Your Guide to Milwaukee’s Culinary Landscape

As the largest city in the state, Milwaukee is a major hub for politics, culture and history. What food lovers will appreciate most, however, is that the city also has a thriving culinary landscape. Whatever your preferences or budget, you can easily find some incredible food in the city. Aspiring culinary students are definitely catching on to this fact, which is why the many Milwaukee cooking schools are experiencing enrollment rates like they have never seen before. If you are passionate about food, restaurant management or even cake decorating, the a cooking certificate or degree from one of the city’s culinary schools might be a great choice. Discover more about the incredible culinary landscape and your opportunities to attend culinary school in Wisconsin.

Exciting Brewery Culture

Although beer might not technically be a food, there is no question that an interest in great beer goes hand in hand with amazing food. This city boasts dozens of local breweries, and residents really do care about the depth, age and preparation of what they drink. Some of the biggest breweries that you can tour include the Pabst Brewery, the Miller-Coors Brewing Company, the Great Lakes Distillery, Sprecher Brewery and the Lakefront Brewery. Local brew pubs where you can sip local ales along with food pairings include the Stonefly Brewing Co., Delafield Brewhouse and Water Street Brewery.

Frequent Foodie Festivals and Events

While everyday life in the city can be a dream for food lovers, there is nothing better than a festival or celebration that includes a variety of local cuisine. If you are interested in trying new ingredients and flavor combinations from around the world, then you won’t want to miss the many cultural fairs that take place in Henry Maier Festival Park like the Polish Fest, Mexican Fiesta, Arab World Fest or Indian Summer. Other major festivals revolving around cuisine and culture include the annual state fair, the the Firkin Craft Beer Festival and Jazz in the Park.

Great Food Markets and Shops

Fabulous food starts with high-quality ingredients, and this city has plenty of the very best organic produce, artisan products and impressive herbs, spices and seafood. The Third Ward Public Market is a staple destination for chefs, but there are also a range of summer farmer’s markets held throughout the city. For specialty ingredients, pop into stores like Usinger?s for quality meats or Sendik’s for imported products from around the world.

Diverse Dining Options

Of course, one of the major concerns for culinary professionals is the diversity of the area restaurants. Thankfully, this city certainly won’t be a disappointment. On Old World Third Street, you will encounter some truly amazing German and Mediterranean restaurants, each boasting authentic preparation techniques. In the Fifth Ward, you will love the Latin American and Mexican restaurants offering incredible prices on traditional cuisine. Near Wells Street, trendy diners can find hip bars and lounges serving up tasty tapas.

Milwaukee is an exciting city, and it makes the perfect destination for aspiring culinary students ready to begin their formal training in the culinary arts.

Celebrity Chefs in Milwaukee’s Culinary Landscape

To many individuals across the country, Milwaukee is perhaps best known for being a beautiful city with a rich heritage and history. However, many view the city as classic and the cuisine as ordinary. Thanks to an influx of celebrity cooks and progressive food enthusiasts, however, that image is rapidly disintegrating. Today, diners in the city can expect to eat upscale cuisine prepared by any number of formally trained and even famous cooks. Whether you are interested in eating at a restaurant run by a top chef trained under Wolfgang Puck or you simply want to meet one of your celebrity favorites from television shows on the Food Network, you can do so in this extraordinary city. Read on to learn more about the top celebrity chefs in the largest city in Wisconsin and how they are transforming the culinary landscape of the region.

Sanford D’Amato of Sanford

Few individuals in the culinary industry have a bio as impressive at Sanford D’Amato’s. With a degree from the Culinary Institute of America, D’Amato learned from some of the top teaching staff in the entire industry. As early on as 1985, D’Amato was being featured in Food and Wine Magazine and being given accolades like one of the top 25 hottest chefs in the country from Bon Appetit. After competing in countless cooking competitions throughout the country, D’Amato appeared in television shows like Dining Around and America’s Rising Star Culinary Professionals. His cooking at Sanford, an upscale restaurant in the city, has been nominated six years in a row for a James Beard Award. You will definitely want to visit Sanford for quality ingredients and unique offerings that blend the familiar with the exotic, such as dark cocoa dusted rack of lamb or elk served with a sweet endive salad.

Peggy Magister of Crazy Water

When asked by restaurant owners where they would most like to dine on their day off, a staggering majority picked Crazy Water Restaurant. The biggest reason for this is not the casual atmosphere or the high quality ingredients, but the inventiveness and careful preparation of the food by head chef Peggy Magister. Magister was trained as a chef by Wolfgang Puck, perhaps the best known chef working in the culinary industry today. Peggy Magister is both the owner and head chef of Crazy Water, where diners are able to choose from a variety of American fusion dishes. A few of the most popular menu items include the chorizo stuffed dates, Korean tenderloin burgers and veal braised in a banana leaf.

Jimmy Jackson of Jackson Grill

James Jackson, known to most in the city as Jimmy, is not one for food trends or discovering what is hot in the city. He was trained in the classical fashion, eschewing a formal education for an extensive internship with his father at their family restaurant called Ray Jackson’s. Here Jackson learned how to create incredible dishes that have allowed him to be featured on PBS and the Food Network. Some of the classic dishes on offer at Jackson Grill include perfectly seasoned Kobe filet mignon, seared scallops and pasta carbonara prepared at the table for diners.

Joseph Muench at Blue’s Egg

Few restaurants have tried to undertake a menu as diverse and extensive as what is available at Blue’s Egg. The eatery boasts classic preparation methods, ingredients and styles from places like Asia, Scandinavia and Africa. The only way it is able to succeed is thanks to the genius and skills of Joseph Muench, head chef. Muench has been repeatedly praised by some of the industry leaders around the world.

Whether you are in the mood for upscale fusion or classic steaks, you can find something that will satisfy your appetite at one of these top celebrity restaurants in Milwaukee.

If you’ve always wanted to own your own restaurant or become a professional chef, the place to begin is http://www.cooking-culinary-arts-schools.org/ where you will find cooking schools and chef schools all over the country to help you reach your goals.