If you've missed the finer pleasures of enjoying a special evening out with coursed dishes from Chefs Daniel Jacobs and Dan Van Rite, there's good news on the horizon.
EsterEv, the finer dining restaurant-within-a-restaurant at DanDan, 360 E. Erie St., wll be reopening for Friday and Saturday evening dinner service beginning Friday, Sept. 25.
To ensure safety for both staff and guests, the restaurant will forego its tiny quarters, hosting dinners on the socially distanced DanDan patio (as weather permits) or inside the DanDan restaurant.
Two seatings will take place per evening, the first at 6 p.m. and the second at 7:30 p.m., with each seating limited to six guests per time slot. Guests will be seated at individual tables with members of their party only, rather than at EsterEv’s usual communal tables.
The current menu will include five courses, including:
- Snacks: caviar tater tot, steak tartare dolma, bread and butter
- Avgolemono with chicken, wild rice, lemon (pairing: Mendraka Bizkaiko Txakolina 2017)
- Raviolo with quail egg, ricotta and tomato (pairing: Lelievre Gris de Toul 2018)
- Halibut with peppers, chorizo, clams and saffron (pairing: Manuel Olivier Bourgogne Aligote 2016)
- Waygu with cucumber, sour cream, red onion, ramps (pairing: Clos Cibonne Tentations 2017)
- Dessert with banana, chocolate financier, Opalys ganache, streusel (pairing: Dumangin Ratafia Champenois)
Dinner is $65 and includes five courses; the optional wine pairing is available for an additional $35. Reservations are required. Interested guests can make a reservation by calling DanDan at (414) 488-8036 or reserving a seat via Tock (online reservations will be available beginning Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 3 p.m.). All reservations must be pre-paid at time of booking; wine pairings can be pre-paid or added at the time of your reservation.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
