This week, Chef Vanessa Rose made a significant, but unexpected, turn in her efforts to establish a queer-led third space.
She’d had her sights set on the former Company Brewing space in Riverwest. But a twist of fate led to a signed lease on both the ground floor and second floor of the Historic William C. Kneisler Building, the White House, at 2900 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. The lease will also give Rose access to both the 16-car parking lot and patio gardens adjacent to the building.
“I looked at the Sage space, mostly just for ‘shits and giggles’...” Rose reflects. “And, as I looked, I was pretty enamoured. Ultimately, it will require us to roll things back a bit. It will still be very third-space-oriented, but – in many ways – it will operate more like a traditional restaurant.”
Rose notes that, due to the historic nature of the building and the size of the rooms, as well as the accessibility to the second floor, Mother’s will become the base of operations for the venue, while House of Bridges operates as the mechanism by which the community is brought together.
“There will be opportunities for artists to hang pictures on the wall for sale and opportunities for performances,” she explains. “We want people to come and hang out, play board games and spend time here working on their laptops. And we’ll still host drag shows and much of what was planned. But, based on the space, the scale will change.”
A new kind of restaurant
“I’ve always wanted to serve good food and make people feel at home, but I’ve also always wanted to upend the restaurant industry and recreate the model so that it’s not about the owners taking home the bulk of the income,” shares Rose as she explains the new model she envisions for Mother’s. “It’s part of leveraging my privilege and my education.
“We’ll have a restaurant. And we’ll hire, at least initially, some folks who have experience in restaurants. But our kitchen will be a place where we’ll all have an equal part in the work. I’ll spend time cooking and in the dish pit. Nothing that anyone does will be any more or less important. Instead, we’ll create a pay structure in which everyone contributes and gets paid the same, based on a percentage of what we bring in.”
As Rose has said before, including in her ongoing NuMarket campaign to raise funds for the project, “We prioritize local farms and distributors, offer apprenticeship programs without toxic environments, and focus on fair pay and staff wellness, including addiction counseling and real bonuses instead of pizza parties.”
As for the look and feel, Rose says she envisions a beautiful space that provides a comforting, welcoming vibe.
“So much is based on the vibe that you project, and I think that this gives us a lovely place to start, and a very different aesthetic to work with than what we would have had at Company,” Rose notes regarding the look and feel of the space. “Ultimately, I think we’ll be looking at a few coats of paint, lots of plants and books. We want to make it feel like home.”
A glimpse of House of Bridges
“I’m super excited about the parking lot,” Rose says. “And we plan to utilize that as identify and plan the events that we can host. In June, for Pride Month, we’ll have a tent and a drag show. October might be something akin to Goth Pride that might warrant an alt drag show, some dry ice and a bit of drama. Ultimately, we’ll be supporting queens, supporting the art of drag and still making good on our having performances in the space.”
Ultimately, Rose says, she’s prepared to adjust her plans to fit the needs of both the space and the queer community.
“It’s really a chef's job, making what is certainly chaos look organized. And that’s my intention here,” Rose notes. “People get themselves into trouble the most when they can’t be flexible. So, we’re going to take this and work with it to make it into what we can.”
Rose notes that a June opening is the ultimate goal for Mother’s, provided all moves forward as planned.
For those who’d like to support the Mother’s opening, Rose will be extending the current NuMarket campaign to raise funds for staffing and inaugural expenses. Currently, the campaign is just under 30% of its goal.
For those who’d like to learn more, she will continue to talk about the vision for the space on social media. Tune in at @MothersMKE on Instagram.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
