When Swig, 1227 N. Water St., opened its doors at the end of a brisk January 2005, Water Street was certainly ready for something new. The huge building which had long been Luke’s Sports Spectacular and more recently 1225 Water, got a complete facelift from owners Joe and Angie Sorge. The Sorges, for the record, also owned and operated 1225 Water. They still own The Corner, a bar just north of Swig, and now run Sauce, Terrace Bar and are working on the soon-to-open Water Buffalo in the Historic Third Ward.
Swig’s interior is sleek and divided into multiple seating sections, predominantly made up of spaced wooden tables, although some may enviously be able to snag the intimate, loungy lower banquettes in the front room.
The space and the layout is lovely, but the wide open acoustics made our dining experience rather loud and voices carry too well here; on several occasions we felt the table nearest us was joining our conversation. However, to temper this, Swig has a restricted cell phone use policy and asks patrons to use the designated cell phone room to make calls; a courtesy which, in this day and age, is hard to find anywhere.
Swig gives a new twist to the long-standing Spanish dining experience known as tapas. Their “small-plate” dining concept follows the trends of New York, Chicago and California restaurants that are working to reintroduce diners to a concept where instead of trying to satiate your palate one item, you sample multiple plates with a companion for a more complete and complex dining experience.
Swig offers 25 menu items from $6.50 and up, and portion sizes, as mentioned, are meant to be shared. The menu offers a bit of something from Italian, Spanish and Asian influenced cuisines, and also some dedicated American favorites like gourmet grilled cheese and tomato soup ($7.50) and asiago, spinach and artichoke dip with baguette ($8.75).
We found excellent presentation of Swig’s dishes, but the actual food itself needs just a little work. Wonton wrapped chicken curry with walnuts and cucumber yogurt dip ($8.50) featured spiced shredded chicken fried in a wonton shell. The sauce was a good, cool complement to the mild heat of the wontons, but they were extremely chewy and a butter knife did not work well to cut through these appetizers.
We also struggled with our butter knives on the sesame beef tenderloin skewers with teriyaki glaze ($22.50 for three skewers), since we were not provided with steak knives.
The flavor of the beef somewhat mimicked Korean bulgogi, but it just was not as tender as we would have liked. The roasted portobella salad over mixed greens ($8.50), came with asparagus and diced tomatoes in a beautiful compilation, and was drizzled with a good, basic balsamic vinaigrette. The portabella and the salad were very good, but the accompanying toasted bread tasted stale.
The shrimp stuffed roasted poblano pepper with red pepper sauce ($9.50) was disappointing. Again, the plate was a delight to the eyes, but not to the tongue. The red pepper sauce was delicious, but the poblano itself was tough and hard to cut, and the consistency and texture of the shrimp stuffing was unpleasant.
This dish could be a true star if the stuffing evolved into a shrimp and queso mousse and the pepper was roasted to perfection. Asiago, spinach and artichoke dip ($8.75) was better, with a basic asiago dip and fresh shredded cheese with a warm, crusty baguette. Baked brie ($9.50) came drizzled with raspberry preserves, sliced apples, and toasted crostini and was a bit sweeter than expected, but still quite good.
With this small plate dining concept, fresh plates and silverware with each course would be a great boon for Swig since their dishes each carry markedly different cuisine styles and flavors. Other than that, service here is very good, and Swig certainly meets its goal of bringing something different to Water Street.
Swig’s interior is sleek and divided into multiple seating sections, predominantly made up of spaced wooden tables, although some may enviously be able to snag the intimate, loungy lower banquettes in the front room.
The space and the layout is lovely, but the wide open acoustics made our dining experience rather loud and voices carry too well here; on several occasions we felt the table nearest us was joining our conversation. However, to temper this, Swig has a restricted cell phone use policy and asks patrons to use the designated cell phone room to make calls; a courtesy which, in this day and age, is hard to find anywhere.
Swig gives a new twist to the long-standing Spanish dining experience known as tapas. Their “small-plate” dining concept follows the trends of New York, Chicago and California restaurants that are working to reintroduce diners to a concept where instead of trying to satiate your palate one item, you sample multiple plates with a companion for a more complete and complex dining experience.
Swig offers 25 menu items from $6.50 and up, and portion sizes, as mentioned, are meant to be shared. The menu offers a bit of something from Italian, Spanish and Asian influenced cuisines, and also some dedicated American favorites like gourmet grilled cheese and tomato soup ($7.50) and asiago, spinach and artichoke dip with baguette ($8.75).
We found excellent presentation of Swig’s dishes, but the actual food itself needs just a little work. Wonton wrapped chicken curry with walnuts and cucumber yogurt dip ($8.50) featured spiced shredded chicken fried in a wonton shell. The sauce was a good, cool complement to the mild heat of the wontons, but they were extremely chewy and a butter knife did not work well to cut through these appetizers.
We also struggled with our butter knives on the sesame beef tenderloin skewers with teriyaki glaze ($22.50 for three skewers), since we were not provided with steak knives.
The flavor of the beef somewhat mimicked Korean bulgogi, but it just was not as tender as we would have liked. The roasted portobella salad over mixed greens ($8.50), came with asparagus and diced tomatoes in a beautiful compilation, and was drizzled with a good, basic balsamic vinaigrette. The portabella and the salad were very good, but the accompanying toasted bread tasted stale.
The shrimp stuffed roasted poblano pepper with red pepper sauce ($9.50) was disappointing. Again, the plate was a delight to the eyes, but not to the tongue. The red pepper sauce was delicious, but the poblano itself was tough and hard to cut, and the consistency and texture of the shrimp stuffing was unpleasant.
This dish could be a true star if the stuffing evolved into a shrimp and queso mousse and the pepper was roasted to perfection. Asiago, spinach and artichoke dip ($8.75) was better, with a basic asiago dip and fresh shredded cheese with a warm, crusty baguette. Baked brie ($9.50) came drizzled with raspberry preserves, sliced apples, and toasted crostini and was a bit sweeter than expected, but still quite good.
With this small plate dining concept, fresh plates and silverware with each course would be a great boon for Swig since their dishes each carry markedly different cuisine styles and flavors. Other than that, service here is very good, and Swig certainly meets its goal of bringing something different to Water Street.
Amy L. Schubert is a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry and has worked in every aspect of bar and restaurant operations. A graduate of Marquette University (B.A.-Writing Intensive English, 1997) and UW-Milwaukee (M.A.-Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing, 2001), Amy still occasionally moonlights as a guest bartender and she mixes a mean martini.
The restaurant business seems to be in Amy’s blood, and she prides herself in researching and experimenting with culinary combinations and cooking techniques in her own kitchen as well as in friends’ restaurants. Both she and her husband, Scott, are avid cooks and “wine heads,” and love to entertain friends, family and neighbors as frequently as possible.
Amy and Scott live with their boys, Alex and Nick, in Bay View, where they are all very active in the community. Amy finds great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and passions for food and writing in her contributions to OnMilwaukee.com.
