For the fifth straight year, October is Dining Month on OnMilwaukee.com, presented by Concordia University. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, delectable features, chef profiles and unique articles on everything food, as well as the winners of our "Best of Dining 2011."
Last month, Lowlands Group, which runs Cafe Benelux, two Cafe Hollander locations, Cafe Centraal and Trocadero – announced that it tapped Chef Wilhelm Borgstrom, a Wisconsin native, as the culinary director for all its restaurants.
Borgstrom, who came to Lowlands from St. Paul-based Morrissey Hospitality, where he served as corporate chef, has experience around the world, working as executive chef for a number of high-end hotel and restaurants across the U.S. and in Hong Kong, Rome, London, Barcelona and Munich.
Borgstrom has also worked for Hard Rock Cafe and McCormick and Schmick's, for which he opened 37 restaurants and led 23 restaurant teams in eight states.
Now that he's launched a new menu at Benelux and done a research trip to Belgium, we caught up with Borgstrom so that we can all get to know him a little better.
OnMilwaukee.com: Tell us a bit about yourself and your background. You're a Wisconsin boy aren't you?
Wil Borgstrom: Yes, I was raised in St. Croix County, just outside of New Richmond on a farm where we had beef cattle, horses, chickens and hogs. Growing up on a farm you learned hard work and develop a sense of family and community from a young age. The best part was growing up hunting and fishing with my dad and cooking next to my mom.
OMC: What kind of experience and training brought you to Milwaukee and your position as culinary director at Lowlands?
WB: For the past several years I have been a multi-unit guy, given a ton of autonomy to run my restaurants how I saw fit. I believe that all the people who comprise the team need to have ownership on the outcome. Let's face it, I cannot be everywhere at the same time. I hire and train people who can work under my direction, not necessarily with me standing over them.
My mentor, Ernst Springhorn instilled a simple philosophy in me. He never was concerned on how well my kitchens executed when I was present; he only judged me on how well my kitchens ran in my absence. Fortunately, I learned at an early age to train and then trust.
OMC: Does being culinary director take you out of the kitchen a bit or do you still spend most of your time there?
WB: I spend 85 percent of my time in the kitchens. I am a hands-on guy; always have been. To me, the direct involvement is the key. The long hours, the camaraderie, the knowing that you are a part of a team. I also love nothing more than the mentoring aspect of my job, to hopefully pass on my love of food and hospitality. If one really stops to think about it, this is the greatest job in the world. I can still say that after 28 years.
OMC: I heard that the creation of the autumn menu for Benelux was first on your plate. Are you revamping menus at the other venues, too?
WB: We have the new fall Benelux menu in and working and are just doing some fine tuning on the execution. Next up for Benelux will be some breakfast and brunch menu changes. I am now working on Trocadero's menu and working through the teams at the other restaurants as well to finish their fall menu changes. It's a challenging task but we have a great team here at Lowlands Group.
OMC: You've had some pretty varied international experience: Hong Kong, Barcelona, Munich, Rome. How will that be reflected in your work at Lowlands?
WB: Through my travels, I have gained a strong knowledge of culture and cuisine. My primary culinary focus in our restaurants will be Dutch and Belgian cuisine with nods to French and German influences to those cultures and cuisines. Trocadero however will be my playground. There, you will see a variety of different styles and techniques.
WB: We spent several days eating our way through Brussels, Antwerp and Gent. We also visited a hops farm and spent the day learning the fine art of hop farming. I have always found there is no substitute for experiencing first-hand the culture, the history and the philosophy behind the food and the beer from the local artisans who I have had the privilege to meet I spent a day with a local cheesemonger in Gent who took me through not only the local cheesemaking scene but also European cheesemaking. By the end of the day, I found that I not only made a business connection but a friend, as well.
I also spent a day with a local chef/owner of the Baerlehof Restaurant, where we spent the day cooking with beer and doing beer pairings with locally brewed beer from Van Steenberge Brewery. We cooked dinner for several friends, who enjoyed the meal immensely.
The whole experience was an eye-opener for me. I have done several dozen wine dinners as well several dozen scotch, rum and other libations dinners over the years. I have to say that the knowledge that I took away from this trip has forever changed me and my new-found love for Belgian beer. I cannot wait to do my first beer dinner featuring Belgian beer back here in Milwaukee and my next trip back to Belgium.
OMC: Do you have a signature dish?
WB: I have a few dishes that I am very happy with: Cashew curry scallops with grilled baby bok choy and port gastrique; horseradish crusted wild sockeye salmon with swiss chard; baseball cut top sirloin with dirty butter, melted leeks and fingerling potatoes.
OMC: What do you like most, and least, about your job?
WB: I love everything about my career. The minute that stops, I will walk away and try my hand at sustainable farming.
OMC: Do you have any favorite places yet to eat out in Milwaukee?
WB: I have been able to get out to few places that I thought were very good. Roots, Chez Jacques and Coquette Café are some of my favorites so far.
OMC: Do you have a favorite cookbook? What do you like about it?
WB: "The Cook's Book of Ingredients, A Chef's Bounty" – chefs from Oregon and Washington. Just really cool what they are doing with the local ingredients cuisine and culture.
OMC: Do you have a favorite TV or celebrity chef?
WB: No, I do not watch TV.
OMC: What's been the biggest development in the culinary arts over the past 10 years?
WB: American chefs' ongoing commitment to farm to table. Especially here in the Midwest where climate and short growing season is one hell of a challenge. At the Lowlands Group, we are committed to purchasing as many products grown and produced in the great state of Wisconsin (as possible).
OMC: What kitchen utensil can't you live without?
WB: My knife. I am simply no good without it.
OMC: What's the next big trend in food?
WB: I am hoping smaller portions. I believe Americans need to dine smarter and healthier.
OMC: What's the toughest day or night to work in the restaurant business?
WB: I think any chef would say the slow nights. I believe it's harder to keep everyone focused and sharp on those nights. Its takes a very disciplined line crew and service staff to execute those shifts.
OMC: What is your favorite guilty dining pleasure?
WB: Chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.
and learn from on this trip.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
