Big reviews: The Sheraton Hotel in Brookfield, The Milwaukee Art Museum, the band Cake, and the restaurants Trocadero and Water Buffalo.
Also mentioned: Summerfest, Paul Dolan Zinfandel, Milwaukee County Zoo, "Chuck" TV show, Days Inn, Alterra Café (compared to Caribou Coffee and Starbucks), Zune mp3 player, restaurants Bluemound Gardens and Swig.
What a better way to start out a real-life-based review of goods and services than while on an anniversary. For some people an anniversary may mean a gift from husband to wife in the form of flowers and/or chocolates or perhaps a nice dinner out.
For Sarah and I every year we like to return to Milwaukee, WI to a little bistro called Trocadero which is where I proposed to her. We then spend the weekend exploring the various attractions of her favorite city.
Now in this blog hopefully along the way I’ll be talking about more general places, goods, or services that exist throughout the United States (for the benefit of people who do not live in Wisconsin) but for this trip most of the focus will be on the restaurants and features of Milwaukee (but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a trip and visit there). Here is our latest anniversary trip to Milwaukee:
For us, this trip was a story of “now vs. then.” A city is an ever-changing animal so what you may come to love in years past may no longer exist and sometimes new favorites pop up. Familiar places also change, coloring the way you look at them. We made and took note of several changes from the last year, for better or worse, and what we noticed will probably also influence our decisions for next year.
One phenomenon that takes place every year now in Milwaukee is a rock concert called Summerfest.
Concert: Summerfest - General Info"Each year for 11 days, Henry Maier Festival Park comes alive with music from today’s hottest stars, regional favorites and emerging talent. The 23,000 capacity Marcus Amphitheater and 10 additional stages host over 700 bands… Set against the scenic Lake Michigan and downtown Milwaukee backdrops, Summerfest delivers a setting and experience like no other!"http://www.summerfest.com |
Sure, we probably saved $100 by booking in Brookfield, WI, a close neighbor to the city of Milwaukee and an ideal place to be far enough away from Summerfest and avoid price-gouging while still being close to most of things we like. However, the Sheraton was probably the low point in our trip.
| Hotel: The Sheraton Hotel, Brookfield – Review “Dingy” is the best word to describe it. The Sheraton is amidst an unattractive landscape of various empty parking lots. From when we first entered the hotel we noticed awkwardly placed halls and tunnels, unkempt tables and chairs and carpeting that is in bad need of being replaced. The atmosphere is one of simply not caring and there is little enthusiasm to be seen from staff or guests. No complimentary breakfast, cookies, or drinks of any kind to be found. They have an outside and inside pool area with the smallest whirlpool I have ever seen both matching the rest of the hotel (dirty). Also present next door was a thankfully-clean fitness center with what Sarah and I consider necessary: a bike, a treadmill, and ellipticals (no stair climber but most don’t). They also provided free headphones, a plus. Once you get into the room it’s a different story. Our room was beautiful, spacious with refrigerator and microwave (a rarity these days), a comfortable bed (something Sarah can get very picky about) and other standard features such as wifi, a couch, etc. www.sheratonmilwaukeebrookfield.com |
Needless to say we didn’t spend much time in the hotel. We took a look around and headed straight for Trocadero. Trocadero is hidden off Water Street, passing beneath the highway overpass along the riverfront. It is a very urban area but tucked away enough to make it feel a little special, provided you can find parking. ( It is important to note that Wisconsin was in the midst of a heat wave during this trip).
| Restaurant: Trocadero – Review Trocadero has some of the best ambiance of anyplace I have ever seen. There is a bar area that is kept casual, a hall leading to a smaller dining area which is purposeful, a covered patio made to look a bit like a greenhouse and made for bad weather, and the uncovered tiered courtyard surrounding a fountain which is where we sat. The staff is always very friendly. Each time we’ve been to Trocadero the food quality has wavered from pretty good to nothing special and that was definitely one of the changes this year; the food was fantastic. We both ordered a gazpacho, my “big” bowl was huge and very refreshing in the heat. I had the Jambalaya which I ordered extra spicy and they delivered. It was blackened and seasoned perfectly. Sarah made short work of her Ahi tuna beat salad. Otherwise we relaxed in the sun, listening to the fountain and drinking a very tasty wine, Paul Dolan Zinfandel. http://www.ztrocadero.com/ |
Other places we visited this trip include the Milwaukee County Zoo, which Sarah enjoyed despite her reservations. Her favorite was the tigers, mine was the penguins. We ate at Bluemound Gardens, which struck us as being mostly empty and belonging to an older clientele as well as not benefiting from being adjacent to a dilapidated Days Inn.
