Mitch Ciohon, the executive chef at the Brazilian steakhouse Sabor, has a confession to make.
"I've always had a mild obsession with pork rinds," he says with a grin. "I would see them in gas stations and truck stops, with the little packet of hot sauce in the bag, and I'd buy them. And then I'd always be disappointed.
"They didn't taste like anything, and I didn't like the texture."
Most of us would simply write off a food that never lived up to our expectations and move on to something else. But Ciohon is in a position to do something about his disappointment, and he did when Sabor added a new dining concept to the restaurant two weeks ago.
He created pork rind puffs sprinkled with bacon dust, served in a classy brown paper bag and accompanied by a side of Tabasco spiked honey. The taste is pleasantly sweet, mildly hot and and gently porky. Pig rind has moved uptown.
Welcome to the world of Beta by Sabor, a small plates and craft cocktail division of the big appetite, all-you-can-eat meat restaurant. Sabor, owned by Shorewood resident Paul Berlin and Madisonian Greg Meyers, now has an option for customers not seeking to stuff themselves.
The restaurant was closed for a week in July while dining areas were rearranged and separated to reflect the two different concepts under a common ceiling. The Beta side seats about 70, and Sabor, which has not changed, accommodates 120 diners, according to general manager Michael Besson.
Sabor has a fixed-price menu that tops out at $28.50 at lunch and $48.50 at dinner, and it has relied heavily on special event – birthdays, anniversaries – and expense account dining, according to Besson. We all know what has happened to business spending during the five years Sabor has been open.
In a recent conversation, Besson said Sabor wants to take better advantage of its proximity to such entertainment venues as the Marcus Center, The Pabst Theater and Milwaukee Rep theater complex. Patrons at those facilities are more likely to become frequent customers of a small plates dining concept.
"We want to offer people the opportunity to come here more often," the general manager said. "We have one door and one phone, but we have two restaurants."
Open to 11 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends, Beta's bar can be an after-theater stop for a nightcap.
Two salads – heirloom tomato with fresh mozzarella dust ($7) and roasted baby beets and pickles with aged goat cheese (7.50) – are on the menu, and Beta also offers a selection of toasts and "jams." Grilled artisan bread can be accompanied by everything from a vividly flavored tomato jam ($3) and smooth-tasting avocado, blue cheese and bacon spread ($3) to a saffron and crab aioli ($4) and foie gras pate with blueberry bourbon honey ($10).
Executive chef Ciohon is getting to play with some high tech science and gadgetry thanks to the introduction of Beta at Sabor. In the kitchen, he is using molecular gastronomy processes to produce the bacon dust for the pork rinds and mozzarella dust for the heirloom tomato salad.
In the dining room, a pricey liquid nitrogen machine, powered by two car batteries, emits a cool fog as it churns out custom-made frozen treats in two to three minutes from start to finish. Customers are welcome to gather around the gizmo and watch.
Flancicles – flan on a stick – are three for $6. Ice creams and sorbets, including a Brazilian fried banana ice cream, are made to order for $35 in batches that will serve five to 10 people.
At the bar, an imaginative array of cocktails include the light and frothy Scudetto (pineapple-infused gin, Campari, lemon juice, orange bitters and egg white), the Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie (strawberry-infused Rehorst vodka, rhubarb bitters, fresh lime), a Tomato Daiquiri (Jamaican rum, tomato water, fresh lime juice) and the Kentucky Breakfast Old Fashioned (bacon-infused bourbon, maple syrup, Maraschino liqueur and strip of bacon stirring stick). Prices range from $9 to $12.
Bar manager Bill Dumas said the cocktails were designed for flavor pairings with items on the small plates menu.
Beta is taking Sabor in a radically new direction, and the restaurant has added staff and equipment to facilitate the change. The easy smile on Ciohon's face tells you he is enjoying it.
Damien has been around so long, he was at Summerfest the night George Carlin was arrested for speaking the seven dirty words you can't say on TV. He was also at the Uptown Theatre the night Bruce Springsteen's first Milwaukee concert was interrupted for three hours by a bomb scare. Damien was reviewing the concert for the Milwaukee Journal. He wrote for the Journal and Journal Sentinel for 37 years, the last 29 as theater critic.
During those years, Damien served two terms on the board of the American Theatre Critics Association, a term on the board of the association's foundation, and he studied the Latinization of American culture in a University of Southern California fellowship program. Damien also hosted his own arts radio program, "Milwaukee Presents with Damien Jaques," on WHAD for eight years.
Travel, books and, not surprisingly, theater top the list of Damien's interests. A news junkie, he is particularly plugged into politics and international affairs, but he also closely follows the Brewers, Packers and Marquette baskeball. Damien lives downtown, within easy walking distance of most of the theaters he attends.
