Lake Park Bistro offers a seat in French culinary heaven
By DENNIS R. GETTO
Journal Sentinel dining critic
Posted: June 1, 2007



The trill of a French accordion and a collection of Toulouse-Lautrec prints helped set the stage for one of the best brunches I've had in years. It was just before 2 p.m. at Bartolotta's Lake Park Bistro and the restaurant was filled with families celebrating college graduations.

Our table, in a corner of the western dining room, didn't afford us the spectacular view of Lake Michigan that other diners had. But we had called for our reservation only a day earlier and were happy simply to have a table on so busy a Sunday.

Brunch at Lake Park Bistro is a three-course affair: appetizer, main course, dessert. The entrée chosen determines its price.

I've always preferred served brunches like this to the buffet brunches that are so popular in Milwaukee. I realize the advantages of a buffet - they offer more variety and are less expensive because there's less work for the serving staff.

But I think Sunday is a day to take it easy. On Sunday, I'm willing to pay a little more to have a server bring me my food. It also feels more elegant. This brunch certainly was elegant. By the time my dining companion and I had made our way through three spectacular courses and sat lingering over heady black coffee and freshly brewed tea, we agreed that it was probably the best brunch in town.

Sure, some of it was due to the restaurant's setting. The bistro is surrounded by Lake Park, the crown jewel of the Milwaukee County Park system. The park was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the same landscape architect who created Central Park in New York.

But the bistro's enchantment doesn't stop with its lovely setting. The chef behind all of the classic French dishes the bistro serves is Adam Siegel, a talented executive chef who has traveled extensively through France and done brief stints in major restaurants there to hone his skills. Franck Loquet is the bistro's chef de cuisine.
In his travels, Siegel captured the magic that is the soul of true French food. His culinary skills won him a nomination as Best Chef in the Midwest from the James Beard Foundation, a national organization that promotes the culinary arts in America.

Our first sampling of the bistro's food came with our brunch appetizers - a seasonal fruit plate for my companion and grilled shrimp for me. The fruit - slices of cantaloupe, grapes, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries - had all been marinated in crème de cassis, a currant liqueur, and were served with a slice of French-style air-cured ham, which added a pleasantly salty counterpoint.

My four medium shrimp had a faint smoky flavor from the grill that played off nicely against the rich shellfish sauce that covered them. They were arranged atop a slice of toasted French bread. Sautéed spinach and roasted tomato added color and even more flavor.

Then it was on to entrées. My companion chose a buckwheat crepe ($22), a thin pancake with a delightful nutty flavor that was filled with more of that French ham, melted Gruyere cheese and sautéed mushrooms.
Two fried eggs topped the delicate yet richly flavored creation.

My entrée ($31) was meatier - a small, perfectly grilled tenderloin with oven-browned potatoes and eggs that had been scrambled with black truffles.

Truffles, those subterranean cousins of mushrooms prized for their pungent flavor, probably top the list of ingredients held dear by the French. And one bite of the eggs, dotted with telltale black truffle shavings, reminded me why.

Their exquisitely woodsy flavor, combined with eggs that had been beaten gently with heavy cream, created so delicious a dish that I would have traded the steak for another serving.

For dessert, I found the bistro's banana bread pudding irresistible. The pudding itself reverberated with the flavor of tropical fruit beneath a rich golden caramel sauce. My companion took the chocolate route. Soon she was spooning up bites of rich chocolate mousse that had been sweetened with crushed praline and accented by a saffron vanilla sauce and homemade mint ice cream.

Dinner a few days later allowed Siegel and his staff to show off more of their culinary skills. In this case, I chose the lighter entrée - true Dover sole ($45) that was prepared simply in classic French fashion. The sole was sautéed in browned butter (a process that transforms the butter into a sweet, nutty sauce), with just a hint of fresh lemon. Half of my delight in ordering the fish was watching our adept server separate the fish from the bones with a spoon and a fork and then lay it, in three perfect pieces, onto my plate.

My health-conscious companion confessed that he hadn't had a steak in a while. And so he ordered filet mignon ($34) done in classic French fashion - crusted with crushed peppercorns and served with a cream sauce accented by green peppercorns and cognac. It was in this dish that I saw the bistro's only failings: The kitchen had rubbed too little pepper into the beef and the cream sauce had been made with the tangier red rather than milder green peppercorns. Those proved to be only minor failings - the beauty of the beef came through so clearly that the sauce seemed like an afterthought.

Dinner began with two classically French appetizers: shrimp baked in garlic butter ($13) and a charcuterie plate ($12). Like the shrimp I'd enjoyed at brunch, these eight had been finished in a sweet, rich shellfish sauce, but their garlic butter and fresh herbs greatly enriched the flavor.

