Thumbs Up to Tre Rivali! (at the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel)
On September 16th, I received an email from a publicist in Chicago, Madelaine, inviting me and a guest to enjoy a complimentary brunch at the new restaurant in The Kimpton Journeyman Hotel in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward.The invitation to Tre Rivali was for Saturday brunch for two ("on the house"), so I decided it was a great opportunity to invite my visiting friend to join me a what could be the "hot new spot"! My friend, Rich, was scheduled to visit me during the weekend of Oct 7-9th, and the ONLY thing I had planned was this brunch on Saturday the 8th.Before I get into the experience at Tre Rivali, please let me tell you that, despite an intentional lack of planning, Rich and I covered (literally) lots of ground in Milwaukee, walking all over the city and visiting: the lakefront, Lakefront Brewery, Colectivo Coffee, Jackson's Blue Ribbon Pub (Go Tribe!, Go Clemson!), the Pabst Mansion, the Harley Davidson museum, Kanpai Izakaya, Bugsy's Back Alley Speakeasy and finally, Zak's Cafe. It was a busy, fun and social weekend with other friends joining in here and there!Back to Tre Rivali. We walked over to the Journeyman and entered a posh, but not intimidating boutique hotel. Here are some of their photos. The restaurant is off to the left of the lobby, and I first thought it to be a coffee shop. Had we entered from the street, it would have been more obvious to me! (May I please have a break - it was still morning!).There are two main areas within the restaurant. The room one enters is beautifully tiled, with a casually comfortable feel. The second room, which is all dining space almost had a bit of a cottage type of feel with large comfy cushions and white "siding". It was a very inviting space.[gallery ids="2683,2682,2684" type="rectangular"]Please note that the photo in the upper right is from the Journeyman Hotel's Instagram page.One of the disappointments of the weekend was the lack of good service at some of (not all of) the aforementioned establishments. We had EXCELLENT service at Tre Rivali. Larissa was our server, and she was prompt, happy, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable.Rich asked me if I planned to let her choose my meal, and after perusing the menu, I had decided "yes". There were many good options from which to choose, so why not let the expert do the choosing? And, Larissa was right on board! So much so that Rich felt compelled to "step outside of his comfort zone" and have her choose his meal as well!Larissa chose the avocado toast for me. She had no idea how much I love both avocado and poached egg! This light whole grain toast was smothered in avocado, and topped with radishes, sprouts, olive oil and a poached egg. It wasn't overly-flavorful, but had nice texture and the radishes gave a slight "bite" to it.
For Rich, Larissa chose the beef burger which was topped with bacon jam pesto aioli, Fontina cheese and a sunny-side up egg. This was no small feat, and required a knife and fork, in my opinion! Rich was also served a bowl of the cucumber gazpacho (such a delicious side of soup!).
Since he and I split our dishes down the middle and tried a bit of everything, I can personally attest to the fact that the burger was FULL of flavor and quite filling! As I mentioned, the gazpacho was extraordinary, with cucumber flavor cooling the palate beautifully!I feel very fortunate that local companies reach out to me to try new venues and provide feedback. This was a great experience at new spot downtown. I've seen other friends post about brunch at Tre Rivali as well. I hope they had similarly nice experiences!It's certainly a restaurant I will keep in mind as the visitors keep coming (or when I just want a good brunch downtown!).Thank you for a wonderful morning meal, Larissa and Tre Rivali.Cheers!Ker