Mike Stoner sits in the family dining room of the new edition of North Star American Bistro in Shorewood and vividly recalls the day in late January 2005 when his fledgling restaurant made a sudden U-turn to success. The Milwaukee native and his business partner, Duffy O'Neil, had bought out St. Bessie's Bistro on Oakland Avenue three months before, and the venture was rapidly sinking.
"There were days we had six tables (of customers) and brought in $300," he says. The partners were struggling to make payroll. O'Neil was nearly a one-man kitchen staff, and Stoner changed into scruffy clothes after the bistro closed at 10 p.m. to paint and make interior decorating changes.
"I was coming in at 9 a.m. and leaving at 3 a.m.," Stoner says. The hard work was not paying off. And then the phone rang.
The late Dennis Getto, long-time restaurant critic for the Journal Sentinel, called to warn the new owners to be prepared for a wild weekend. A highly favorable review would be appearing in the Friday paper.
The avalanche of business started at lunch that Friday, and by dinner time it had become so overwhelming, a jeweler from down the block volunteered to wash glasses behind the bar, and a teller from a nearby bank became an instant waitress. "She told me she had been a server and she offered to take some tables," Stoner recalls.
"The place exploded. I don't think I would be sitting here today, if we hadn't gotten that review. I'm not sure we would have made it."
Here is the new 120-seat space North Star American Bistro moved into across the street from its original restaurant last October. In addition to offering 32 more indoor seats and a separate bar area, the new location gives everyone from the customers to the staff more elbow room. The original North Star was a shoebox with a cramped kitchen and a small bar shoe-horned into the dining room.
The restaurant now occupies a squarish ground floor space in a new four-story apartment building whose owner purposely set the structure back from the sidewalk to create an outdoor dining patio that will seat 50 to 60 persons. The interior is ruggedly modern, with stone pillars and dark wood. The tablecloths from the initial eatery are gone, eliminating the mixed signals that sometimes confused first-time customers.
Stoner and O'Neil consider North Star to be upscale casual. Shorts or jeans are just fine for diners. Table linens suggested to some that the restaurant was in the fine dining, get-dressed-up category.
The only menu change connected to the move is the addition of tap beers. Customers now have the option of eating at cocktail tables in the bar area.
The partners initially considered opening a brew pub. O'Neil has a degree in fermentation science -- beer making -- as well as an extensive cooking background. But the opportunity to take over the St. Bessie's location in Shorewood ended any thoughts of mugs and suds.
Instead, Stoner and O'Neil, with the financial backing of several investors, installed a concept the former describes as "everyday comfort food that stands out. We use the freshest ingredients, and Duffy is a ridiculously good chef."
The idea was to attract a broad customer base with a menu that ran the gamut from pizza and burgers to more sophisticated fare -- a scallop and truffle salad ($14.45), chicken marsala ($17.95), and lamb shank with sage polenta and sauteed spinach ($21.95). Acknowledging its Shorewood neighborhood, the restaurant maintained a small and separate family dining room that contained toys for rambunctious pre-schoolers. The space could be quickly changed over to a private party room by making the toys disappear.
North Star's success in Shorewood led to the owners being approached about opening a second location in the Sendik's Towne Centre on Capitol Drive in Brookfield. With additional financial backers, the Waukesha County North Star debuted in 2006. It seats 160 diners indoors and adds 10 outdoor tables in the summer.
The restaurants make subtle seasonal menu changes, and several of the entrees have reached classic status, thanks to their customer appeal. Boneless short rib served with roasted root vegetables and sauteed spinach ($19.95), bacon-wrapped meatloaf with white cheddar mashed potatoes and creamed spinach ($16.95) and butternut squash ravioli with pan-seared scallops and spinach in a sherry cream sauce ($24.95) are in that category.
The bacon and blue cheese burger, ($10.95), featuring a half pound of certified Angus beef, may be humbler than the signature entrees, but Stoner is proud of it. "You won't forget it," he promises.
Among the seven individual pizzas offered, the duck ($10.95) is the most exotic. It consists of pulled duck, sage cream, caramelized onions, spinach, dried cranberries and brie cheese.
The lunch menu includes more salads, including Asian crunch with pulled chicken, and warm chicken and apple. Both are priced at $10.95.
A wider selection of sandwiches, burgers and panini are also available at lunch, ranging from $6.95 to $10.95.
Sunday brunch items include crab cake benedict ($13.95), chorizo and shrimp frittata ($10.95) and biscuits and gravy ($8.95).
The new Shorewood location continues the tradition of a separate family dining room. Both locations have a kids menu, and ankle biters eat free on Sundays.
Stoner is pleased with his bistro's new digs. "At the old place, the infrastructure wasn't accommodating the atmosphere and where we wanted the restaurant to go. Here it is."
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.
