For the first portion of this dining fiesta, we selected a restaurant in Milwaukee that we had never set our foot into. We chose Bacchus, an upscale restaurant in the Bartolota's group. There are several Bartolota's restaurants in our area and they are known for the exceptional dining experience - excellent food and service. We had a rather early reservation, around 6.30 pm.We arrived at a half full parking lot, which was good, considering that it could be tricky to find a parking space in downtown Milwaukee. We walked in and were greeted by a friendly host. The decor is minimalist and modern, which is aligned to our decor taste. There are many mirrors hanging by the wall. The color scheme is neutral and elegant.
For starters, we selected a tasting platter of 3 different kinds of cheese: Pleasant Ridge River of Uplands, Mont Amore of Sartori, and Capriko of Nordic Creamery. My husband ordered Winter Wind for his opening cocktail and I ordered a glass of Tempranillo wine from Spain, which I never had before. We were both very pleased with our choices. Bacchus is unique in a way that we don't have a series of appetizer, main entree and dessert. We wanted to try more appetizers (or small plates, as they call them), so we decided to order 2 small plates and share an entree. We ordered seared foie gras for the first small plate. We never had a whole piece of foie gras before. I know, I know, there are a lot of controversy surrounding foie gras. However, this is a treat and it's not like we plan to eat foie gras every month, or even every year. So as Julia Child said, "Moderation. Small portions. Sample a little bit of everything. These are the secrets of happiness and good health. You need to enjoy the good things in life.", we enjoyed every bit of it. All components worked together harmoniously, from the honey crisp apple compote, brioche French toast, bacon, topped with a quail egg and some maple syrup.
For our second appetizer, we had veal ravioli. It was excellent. The pasta tasted fresh and the brown butter sauce gave it a perfect balance. I personally am not a huge fan of ravioli, but my husband really loves ravioli, so I decided to give it another try. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised.
For main course, we split a braised beef short rib with cubed butternut squash, braised savoy cabbage, cranberries, and red wine sauce. We were very impressed with the dish. The tartness of the cranberries balances the richness of the beef and the sweetness of the squash. Again, all components work together and create a wonderful balance in your mouth. To accompany such rich main course, my husband ordered a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon from Hayes Ranch. He enjoyed this one as well. Since I am a lightweight, I only took a few sips of his wine and continued working on my glass of wine. Sorry for the "after" picture. We were too eager to take a bite before taking the beautiful picture beforehand.
Usually, when we go to restaurants, we are stuffed by the end of the main course and sometimes we have to pack some of the leftover to go. This time, we polished every single morsel on the plate and we were still feeling comfortable. So we decided to check out the dessert menu, to see if anything jumped out at us. We unanimously decided to order a scoop of eggnog ice cream, just because it is so unique, and a praline ganache bar accompanied with passion fruit ice cream and creme fraiche. This sounded an odd combination, but they both worked wonderfully. We truly enjoyed the dessert and the overall dining experience. The food was outstanding and the service was impeccable. We will definitely come back for another special occassion. Good eats!
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