Cafe Benelux opens in the Historic Third Ward at 7 tomorrow morning offering a breakfast menu that includes traditional poutine with a breakfast twist, poached eggs; granola with yogurt, and eight versions of sweet and savory pannenkoeken, a large thin pancake that is standard fare in The Netherlands.
Located in the former Good Harvest Market, kitty-corner from the Milwaukee Public Market, Cafe Benelux is the newest member of the Lowlands Group, which also operates Trocadero, Cafe Hollander and Cafe Centraal. The bistro will serve food through the day and into the night, with its most expensive item a 6-ounce filet, priced at $20.95.
Thirty beers will be on tap, and nearly 200 are available for the adventurous connoisseur. Many can be purchased by the six-pack from the restaurant's market.
Lowlands marketing director Kristin Godfrey says the menu will be similar in style with the group's other eateries, but it will feature items exclusive to Benelux. "It is like Hollander and Trocadero had a baby," she quips.
A pre-opening party attended by more than 300 persons Tuesday night highlighted the open air rooftop dining deck that is accessed by a dramatic staircase in the center of the first floor. The deck offers a super bird's eye view of the Third Ward.
Two separate markets offer fresh and prepared food for carry out, and such gift shop items as T-shirts, baseball caps, glassware and stroopwafels, the devilishly delicious and chewy Dutch cookie-waffle.
Watch OnMilwaukee.com for a more detailed story about the new addition to the Third Ward.
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.
