Milwaukee food lovers have yet another thing to be excited about this September.
Starting Sept. 1, Wolf Peach will participate in the James Beard Foundation’s (JBF) Taste America Local Dish Challenge, an event which encourages foodies to show their local pride by participating in a social-media driven campaign to raise money for a food-based charitable organization.
The truth is, more than 100 restaurants from around the country will be participating in the challenge; but currently Wolf Peach is the only restaurant in the game from Wisconsin.
Fortunately, it sounds like the restaurant is pulling out all the stops to produce a dish that’s well worth howling about.
Executive Chef Dan Jacobs has chosen to feature his ricotta cavatelli – completely prepared from local ingredients. The ricotta is house-made with dairy from Sassy Cow Creamery. Roasted corn is sourced from Centgraf Farms in East Troy, SarVecchio Parmesan from Sartori Cheese, wild mushrooms from local foragers, onions from the Wolf Peach Farm in Cascade. The cavatelli is, of course, house-made, like all the pasta products at the restaurant.
"Everything in that dish is locally foraged, from our farm or from small farms we are proud to support," says Jacobs.
In classic Jacobs’ form, he also added, "And it's a damn good dish."
The cavatelli, which aims to capture some of the best edible offerings in the Milwaukee area, will be available from Sunday, Sept. 1 through Oct. 31.
Your job? Show your support and put Milwaukee on the dining map!
During the challenge, local diners can show their support for the James Beard Foundation Taste America Local Dish Challenge by visiting Wolf Peach and ordering the cavatelli. For every dish ordered, $1 will go back to the James Beard Foundation Taste America Education Drive, which supports JBF’s educational programs on topics related to the U.S. food system, including the JBF Food Conference, JBF Leadership Awards and new Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change.
Once you've gotten your hands on the dish, you're going to want to haul out your smartphone and grab a quick photo.
Post your photo of the dish to Instagram, along with the #JBFTasteAmerica and #Milwaukee hashtags, you could help Milwaukee win up to $10,000 for a local food charity.
When the promotion concludes at 11:59 p.m. (EST) on Oct. 31, the city with the most Instagram photo uploads will be declared the winner and receive a donation from the James Beard Foundation in the amount of $10,000 or 10 percent of the proceeds raised nationally, whichever is higher.
In 10 cities that are designated stops on the Taste America tour, the eligible charity has been pre-selected by the JBF. In all other cities, the participating chefs will vote for their preferred charity, which will be announced by the Foundation once the challenge begins.
So, come on Milwaukee, let's get to it!
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.