We were saving our last night without any specific plans and only decided last minute to go to Summerfest. As a venue, Summerfest is unique in that it involves the whole city in a bustle and an energy that is hard to ignore. This also means it is impossible to find parking. Beforehand we ate at Swig, owned by the same people who own our favorite restaurant in Milwaukee, Water Buffalo, and Swig is a quaint, tinier restaurant with outdoor dining along the sidewalk. We enjoyed the food, the staff, and the concert atmosphere carried by the passersby walking passed us.
As the time for the band we wanted to see got closer, we had to rush down the streets, pooling into the crowds and up to one of the massive gates for Summerfest. Tickets were $15 a person, perhaps a bit pricey for just one band, and into the gated-park area. Up to each stage are amassed with people, as you’d imagine, but seating and tiered bleachers are a rarity at Summerfest. Instead, there are picnic tables lined for hundreds of yards with people standing on them. Not my favorite way to see bands but so be it. And the band we chose to see? Cake.
| Band: Cake – Review Most people I know get more excited about cake then Cake the band. Sure, they do the theme song to a favorite TV show: Chuck. Their style is a playful hip hop, funk rock and their songs range from whimsical to zippy. I enjoy them more than my peers and they are one of a few bands that I have three full albums of my Zune mp3 player: Showroom of Compassion, Fashion Nugget, and Comfort Eagle. I will say, however, that when Cake is performing live it would be hard for anyone to not enjoy their energy and sound quality. Front man John McCrea masterfully involved the crowd; During “Sick of you” our side competed against the opposing side singing “I’m so sick of you, so sick of you. I don’t want to be with you,” with the playful refrain of “I-aye-ah-I want to hide away!” Sarah’s favorite part was the acoustically perfect trumpet parts of Vince DiFiore accenting songs such as “Never There” and “Short skirt, Long Jacket.” The pounding guitar part after the chorus of “The Distance” is not to be left out either. All in all, a very good band to see live. http://www.cakemusic.com/ |
The last day – a half day before we leave to go home – as is our ritual we woke up, worked out, and headed to Alterra Coffee. Now, you can order Alterra coffee online and, for the price, it is far better than most coffee related places including Caribou and Starbucks. The Café itself has all the coolness of an Indi house with the mainstream popularity and functionality attracting a long line and keeping it moving. We grabbed a few drinks and walked the Lakefront. Now, I tend to like regular museums whereas Sarah tends to like art so last year we went to the Milwaukee Public Museum (“then”) and this year, to be fair, we went to The Milwaukee Museum of Art (“now”).
| City Attraction: Milwaukee Art Museum – Review The first thing to notice about the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) is that most of the surrounding area as well as the building itself is a work of art. From the lakefront, the many fountains and pools, to the “building with wings,” it is a breathtaking area even if you don’t plan on visiting. Indeed, many wedding photos are taken around here. Inside the gallery admission was a tad pricey and the first exhibit – the feature - was Toulouse Lautrec and other French advertisement painters. It wasn’t my cup of tea but Sarah adored the exhibit and I was able to get a Toulouse Lautrec print for my mother, a big fan herself. From there we spent a couple hours, indeed much longer than we intended, going through the modern art and American paintings – pictures of forests and canyons and nature which tend to be favorites of ours - as well as another favorite of religiously or mythologically dedicated pieces (can you tell I don’t know much about art?). The display of Georgia O’Keeffe’s were impressive and breathtaking. Two of the main exhibits however, the “Face Jugs” and “Animation Art” were less than impressive and very skip-able. http://mam.org |
All and all, this was a high note to end on but we couldn’t leave without frequenting our favorite restaurant, Water Buffalo. I will say one of the best appetizer dishes I’ve ever had was the Mussel plate here, a creamy butter sauce covering the shelled mussels, arguably an acquired taste (similar to oysters), garnished with pancetta pieces (“then”). Little did we know heading in, but Water Buffalo actually completely changed their menu choosing to discontinue this menu item (“now”).
| Restaurant: Water Buffalo – Review Water Buffalo has a neat indoor dining area and hangs up the artwork of local artists which are all available for purchase. The interior is in good temperature regardless of the time of year, spacey but still with a degree of privacy depending on where you sit. We sat along the riverfront outside, on the board walk which is warmer and relaxing in the sun if not a bit soured by the fishy smell of the river. They did not have the mussels, a huge disappointment and we discussed this with our server and the manager. In a tribute to customer satisfaction however, the manager drove to his other restaurant (Swig) and got some for us, promising to consider putting them back on the menu. Water Buffalo also had an elusive seasonal beer at one time called Sprecher Triple Abby on tap which is one of the best draft beers I have ever had. This time they instead had Sprecher Pale Ale which wasn’t as good but still refreshing. The rest of the food was decent but forgettable, the mussels continue to amaze, the venue is above average but the service on this day is one others could proudly make an example to follow. http://waterbuffalomilwaukee.com |
