This weekend was a blast. We actually completed all the things on our to-do list and had a great time while doing it. Some of my good friends are out in Tahoe skiing this weekend so this gave Wes and I a chance to catch up with some people we don't get to see as often, which was really nice. On Friday night we got a little mature and fancy, details as follows.
Friday night Wes and I decided to try a tapas restaurant that one of my coworkers recommended. One of my New Years goals is to eat at 36 new restaurants before we leave Milwaukee. It's a lofty one, but we're already on the right track by trying out the places below:
1. Zarletti: A super swanky italian restaurant in the heart of downtown. Delicious!
2. Slick Willies: A bar in South Milwaukee with one of the best burgers around.
3. Outback Steakhouse: I'm only counting this because we got it fo free! And I've never had free Outback.
4. Toscana's Italian Ristorante: A small family owned Italian restaurant with delicious spaghetti and meatballs.
5. La Merenda: This was out newest addition to the list, and a real winner. See below for more details.
(This was Wes and I's first experience with a tapas restaurant, and I can assure you it will not be our last. The easy going pace of the meal, and the overall atmosphere of the restaurant we top notch.)
(Even their drinks were delicious. Wes started off the night with the concoction called a Dark&Stormy. Which consisted of Ginger Beer and Rum. So upscale.)
(Wes and I basically didn't speak the whole meal, unless we were talking about how amazing the food was, how great the restaurant was, how much so and so would love to come here with us, etc. etc. We basically have a restaurant crush of La Merenda now, and these wonderful empanadas are just one reason why.)
After La Merenda we met up with Emily and headed to the Art Milwaukee exhibition at a recently re-opened hotel that I can not find the name of. Oh well. We went to support one of our friends, Matt and his organization MakerSpace. They are a bunch of cool engineers who like to nerdy out about things like 3D printers. (did yall know those exist? I didn't until Friday night!)
(Me getting my rhythm going on their apple piano. So cool!)
(A close up view of the set up they had. They also had their 3D printer out; Matt gave Wes some Star Wars ring that he made with the printer and Wes started freaking out. Oh boys.)
(There were all sorts of other artists and exhibits going on around the three levels of the hotel lobby. It was really neat to see the artists, and even more interesting to watch the people who came (clearly Wes agreed). I told Emily that I didn't know this kind of culture existed in Milwaukee. Her response? "I think most of these people must be from Bayview." Haha. Bayview is a very diverse-artsy-crunchy-granola kind of community on the South side of the city. It's got some great restaurants and some fabulous hair salons.)
(The gang peaced-out from the Art Show a little early and headed over the The German Beer Hall to pick up Matt's credit card that had been there for over a month. (There's one way to reduce your monthly spending.) The German Beer Hall is an interesting place that you definitely have to be in the right mood to go to. i.e. I met some people their two weeks ago and thought it was lame, I went there this weekend and thought it was awesome.))
(One of the best things about this bar is their game. Simply called The Stump Game. I'm sure there's something more technical associated with it, but no one really bothers to care. You buy a strange nail from the bartender for 50 cents and hammer it in to the stump with a large (and very heavy) hammer. The last one to drive their nail all the way in (a beer stein has to move smoothly over the nail head for it you to be considered finished.) has to buy everyone who played a round of shots. It's really a win win game.)
(Me getting my hammer on in VICTORY!)
(It's a really funny game. The guys try so dang hard and then end up missing the nail head half of the time. Me and Emily took things at a slower pace and didn't have to buy anyone shots. Winning!)
(There's also fun things like a live polka band, and a man blowing a alphorn. Who doesn't enjoy these little surprises on a Friday night? Clearly I'm a fan.)
Off to the Chili Cook Off!
Until next time...
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