Elliot's Bistro opened last week in the space that once housed Murray Place on the East Side. While traces of the former eatery remain, Elliot's is taking a slightly different tack. A recent visit had some highlights, but also suggested that the crew has a few wrinkles to iron out.
Owned by the same folks who helmed Murray Place, Elliot's has a whole new kitchen staff and an entirely new menu. Gone are the "sampling" portions, replaced by some hearty entrees and a range of French-style appetizers.
With one exception, the restaurant has a simple but classy feel, with crisp white tablecloths, cream-colored curtains and welcoming earth-toned walls. A bright mural on one wall, however, seems out of place amid the serenity.
Upon arriving, a server quickly brought us menus and offered us drinks, although she could produce no wine list, as it had yet to be printed. We were asked for our favorites and the server went to investigate. She returned to tell us that at the moment only the "usual" wines -- merlot, pinot grigio, syrah -- were available.
{INSERT_RELATED}Warm, delicious bread with a crispy crust and pillow-like center soon arrived. So did a wonderful varied, perfectly crunchy and fresh salad with a spicy and creamy vinaigrette, served family style. Oddly, while we were still eating the salads, another eager staffer came over and asked to remove our plates.
The menu lists six appetizers, raging from salmon to Mushrooms Forestiere to escargot -- onion soup with a topping of swiss cheese and a soup of the day are also available in cups and bowls -- but we opted for the Pate Maison and the Seafood Terrine.
Both arrived promptly and were disappointing. The pate, which came with a wonderful cranberry chutney, was over-chilled making it slightly hard. The Seafood Terrine, with bits of shrimp, salmon and other treats, tasted excessively fishy and was topped with a too-heavy dollop of a weighty caper-laden mayonnaise-y sauce.
There are a little more than a half-dozen entrees available on the regular menu, and no daily special at dinner (although a Suzanne Salad was listed as a lunch special of the day). There's grilled salmon, steak au poivre, lemon parmesan chicken breast, hamburger maison and beef bourguignon.
We selected the chicken pot pie and the vegetable lasagna, both of which were hearty, filling dishes that arrived piping hot. The portions were substantial and both were delicious.
The pot pie had creamy mashed potatoes, peas and other vegetables and a wonderfully light cheese topping. The lasagna was loaded with fresh vegetables and cheese. Both arrived with a dish of three sides: garlic mashed potatoes, a small red baked potato and a vegetable medley.
The total bill for two appetizers, two entrees, two diet Cokes, a draught beer and a glass of wine was about $56.
With an interesting menu, friendly and eager staffers and the sort of hearty portions admired by Milwaukee diners, Elliot's Bistro appears to be on the right track. It just needs to work out a few of the kinks -- as does any new eatery -- before it can become a great East Side restaurant.
Elliot's Bistro is open daily for lunch (until 3 p.m.) and dinner (5-9 p.m.). It is located at 2321 N. Murray Pl., just off East North Avenue. Call them at (414) 273-1488.
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.
