October is the fourth-annual Dining Month on OnMilwaukee.com. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, delicious features, chef profiles, unique articles on everything food, as well as the winners of our "Best of Dining 2010."
I love trying new restaurants, but like most people, I have my go-to places. This morning I was thinking about my go-to favorites on Milwaukee menus. Put these all together and maybe it would qualify as my dream meal.
Then again, it's a funky mix of stuff, so maybe not. I'm sure I'm forgetting some important ones, but for now, these are five of my favorite dishes in town (in no particular order) ...
Cafe Lulu asian slaw. It's not every day that the side order often outshines the main course, but Lulu's asian slaw is crunchy and delicious and although I like most everything the restaurant does, I like its slaw most of all.
Kegel's Inn fish fry. Part atmosphere and part great food, Kegel's has, over the years, been the fish fry I keep going back to. Serb Hall has a fun old-school vibe and I love the music at the Bavarian Inn, but Kegel's is a cut above.
Hooligan's ostrich burger. I love a good burger, but now and again I gotta mind the cholesterol and fat. The ostrich burger at Hoolie's lets me do that while still having an awesome burger.
Blue's Egg creamy polenta. I know it's a new place and I've only had this dish once, but the almost sweet polenta mixed with poached eggs and kale is something I've been thinking about almost daily since I first experienced it two and a half weeks ago.
Crawdaddy's hazelnut crusted halibut. Sure, this tender fish is doggy paddling in butter and comes with one of my fave veggies -- asparagus -- and a mound of yummy mashed potatoes. But what I really like is that Crawdaddy's has taken my favorite nut, crushed it and used it to crunchify my favorite fish. A win-win-win-win situation.
Tell me about some of your Milwaukee favorites.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
