Milwaukee Eats: Simple Cafe

 


Smoked trout and sweet potato benedict. Acorn squash chicken sausage strata. I'll admit up front: I don't know what strata is when I'm not talking about rocks, but it's these musical names that won me over when sitting down at Simple Cafe on Farwell Ave. on Milwaukee's East Side. The first time I walked in here, it was on a whim. I hadn't heard about it, but it looked as if it might have breakfast food, and my pal and I were hungry. I quickly fell into a deep, lasting love. I've been back a couple of times, and recently took my mom for her first. She felt similarly after her starter soup of a butternut squash, cinnamon concoction that tasted like it was a dessert, not a vegetable (or fruit, you biologists, you). I myself had a Korean BBQ bowl. I'm wussy about spice, but loved it despite the burn. What a pretty, savory mess for my mouth. Just look at me sassily grinning away with that broccoli.

So Simple Cafe makes really good food, that's a given. But even cooler is how they make it. They have a mission of sustainability and keeping local growers in business. I just went and read a little more about them on their website, and my own desire to support them continued to grow, above and beyond just wanting to try their pumpkin pancakes. I found this:

Thanks, Linus.

Winter storm Linus hit us over the weekend, which for me meant that yesterday was spent under blankets with Oliver Twist in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. And my cancelled rehearsal meant that I got more homework done than I was expecting. Score. Little victories, guys.
This morning my buddy Kaitlyn and I ventured out to play in the mess. We could have used some snowshoes but the sun was on our side and everything was sparkling.

This semester I'm an intern at a local paper, and one of my assignments is to find 'hidden treasures'  around Milwaukee. The whole project has got me thinking about an idea I'm mentally referring to as Home Trips. Just little excursions to a place I've never been to--restaurants, parks, bowling alleys, neighborhoods, bookstores. My goal is to find a new place every two weeks, and by the end of the year I'll have a whole new set of favorite spots. We were only out for about an hour today and my brain felt totally refreshed. I figure there's less of a chance I'll feel my routine going stale if I pepper it with small adventures.

What new places have you found to spice up your stomping grounds?

Milwaukee Saturday.

My city and I are really fiercely fond.
If I'm going to be honest, this is a relatively recent feeling. When I was growing up, I spent most of my time in parts of Milwaukee that I rarely visit now. And I always had a sort of nagging impression that my home town was something to be ashamed of--never in so many words of course, but my school friends didn't seem proud to live where we did, and neither did I. And then it came time to apply for colleges, and people did their best to make a grand exodus and get out of here. I did not, although more by financial constraints than by choice. So I went to college without leaving home, and that may have been the best gift of a lesson that Marquette has given me: Milwaukee is cool.
All of a sudden I was spending my time in places where people sought new ideas and made art and ate good food. I was seeing my city through the eyes of people who came here by choice, and finding a whole new world I'd never known existed before. I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do, and it's very possible that saying the name of an ultra-hip restaurant or bar will still draw a blank look from me, but I'm eager to learn.
There are several words to describe what I love most about Milwaukee--it's genuine, sincere, a little rough around the edges. Milwaukee tries really hard. It's not always a paragon of progressiveness or open-mindedness, but there are so many people who live here that are trying to make it better that they outweigh the negativity. Milwaukee knows that it has a lot of work to do, and the feeling of camaraderie and potential that comes along with the responsibility is part of what makes it great. It's a city on the cusp of spilling over with startup businesses, community organizations, arts programs, all designed to improve the quality of life for those that call Milwaukee home. I'm so excited to be a part of this Milwaukee Movement and to make my own contributions to my city's growth.
So often, I'm taken by surprise by all the small, lovely things I pass on my daily routine. These images were brief snippets of my Saturday that was filled mostly with work and errands. But I was happy to do them as I looked around me with the knowledge that I live in such a beautiful place.
I love to travel, to go out and see other parts of the world. But I really love coming home, too.