Lunching and Brunching in Milwaukee

This past weekend was a bit decadent for me. No real "working", and lots of quality time with neighborhood friends.On Saturday, my neighbor Andrew and I decided to head to The Historic Third Ward for a late lunch (mostly due to the fact that I indulged in a late morning nap!). Andrew suggested trying Swig after reading about it on Urbanspoon. I had heard of Swig and had passed by the place, but hadn't stopped in yet, so I was game!Swig has a rustic modern casual vibe and because we were lunching at 2:30PM on a Saturday, the place was fairly empty. Andrew and I were seated at a table near the fireplace (the thing I miss most about my last apartment!) and greeted warmly by Kate, our server for the afternoon. I immediately liked Kate because she had spunk! As Andrew contemplated having a drink, Kate quickly called him out about enjoying the weekend - and soon after he was enjoying a Ginger Old Fashioned. Kate: 1, Andrew: won!I was impressed, and overwhelmed with the menu.  I knew that I wanted a house salad - I needed my veggies!  Beyond that, I could have chosen almost anything!  The two items that bubbled to the top of the list for me were the Brie Grilled Cheese (I LOVE Brie, and I haven't had it in quite some time) and the Crab Cake appetizer.  If I'm *really* honest with y'all, the baked Brie appetizer was appealing as well!Long story short, I asked Kate to surprise me by choosing between the two and by choosing a flight of wine for me to enjoy along with the chosen meal.  She was on board from the get-go.*side note: At Swig, you may choose your own flight of wine (three 2oz glasses - of your choosing) and then a 5 oz glass - all for $15.  There was no way that I was going to be able to choose a wine flight with so many options from which to choose!The house salad was loaded up with veggies and topped with parmesan cheese.  And, the dressing was AMAZING!Kate gave me an idea of how to make this apricot vinaigrette, and after lunch Andrew and I promptly walked to Oro di Oliva in the Public Market to buy the appropriate vinegar!Andrew decided to go "Ahi all the way", with the seared tuna, arugula, and avocado salad with chimichurri sauce.I was envious of all of the avocado that accompanied the beautiful seared tuna!  We both thoroughly enjoyed our salads, and probably could have stopped there, as they were generous portions.  But, we didn't!Kate brought me the crab cakes small plate.  These meaty crab cakes were covered in panko crumbs, sat on avocado puree, and were covered with roasted corn relish (another fave!).Like I mentioned, these were meaty (real) crab cakes.  The flavors were mild, but really tasty, and the wine paired beautifully with the dish.  For my 5 oz pour, I decided on the Crème de Lys Chardonnay.Andrew stuck with the ginger Old Fashioned and had the Ahi tuna sandwich which had spring mix, red onion, wasabi aioli, and tomato cucumber salsa on it.  It was a big, and beautiful sandwich! Andrew said he liked that it had the teryaki flavor to it, making it a different experience from the salad he had just enjoyed.  The tomato-basil soup looked pretty thick and tasty as well!We ended up enjoying a few adult beverages and just hanging out on a Saturday afternoon.  After hitting up the Public Market, we stopped in at Hudson's Business Lounge - simply because Andrew had never been in there.  It's a cool shared space office building that my work team had used last year for an off-site working session.  There is a full bar attached, so we spent a few minutes there before calling it a night.  Nothing like a five-hour lunch!  :-)Then, in a blink of an eye, it was Sunday!I had previously made plans to have brunch with my friend Katie on Sunday morning.  The original plan was to head to the Hotel Metro because I love their breakfast and Katie had yet to experience it.  However, after talking with a colleague about Black Sheep, we decided to head down to Walker's Point and hit it up.We arrived just as the doors opened and found a small high-top table for two - which was a good thing since the place filled up pretty quickly!After day-drinking with Andrew the afternoon before, I wasn't sure I wanted to have a drink with brunch, but the list was intriguing.  After tasting the Wolf's Spiked Tea, and having our server Corrine hint that there may be maple in it, I decided to head in a different direction and ordered the 2nd Street Cup (Canton, cranberry, lemonade and champagne), and after striking out twice with her orders (due to missing ingredients), Katie ended up choosing the Perfectly Peared (Belle de Brillet Cognac, pear nectar, and champagne).  Both were refreshing and light - and didn't taste too heavy on the alcohol!  And, through the tea-tasting, Corrine learned of my disdain for maple (and she shares it due to a bad experience in the past!  I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE!!) As I perused the brunch menu, I couldn't find any item that was off-limits, and so many things looked yummy.  Corinne was on board for choosing just as Kate had been the day before.  And, she made a great choice for me!  Lobster Benedict, which consisted of poached eggs, lobster meat, arugula, hardwood smoked bacon, tomato confit and hollendaise sauce all atop brioche toast.  Did I mention it was a decadent weekend?  ;-)Katie chose what I learned is a Wisconsin staple:  Hot Ham & Rolls - which is a Parker House roll with shaved smoked Berkshire ham, maple butter (ick!) and two eggs. Though Katie mentioned this was a simple dish, she also said it had really good flavor.  We also agreed that Black Sheep's fries were excellent - crispy and flavorful.Both Swig and Black Sheep are local spots that I plan to revisit, especially since we didn't try any of the wines on tap at Black Sheep!Do you have a favorite daytime destination?  Please feel free to share in the comments!Cheers!Ker