Another new restaurant is set to open this April, this time in Mequon.
Salotto Zarletti will be a casual Italian restaurant located at 1515 W. Mequon Rd., in the East Town Square shopping center. The menu will feature modern riffs on the cuisines of southern and central Italy.
The executive chef of Salotto will be Chef Andrew Miller, most recently of Hom Wood-Fired Grill in Brookfield. Miller brings a wealth of experience, including time spent at Vie restaurant in Western Springs, Illinois Working under Chef Paul Virant, Stella in New Orleans and Tony Mantuano’s restaurant at the Art Institute in Chicago.
According to Miller, the menu will incorporate products from several Wisconsin producers as well as high quality imported goods from Italy. The emphasis will be on house-made fare, which will include all breads, pastas and preserves like agro-dolce and mostarda, along with salumi and fresh Italian cheeses.
A wood-burning oven imported from Italy will allow the restaurant to produce authentic pizza and wood-fired dishes.
"The most exciting thing about this is the opportunity to bring true regional southern Italian cuisine to the Milwaukee area," Miller says. "It is one of my favorite cuisines to cook and with the plethora of equipment at my disposal there, we will be able to do some really exciting things in house that aren't possible in a lot of restaurants."
Miller plans to instill a modern sensibility to the restaurant’s dishes while remaining true to the regional ingredients and techniques used in Southern Italy.
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 each and every dish. She’s had the privilege of chronicling these tales via numerous media, including OnMilwaukee and in her book “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 recording the FoodCrush podcast, 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.