Category Archives: eliz-a-trip

Just by the name, 50-year history and nondescript location in downtown Milwaukee, you know this place is going to be cool. It’s been home to what might be, in my opinion, the best steak in the Midwest. My parents were gracious enough to treat us to Coerper’s for our birthdays as kids, and I remember the rolling carts that delivered a relish tray, warm, fresh sourdough bread straight from the oven and served with your own personal pad of butter and honey, a huge salad with homemade dressings like creamy peppercorn and French honey, and then massive juicy steaks served with large mushrooms resting in a pool of savory gravy on the plate. After years of kicking around the idea, a couple of my siblings and I finally headed back to Coeper’s last weekend after what seemed like years. Nothing had changed and it was almost better than we had remembered (besides the having to pay for it part). But it’s worth it.
Experiencing the steaks at Coerper’s is sort of an out of body experience: Each is cooked perfectly with a crispy crunchy charred coating on the outside, and gravy-soaked meat on the inside that literally melts in your mouth. The service is old-school and impeccable, and they always start you off with a drink at the bar where your waitress takes your order. Strings of red Christmas lights (why do they make a restaurant instantly cozier?) and retro red-glowing lamps and light fixtures are about the only thing that sheds any light on the mirrors, framed photos and vintage signs, and it can be hard to get a last-minute reservation (although we scored a four top on a Friday night and called the day of). As for the secret of the steak, I couldn’t get anything out of our waitress. She just said something vague about how the chef cooks the steak, let’s it rest, cooks it again, rest, etc…she changed the subject by telling us that a recent diner called from New York to see if they could have a Coerper’s filet shipped overnight to Manhattan. Manhattan! Yes, it’s that good and yes it’s worth a road trip. Just let me know. Coerper’s 5 O’Clock Club, 2416 W. State St., 414.342.3553.

How cool is the outside?

How cool is the inside?

OK. So here goes my last post from my San Fran adventures before it’s back to the Chi. In true West Coast nature, I closed out my trip detoxing at a fabulous raw/vegan food spot we hit up twice in one weekend. From smoothies made with coconut milk, almond butter and raw cacao chips to zucchini noodle lasagna with cashew ricotta and amazingly fresh and spicy guacamole (there was avocado in practically everything..how can you go wrong?) with crunchy flax seed chips, the food at San Francisco-based Café Gratitude is so tasty, it’s hard to believe it was healthy. The service was so-so and ordering is a little annoying as every menu item is a warm and fuzzy self-affirmation like the “I am renewed” organic wheat grass shot or “I am insightful” veggie springrolls, and you feel pressured to say the damn phrase while placing your order. But it’s worth the embarassment for “I am enlightened” enchilada of the day (ours: jicama and apple) with spicy salsa verde, cashew sour cream and Bhutanese red rice, and a surprisingly flavorful “I am cheerful” sun burger made with pumpkin seeds and walnuts and served on sweet onion sunflower bread. Everything at Café Gratitude was fresh and delish, but it didn’t take long to realize, “I am craving meat,” so, it’s back to Chicago where I’ll be reporting later this week on some heartier eats including what might be the antithesis of this place, my highly anticipated jaunt to Hot Doug’s.

Jicama and apple veggie enchilada with almond cream

Quinoa, black beans and veggie rice bowl

From burgers to biodynamic vegetables, we were totally blown away by Chef Jeremy Fox’s vegetable mastery at Napa Valley’s Ubuntu. Give this blog only half a read, and you’ll know that I likes me some steak. But this vegetarian-focused menu of small plates was so flavorful, colorful, inventive and surprisingly filling, I hardly missed the meat. Before I checked out Ubuntu (the spirit of ubuntu translates as “humanity towards others” to the Zulu people of South Africa), I heard it was connected to a yoga studio, and pictured a small, hole-in-the-wall space with rickety chairs and beaded curtains hanging in the doorway. Nothing of the sort, the 19th-century building is spacious, rustic and loft-like with soft lighting and a slightly eerie life-size sculpture by award-winning artist Mark Chatterley of tribal men and women looking out at you with hollow eyes from the center of the dining room. A center communal dining table is made from windfallen redwood and birch trees, and other tabletops are made from reclaimed fir trees. For the daily-changing menu, Chef Jeremy Fox (a 2008 Food and Wine Best New Chef) looks to the restaurant’s masterfully maintained 6-mile garden of organic and biodynamic vegetables to come up with farm-fresh, daily harvested dishes like cauliflower in a cast iron pot, caramelized sunchoke soup and olives marinated in pesto. Tasty, vegetarian-inducing pics to follow. 1140 Main Street, Napa, Calif., 707.251.5656

"Alternate Perspective" by sculptor Mark Chatterley in the center of the dining room

Marcona almonds with lavender, sugar and sea salt..sweet, salty, floral, addictive

I couldn't stop with the Castelvetrano olives marinated in pesto z'herbes (and I hate olives)

Grits smoked with hickory, fried brussels sprouts with parsley and apple barbecue

Carrot gnocchetti with tarragon and mimolette, spiced crumble of carrot pulp, almond and mace

A bowl of frosted feuilletine, bananas, vanilla ice cream, warm parsnip milk