspberry was, so we had ourselves a little taste-off with the group.
 
Cherry won.

Sooo glad we kept to the original plan of Riviera Maya and steered clear of Guanajuato Mexican.  Jim and I ate there on our way to the airport and neither of us can think of ever having a worse Mexican meal than here. Thank you, thank you, thank you for not listening to the waitress at Honeypie's!

Wow, really? Good to know, I guess. Thanks for being the guinea pigs....

Gyp
Wish I could have been there since it's my current stomping grounds ...

We all stopped in to visit your brand new luxury apartment in the sky while we were in the neighborhood.  Hope nothing was out of place when we left.
 
Buddy

Gyp


Awesome pics Brad, thanks for those.
Glad to hear it was another successful Contingent get together. 
Wish I could have been there since it's my current stomping grounds but I'll be at the next one.
I had a great time at Lambeau south cheering the Packers to victory along with thousands of other Packers fans who made the trip to St. Louis. 

Did you go to Ted Drewes?

Pie Diva


Sooo glad we kept to the original plan of Riviera Maya and steered clear of Guanajuato Mexican.  Jim and I ate there on our way to the airport and neither of us can think of ever having a worse Mexican meal than here. Thank you, thank you, thank you for not listening to the waitress at Honeypie's!

I agree-- Guanajuato, no bueno.

GTO- I had to fly with that load of lard in my belly.  Aye carumba.

Yikes. I think we did pretty good. I had a feeling when we were planning it that Ginger & Babe's would get kicked off.
 
But.
 
Now that you guys know how cool Bay View is, we can do another tour down there, or call Gyp & X1 to tell them we want to have breakfast with them.

After Riviera Maya we headed north to Glendale to meet Carolina Bob at Dr. Dawg.  An early arrival meant we had time for more socializing (Buddy Roadhouse, both MilwFoodLovers, and Ann Peeples).

 
Dr. Dawg (aka David Ross) was on hand to greet us (X1, Dr. Dawg, Ann Peeples, Mr. Maki, the Chicagostyledogs, and AlyceinRoadfoodland's left hand).

 
Carolina Bob showed up a couple of minutes before 2:30 and then we went inside to place our orders.


 
As has been mentioned, the Niman Ranch burgers are very good.

 
But beef and beef & sausage combos were also quite popular.

 
As were the very fragrant garlic-rosemary fries.

 
Dessert was a pumpkin kringle from O & H in Racine, courtesy of Chicagostyledog.


 
Then it was time to walk/stagger to our respective vehicles for the return trip to Bay View.

The next (and my final) meal stop was at Palomino Bar, and right across the street is a historical marker so that bar visits can qualify as educational experiences.

 
Fortunately there were 2 large tables available.

 
Quijote and I split an order of chicken and waffles, although shouldn't it be chicken and waffle?  The chicken was hot with a great crispy crust, and the broccoli was pan-roasted instead of being boiled or steamed and served as an afterthought.

 
Also arriving at our table was a catfish po' boy with beans and tots, which are available in regular and sweet potato versions.

 
Meet the Velvet Elvis: peanut butter, banana, and Nueske's bacon on toasted white bread, with some fried okra to keep it company.  I'll bet it can be ordered with a nice big dollop of mayo, too.

 
Unfortunately I had to head for home about this time and was unable to finish the rest of the tour, but it was definitely a great way to kill 5+ hours of a Saturday and we had the added benefit of some pretty cooperative weather, too.

Likin the Velvet Elvis and the pumpkin kringle...beautiful stuff!

For those of you who get WPT stations, tonight at 6 the Wisconsin Channel is showing the Bay View episode of Around The Corner.

Jeez, what point was I making at Dr. Dawgs? LOL!