The Art and Craft of Milwaukee's Ristorante Bartolotta

Step into the casa of Milwaukee’s Bartolotta family at Ristorante Bartolotta in the quaint village of Wauwatosa. There, surrounded by walls lined with old and new photos, guests are welcomed to rejuvenate, rejoice, share and comfort thy souls with classic Italian fare using ingredient pairings rooted in Italy’s terroir and tradition.




The tables are dressed with small white candles, white linen cloths, a paper sheet with a signature stamp and short clear vases of fresh flowers. The sun's light reflects all around.








The place is one of my favorites in the city, sharing the chef’s soothing Duck Ragu with my British boss while in town or with friends and family to celebrate a new job, birthday or another life milestone. Honestly though, every now and then I enjoy the dish as an easy take-away, watching Sunday night TV in preparation for the week’s beginning and likely hectic plane catching.




This evening I'm here for my Art and Craft of Food Writing course with Ethel Hammer and Stephen Kleiman. The food industry veterans arranged a set course dining experience with wine pairing where we honed our skills of evaluating and effectively conveying a dining experience through words.




The Insalata Siciliana di Arancia was a delightfully simple salad of oranges, julienne fennel pieces, arugula for color and Nocellara del Belice olives. Garnished with Castillo de Canena award winning olive oil made of picual olives from a Spanish family-owned grove dating to 1780, the mixture was so fresh and clean. The bursts of orange were nestled by the ease of the oil that on its own gives a clear frontal feel on the palate, mellowing and lush. When partnered with the ’09 Insolia Cusumano wine, the flavor of the fennel greatly expanded giving more depth.




Our main course, the Spiedino di Maiale alla Griglia, was a succulent serving of pork tenderloin pieces on a skewer that’d been marinated for tenderness and broasted alle brace, or directly over charcoals, using the fiery embers of the woodfire oven. The rugged flavor of the coal cooked pork was enhanced with a zesty fresh herb sauce of thyme, oregano and aged red wine vinegar, originating in the Palazzo region of Lombardy near Milano.




Placed atop a mixture of fresh mushrooms (yes, it was so good I forgot to take a before picture :-), the vegetables drew out the rustic flavors of the dish while ultra smooth pureed potatoes, light with a hint of nutmeg, softened the entire dish. Instantly I felt the warming sense of home and family, sharing in celebration with new friends. It was paired with a red '08 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano from Tuscany, but the wine was rather tight and needed some room to air.




Our hometown Italian adventure wrapped us up with a course of Piemontenese sheep and cow's milk robiola covered in a white truffle-infused honey lace. Foiled by a port wine geli and '09 Barbera red, the course had the ability to dispell the stresses of a Monday evening, leaving the night feeling more like a leisurely, sunny summer Sunday.




Chef di Cucina, Miles Borghgraef of Lake Geneva, graced our experience with knowledgeable detail of the ingredients involved in each dish and the reasoning behind their choosing and preparation to presentation. The service staff too was eager and helpful, clearly well-versed in the specifics of Italy's regional cuisines. I enjoyed broadening my horizons at Ristorante Bartolotta where I typically stick with what I love; now I have new techniques to try at home and a fabulous salad to re-create for good weather gatherings.




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Moscow: the other side of the curtain

The city of Moscow is a historical place with deep ties to the silk road, one of the reasons the city has obvious wealth. It sure is quite the place to see. It's filled with wonderful architecture spanning centuries. There are a number of outstanding restaurants that feature foods from all over the world. For anyone that loves to shop, this city has options everywhere, including malls that fall deep below ground.

Here are a few things I picked up while there:

1. Most restaurants have a list of fresh fruit juices of all sort - orange, grapefruit, pineapple, mango, apple, carrot, pear, kiwi, strawberry - and you can mix it up any way you'd like. I stuck with an orange, grapefruit sometimes mango concoction.



2. No matter how cold, when the sun is out, the people are going to enjoy the warmth of its rays - outdoors. It was about 18 degrees F on this afternoon.















3. My tour guide showed me this fantastic home built in the late 1800s. The architect was an alcoholic and eventually lost credibility and all lines for work because his addiction trumped his responsible capacity.



For this reason a good friend commissioned him to work on his house, but only if he'd give up drinking for good. Note the upside down wine glass. This was his artistic way to communicate that he'd given up drink.

4. The Bolshoi Ballet is more than I ever imagined it to be.

Recently opened after six years of renovations, president Medvedev attended the opening night of Sleeping Beauty, which featured an American male principle dancer for the first time in the theatre's history. Throughout the 1960s and the Cold War, the dancers were never able to travel to the West and vice versa. The night of November 18th marked a new point in the Bolshoi's history.

5. Moscow's subways are really special. Stalin built them during the Cold War. They have thick walls and gorgeous lighting, intricate sconces and chandeliers, colorful paintings depicting Russian country life and ornate mosaics with gold details and marble edging. I really enjoyed experiencing these.
It was like walking through a cold stone castle from the past. Be aware though - there is no English, so you need to be the obvious tourist and use your map frequently, matching the backwards 'R' and 'N' to ensure you find your way.

6. The Russians love their pickled vegetables as an appetizer. Mushrooms are particularly popular. Many city folk enjoy lurking through the rugged terrain on the outskirts of the city in search of great fungi to bring back home to share with friends. You can even find mushrooms used in some of Moscow's buildings. Pickled cabbage, cucumbers, carrots and other root plants are common as salads.



7. Everything you've heard about Russians and their vodka is true. Yes, they like to drink a lot of it. While we're used to an ice bucket next to the table for our bottle of white wine, in Russia you'll get a bucket of ice to keep your vodka chilled. While at Cafe Pushkin, a Baroque mansion of the 18th century, turned pharmacy and library in the 19th century, turned enchanting modern-day restaurant, a few of us enjoyed the high end Beluga Gold vodka post-Bolshoi Ballet.

Note the detail of the 3D metal fish that is found on the label. The servers brought the bottles out to us completely frosty and at first you couldn't even see the fish. Surrounded by dusty, leather bound books of the past and aristocratic antiques given as gifts to the former owner, we lost ourselves in the Russian city's culture of cold and strong.



8. Fur is in here. You'll see the majority of women with some sort of fur on her shoulders or a down or leather jacket with fur trim. While dining in the Italian restaurant of the Radisson Royal hotel, Buono Restaurant on the 29th floor, a guest joining her friends as we were leaving had a gorgeous sable fur coat on. Sable fur has been historically coveted throughout the world and remains a luxury good item.