Brunch, Folded Up French

A rotating menu of delectable crêpes featuring seasonal ingredients keeps folks returning to try what’s next.

by

Let’s Eat!

We’d all rather be at brunch, wouldn’t we? But even when we’re able to drop our heavy responsibilities for a midday weekend treat, where’s the variety? While most folks have nothing against Belgian waffles, eggs benedict, corned beef hash or any of the other usual suspects, why is it that brunch menus seem universally predicable carbon copies of one another, with varying degrees of quality? For those who yearn for something more novel entering the brunch realm, here to save the sunny day comes Seven Swans Crêperie in Riverwest.

Their brunch-inspired crêpes offer diners delightfully unique meal options, in both savory and sweet varieties. With a full coffee bar, a lively crowd, warm atmosphere, and plenty of indoor and back patio seating, Seven Swans checks all the boxes for a memorable weekend get-together with family, friends or lovers.

Do I need to explain crêpes? They’re French! A crêpe is a big thin eggy buttery pancake folded around sweet or savory fillings, topped with sauces and garnishes, and eaten with a fork. While the sweet Seven Swans crêpes are certainly French, with classic fillings such as lemon curd or Nutella, the savory versions are definitely from Wisconsin, with generous quantities of local cheeses melted into the country farm fillings of meats, eggs and vegetables. They’re also all absolutely Riverwest, taking extra care and creativity to accommodate each and every food sensitivity with gluten-free and vegan crêpes, vegan cheese and proteins, and vegetarian options.

A rotating menu of delectable crêpes featuring seasonal ingredients keeps folks returning to try what’s next. People come for the crêpes and linger for the good energy. We walked in and were met right away by Arthur Russell on the record player — an obscure, sensitive, tragic, queer Midwesterner-turned-New Yorker songwriting guru — the perfect soundtrack for a hipster brunch spot in the Rust Belt. We went just the two of us for an easy daytime date but I really recommend taking your visiting out-of-town guests here, as it paints a lovely picture of Milwaukee charm.

The atmosphere exudes potter energy (a.k.a. ceramicist vibes). Something about the complimentary color scheme of tertiary shades, viridian and crimson, accented by raw wood paneling and a nouveau wallpaper, speaks to a sophistication and subtle attention to texture, color and pattern as mood-setters. Add to this backdrop a rustic mishmash of antique furniture and tableware, landscape paintings and cross-stitches, hanging plants in the large street-facing windows and fresh wildflower bouquets on every table, and a complete aesthetic impression emerges that evokes nostalgic Wisconsin hospitality and fine craft.

On the way to the patio or bathroom you’re confronted by a vestibule lined with kid crayon drawings, which in a sense contrasts the dialed-in decor elsewhere in the restaurant but speaks to a different truth, another reminder this is a neighborhood spot, one that you walk to and meet up at, and maybe run into other friends and neighbors while you’re there. You may find your plan for post-brunch afternoon gets glommed onto by new but welcome guests. Or vice versa: you’re invited to something even better than what you had planned. So, show up and show out for your people, on the streets and where we’d all rather be.

Foray to Seven Swans by way of 808 E Chambers Street from Thursday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Say hi when I see you there.