Milwaukee's dining scene is rich with history and legend, especially in regards to one of the city's most infamous and well-loved restaurateurs, Sally Papia. Marta and Marc Bianchini's Osteria del Mondo assumed the space of Sally's former steakhouse in the mid 1990s, and she later placed her mark on the beautifully decorated lower level of the Shorecrest Hotel in the Savoy Room, 1962 N. Prospect Ave., where she remained until her death in early 2005.
And though Papia has been gone for over two years now, one would be remiss in not acknowledging her influence at the Savoy Room, which embodies it all; ambience, beauty, and top quality food and service at a reasonable price.
Savoy Room is steakhouse meets higher end Italian restaurant with a superb seafood selection thrown in for good measure. Oyster lovers will find great pleasure in the half dozen raw ($7.95) or Rockefeller ($7.95), or many of the other traditional appetizer offerings, including an excellent escargot bourguignonne ($7.95), and calamari ($6.95).
Entrees at the Savoy Room include a traditional relish of olives, carrots, celery and peppers, Italian bread, soup, salad, and potato or pasta, and a main course offering that will leave even the hungriest of diners with leftovers for lunch the next day.
Across the board, entrees at Savoy rank with the best in Milwaukee. Tenderloin filet mignon ($34.95) was seared on the outside and flanked with plump, fresh mushrooms; compared to the pricier Downtown steakhouses with a la carte subpar side dishes, this cut of meat was a true gem, perfectly cooked to medium rare, and well worth the price with the included potato and mushrooms. Chicken marsala ($24.95) arrived in a lovely sauce, but as is common with restaurant chicken dishes, was just ever so slightly overcooked. Spiedini, too, was very good, but bland in comparison to some of the other excellent dishes at Savoy.
Among the best was shrimp scampi ($26.95), which paired five well-seasoned shrimp sauteed just to the point where they retained juicy lemon, garlic, and olive oil flavoring while still allowing the seafood to shine. This scampi was, without a doubt, some of the best I have had, and included a large serving of linguini noodles in the same delightful garlicky olive oil. Veal Parmesan ($26.95) was outstanding, with tender veal cutlets dredged in a flavorful breadcrumb mixture and baked beneath the house red sauce and mozzarella cheese, and the pepper steak ($26.95) was the kind of comfort food one can crave for days, with tenderloin in a spicy sherry wine and tomato sauce bordered by tender peppers and mushrooms.
In addition to excellent cuisine, service at Savoy is attentive and well-timed, and the music and décor are old-school and romantic. All three of our visits were crowded days mid-week, and yet our busy servers were attentive and professional every time, making Savoy Room one of those rare restaurants which, among a sea of competition, makes an impact worth remembering and returning to, many times over.
Amy L. Schubert is a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry and has worked in every aspect of bar and restaurant operations. A graduate of Marquette University (B.A.-Writing Intensive English, 1997) and UW-Milwaukee (M.A.-Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing, 2001), Amy still occasionally moonlights as a guest bartender and she mixes a mean martini.
The restaurant business seems to be in Amy’s blood, and she prides herself in researching and experimenting with culinary combinations and cooking techniques in her own kitchen as well as in friends’ restaurants. Both she and her husband, Scott, are avid cooks and “wine heads,” and love to entertain friends, family and neighbors as frequently as possible.
Amy and Scott live with their boys, Alex and Nick, in Bay View, where they are all very active in the community. Amy finds great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and passions for food and writing in her contributions to OnMilwaukee.com.
