It’s been nearly six months since EsterEv, one of Milwaukee’s most celebrated restaurants, was forced to close after a flooding accident sent 200-plus gallons of water rushing into its dining room.
But now, after a series of delays, the restaurant is poised for its comeback.
EsterEv will open its doors again at 2165 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. on Nov. 5.
When it does, it will introduce a number of changes — to its menu format, its staff and the way it looks.
“We lost literally every single piece of the front of the house,” said chef Dan Jacobs, who co-owns the restaurant with Dan Van Rite. The restaurant also suffered equipment loss as the flooding crept into its basement.
The result was what Jacobs called a “100% gut job.” Less than 18 months after debuting its new space in Bay View, EsterEv had to completely rebuild its dining room and bar from the floorboards up.
Jacobs said to expect a similar look and feel to its previous iteration, sleek but inviting with plenty of personal touches and keepsakes from Jacobs’ and Van Rite’s homes. The restaurant’s new butcher block-top bar will fit that cozy-chic aesthetic.
“It’ll be a little re-creation of the old space with a bit of something new,” Jacobs said.
Three days before the flooding, EsterEv introduced a new spring menu and the option to order dishes à la carte. The spring menu, and planning for summer’s, was instantly scrapped.
“When you lose momentum, it’s hard to put a dollar sign on that,” Jacobs said. “We were moving right along, swimmingly, and then all of a sudden, we had this abrupt stop to everything.”
But the EsterEv team never slowed down. They stayed busy with pop-up dinners in Chicago, Madison and at Milwaukee restaurants like Lupi & Iris and Birch. They cooked in people’s houses and took time to travel.
The forced break gave the team time to reevaluate the direction for the celebrated fine-dining destination.
“There’s going to be a lot of change at EsterEv when we get back to it,” Jacobs said.
EsterEv says goodbye to its tasting menu
Beginning with its Nov. 5 service, EsterEv will offer an à la carte menu only, doing away with the coursed tasting menu format it’s offered since opening inside sister restaurant DanDan in 2016.
“At DanDan, it was a tasting menu only because that’s all we could do, just due to spatial limitations there,” Jacobs said.
But with its own space in Bay View, EsterEv’s tasting-menu experience wasn’t drawing the kind of crowd they’d hoped for.
“We want to engage with the neighborhood more,” Jacobs said. “We want it to be a place that people come to more often than just on special occasions.”
Now, guests can order anything they want from the menu, rather than selecting one option each from four courses. Make a meal from starters, do desserts and drinks only, or dine traditionally with an entree at the center.
“It’s a true choose-your-own adventure,” Jacobs said. “A more accessible version of what we’ve always done.”
The new fall menu will feature 15 dishes, with some old favorites — such as the restaurant’s caviar tater tot ($24), dry-aged Wagyu beef ($44), and bread and broth ($10) — alongside a lineup of new items, many of which were inspired by the summer’s chef collaboration series.
That includes dishes like laab carpaccio with fish sauce, peanuts and herbs ($18); grilled carrots with mussels, green curry, buttermilk and lime leaves ($14); Ukranian pork-filled pelmeni dumplings with leeks and koji crème fraîche ($22); ricotta gnudi with Matsutake mushroom broth, brown butter and scallion grapes.
Desserts will include things like hot chocolate mousse with olive oil ice cream and coconut kalamata crumble ($14), and sarniki, a Russian ricotta pancake, which Jacobs said was inspired by his grandmother. The sarniki will be served with lemongrass whipped cream and roasted plums ($14).
With its new, accessible neighborhood vibe, EsterEv is also adding a pizza to its menu, with a tavern-style cracker crust and toppings that change with the seasons.
“It’s going to be so fun,” Jacobs said.
The restaurant will implement the changes with some new staff in its ranks. New to the kitchen is chef Monroe Briggs, who previously worked as a sous chef at Odd Duck. He is the first high-level chef EsterEv has hired from an outside restaurant, without promoting from within.
There’s a new general manager, too. Michael Guardalabene comes to EsterEv from Lupi & Iris, where he served as bar manager.
During EsterEv’s closure, chefs Val Bartram and Syd Zwieg left to work for Chicago’s Smyth restaurant. Front-of-house manager and beverage director Tyler Flynn moved to California to pursue a career in the wine industry.
Casey Frazier will step in as beverage director. Behind the newly built bar, she’ll be able to play around with the beverage program a bit more, Jacobs said.
He believes the changes coming to EsterEv will infuse the restaurant with new energy.
“I love change. It creates opportunity,” Jacobs said. “I’m really, really excited about this.”
Once open, EsterEv’s hours will be 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday. Reservations can be made online on OpenTable.
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