Charcuterie is the word the French use for pâtés, terrines and sausages, and all those represented were outstanding. There was a thick slice of country pâté rich with the flavors of veal and pork and a liver pâté with plenty of restrained flavor (cook a pâté like this too long and its flavor can become overly strong). It came with toasted rustic French bread, small dill pickles (called cornichons), coarsely ground mustard and a sweet, currant-based Cumberland sauce that offset the stronger flavor of the liver pâté beautifully.

For salads, my companion picked a warm goat cheese salad ($9). A chunk of fried, creamy cheese was surrounded by baby spinach, oven-roasted tomato and toasted pine nuts, while an orange-balsamic vinaigrette dressing aptly tied the salad's tastes and textures together. I chose a salad of chilled marinated beets, watercress and freshly shaved fennel ($8) that lured me into finishing every tiny bite with its anise-flavored fennel and creamy horseradish dressing.

For dessert, my dining companion chose a mousse ($7) not unlike the one we were served at brunch - I reveled in the pleasure that crossed his face with each spoonful. Fresh fruit is my weakness, so I went for the bistro's version of Peach Melba ($7), which combined sweet fruit with raspberry sauce, homemade vanilla ice cream and freshly baked lemon poundcake. Personally, I'd have been happy if the dish had been made more traditionally - without the poundcake. But that didn't stop me from consuming every last crumb.

The bistro's wine list is predominantly French with a wide range of offerings. I appreciated the fact that rosés were spotlighted on the night we visited. The one I chose, from a region near Aix-en-Provence in southern France, isn't often seen on local lists.

Service at both meals was as professional as the food preparation. Our servers never missed bringing us clean silverware with each course, and they checked back on us without hovering. Altogether, that combination of service, wine, food and atmosphere made both brunch and dinner two meals that I'm sure to recall on my next trip to France.

Dennis R. Getto's reviews appear in this section every other Sunday and in Weekend Cue every Friday. Read them online at www.onwisconsin.com/dining. E-mail him at dgetto@journalsentinel.com.

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Getto's Top 30
Red meat, great treats and more
By DENNIS R. GETTO
Posted: June 7, 2007

Of the four new restaurants that appear on this annual list of Milwaukee's best eating establishments, two have the word "grill" in their names, a third beckons with a carnivore-friendly name, and a fourth has built a reputation for great slabs of red meat cooked to order.
Together, they show that more of Milwaukee's elite restaurants are stepping up to satisfy the area's seemingly insatiable appetite for steak.

Over 22 years of assembling the top 30 (originally top 25), I've watched the number of steakhouses making the cut
grow steadily.

The newcomers are the Mason Street Grill, Jackson Grill, Carnevor and the Savoy Room.

Carnevor and a returning top 30 restaurant, Dream Dance, are even betting that some Milwaukeeans are so intoxicated by the taste of steak they will be willing to shell out $140 to $160 for the privilege of eating true Kobe steaks from Japan, which are considered the world's best. (See story on 14E.)

But not all of the restaurants on this list are steak establishments. French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Cuban and American cuisines are all represented. And for those interested in vegetarian dishes and organic foods, two restaurants - Roots and Barossa - both serve dishes guaranteed to satisfy.

All of these restaurants have been accorded a full review within the last 18 months, some very recently. All earned at least 3 stars, many 3½ or even 4. In addition to their ratings, each of these 30 restaurants has distinguished itself with a high quality of both food and service.

For this annual listing, I've compiled capsulized descriptions with busy readers in mind. While strict dress codes are a thing of the past in even the most elegant establishments, I've tried to offer apparel guidelines based on how patrons in each restaurant typically dress.

I also provide details about outdoor dining (where it exists), and the quality and nature of each restaurant's wine offerings.

Once I compiled the list, I looked it over to determine distinctive aspects of each restaurant - the view, the atmosphere, the food - to provide diners with a clearer picture of their choices.
My ultimate goal is to guide you to those places where your meal will transcend mere eating and become an experience you and your companions will remember for years.

ROOMS WITH VIEWS
Bartolotta's Lake Park Bistro
3133 E. Newberry Blvd.
(414) 962-6300
www.lakeparkbistro.com

What makes it great: Its beautiful blend of traditional French food and an exquisite setting on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan.

What to wear: You'd better dress up - the guys in golf shirts at brunch look like yutzes.

A great spot for: Proposing or celebrating a special occasion.

You might not notice, but if you're willing to make an early reservation, you stand a good chance of getting a seat overlooking the lake.

Outdoor dining: No.

Wine list: Mostly French, very extensive.

Hours: Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner 5:30-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5:30-10 p.m. Friday, 5-10 p.m. Saturday, 5-8:30 p.m. Sunday; brunch 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday.

Prices: Lunch $12-$21; dinner $18-$38; brunch $21-$31.

Credit cards: MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express, Diners Club.

Reservations: Recommended.

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Bistro Captures the Essence of France
By Dennis R. Getto
Journal Sentinel dining critic
Published: April 19, 1996

Many restaurants call themselves bistros these days, but few of them are the real thing.

