In September 2006, Selen’s House of Prime, 3107 E. Layton Ave., in Cudahy, closed its doors and much of the restaurant was put up for auction. Selen’s had for decades been one of the few places in the Milwaukee area where you could order prime rib any night of the week off the regular menu, and when it closed, it left prime rib as pretty much only a Friday or Saturday evening option at select restaurants.
But in June, a family of nine siblings and their mother re-opened the restaurant as Nine Enterprises, Inc.’s version of Selen’s, combining their collective restaurant experience and personal tastes to re-launch this Cudahy mainstay. The Jorgensens are actively involved in managing all aspects of the restaurant, from food and beverage to the front of house, and their sheer number redefines having a family owned restaurant.
Selen’s interior is reminiscent of an old-school supper club, with large cloth booths, a three-sided bar area, and a fireplace in the dining room. Menus are large and they retained the former proprietors’ offering of nightly prime rib, with 12-oz. ($17.95), 16-oz. ($21.95) and 24-oz. ($26.95) versions accompanied by soup and choice of potato. Appetizers are eclectic with everything from basics like onion straws ($6.95) and spinach and artichoke dip ($8.95) to more interesting selections like skewered prime rib ($10.95) and a grilled eggplant torte ($9.95).
Noteworthy are the restaurant’s clearly defined menu descriptions of steak temperatures, something crucial in cooking proper prime rib. True steak lovers may roll their eyes, but there are still a great many Milwaukee diners who do not recognize that “Rare is a cool red center. Medium Rare is a red, slightly warm center. Medium is a bright pink, hot center. Medium well is a slight pink, hot center. (And) Well is cooked through with no pink, hot all around.”
Selen’s soups vary daily, with a constant of French onion on the menu, not surprising in a restaurant that specializes in steaks and seafood. Diners can also expect to see an extensive array of steaks and chops, seafood, and veal and chicken selections, and perhaps surprisingly in a “house of prime,” two specific vegetarian selections.
On Fridays, Selen’s offers drive-through and dining room fish frys. The drive-thru is open from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. and offers fried cod ($8.95), perch ($10.95), walleye ($14.95) and shrimp ($13.95) dinners with rye bread and choice of potato, whereas the dining room versions are $1 more ($2 more for baked renditions) and also include soup or salad.
The Jorgensen family has added jazz and other live music to Selen’s offerings as well, with entertainment beginning at 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and they serves lunches on weekdays starting at 11 a.m.
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.