In France, bistros are often the great equalizers of society, where the rich and the not-so-rich sit down together and unite in their love of good food. While entrees change nightly, bistros are less likely to serve the fad foods of the day. The recipes are often tried and true, the atmosphere is casual and the conversation flows as freely as the wine.

For a couple thousand dollars, you could fly to France and stay there long enough to get the feel of such places.

Or, for a lot less, you could visit the new Lake Park Bistro in the Lake Park Pavilion.

The bistro is the latest undertaking of Milwaukee restaurateur Joe Bartolotta, who opened Bartolotta Ristorante, an outstanding Italian restaurant in Wauwatosa, three years ago. With its authentic Italian dishes and wood-fired oven, the restaurant won immediate acclaim and continues to be one of the most popular in the western suburbs.

Last year, Bartolotta began converting the top floor of the county-owned Lake Park Pavilion into a stunning new restaurant with natural wood floors and large windows that look out on Lake Michigan. (The pavilion's lower level remains a park facility that's open to visitors.)

Bartolotta added attractive but subtle glass and brass accents, chandeliers with tasseled lamp shades, and a great collection of reproduction French prints, including several done by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in the last century.

All those details helped create the setting for a bistro worthy of a place in Paris. But they pale in comparison with the menu that Joe Bartolotta, his brother and partner, Paul, and head chef Mark Weber have assembled.

I visited the bistro just after its opening last fall and again before Christmas and enjoyed two wonderful meals. In the months since its opening, Bartolotta has opened the restaurant for lunch and made the menu even more French than ever.

At a recent lunch and dinner, the food was so authentic I found my mind wandering back across the Atlantic Ocean to the time I spent in France.

It happened first at lunch, when our waitress delivered a lyonnaise salad ($4.95) -- a bright green nest of wispy endive studded with chunks of crisp bacon, covered with a wonderful vinaigrette dressing and accented with a still-steaming poached egg in the middle. I wondered how many Americans would enjoy a salad with bacon and warm egg. But in Lyon, the famous French city that gave us star chef Paul Bocuse, bacon and eggs are integral flavorings. One bite of the delightful salad, with its alternating hot and cold elements, captured the spirit of Lyon.

While I reveled, my lunch companion lifted her first spoonful of chunky, sweet French onion soup ($4.95), which was authentically rich without that fatal saltiness that often ruins the dish in this country.

Then it was on to main courses. For my friend, that meant a delightful salad of tender, sweet rock shrimp ($10.95) coated in a sweet red pepper mayonnaise. With a mound of fresh field greens beside it, the shrimp salad was more than we could finish.

For me, lunch was a croque monsieur ($8.50), a grilled ham and cheese sandwich popular across France. This thick, wonderfully grilled sourdough sandwich had about as much in common with American grilled cheese sandwiches as a Rolls Royce has in common with a Yugo. Made with creamy, distinctively nutty raclette cheese and thick baked ham, the sandwich was superb, as were the simply boiled buttered and parsleyed potatoes served beside it.

Dinner brought back more memories, especially when my appetizer of foie gras ($14.95) arrived.

To Americans who may never have tried it, the thought of eating a whole duck liver might not seem appealing. But one bite of the sautéed liver coated with a slightly sweet glaze was enough to send my heart 4,000 miles east again. Each mouthful exploded with delicate flavor, accented by wafer-thin slices of Granny Smith apple, crunchy delicate Belgian endive leaves and peppery fresh watercress. Like the salad served at lunch, the dish's dramatic contrast of hot and cold elements delighted me.

And there was fresh smoked salmon ($6.95), sliced thin enough to see through and served with its own mound of fresh field greens, a rich cream sauce lively with the flavor of fresh dill, and slices of toasted brioche bread.

For entrees, there was fresh cod ($15.95), seared to give it a golden crust then surrounded by a fragrant fennel broth. The broth held small slices of yellow squash and zucchini, mushrooms, green beans, carrots, black olives, green pepper and mushrooms.

Two thick slices of pork roast ($16.95), a nightly special, had been marinated in a mixture of wine, garlic, rosemary and thyme, then roasted and served with a rich stew of wild mushrooms. Thick, golden whipped potatoes were rich with the taste of cream.

We were full after appetizers and entrees, but two of pastry chef Mark Steele's desserts ($5.95) called to us. My dining companion chose a green apple sorbet Napoleon that was wonderfully light because the chef had substituted layers of delicately dried apple for the traditional pastry crust.

My two thick slices of frozen almond and hazelnut mousse were a bit heavier, but delightful, especially with the espresso sauce that covered the plate beneath them.

At our lunch visit, our waitress asked us if it was our first visit. My friend said yes.

"We'll try to do everything right then," she said. "We want to make a good impression."

She did, and so did the other two servers who made our dinner a few nights later so memorable.

Lake Park Bistro may be new, but its fantastic combination of food, service and atmosphere have combined to make it an instant classic.