Photo by Sandy Reitman
Tre Rivali
The Third Ward became a destination for Downtown dining by the start of this century. From fine dining to chain restaurants, there’s something for everyone within its city blocks. With new places popping up left and right, passing by the longer-standing establishments you’ve tried before can be easy.
Tre Rivali is the ground floor restaurant of the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel at 200 N Broadway. While its walls open up to the lobby, it’s anything but your ordinary hotel restaurant. This fall, Paul Funk joined as executive chef and has plans to expand the Mediterranean-inspired menu.
“[We’re planning a] culinary inspiration extends beyond France and Italy to the rustic and robust flavors of Spain, North Africa, Greece, Morocco, Turkey and Israel, with ingredients sourced seasonally from local farms,” says the team.
Not a Bad Seat in the House
Since October is turning out to be nice enough to still sit outside, I wanted to catch a drink on their patio before the seasons change. We were early to our reservation, so we did just that. Once moving inside, we were warmly greeted by the restaurant staff who sat us in a cozy window-side corner. There’s not a bad seat in the house! I hadn’t been to Tre Rivali for years, so it was nice to be somewhere familiar but also new.
Our server, Des, was spritely and walked us through her favorites on the menu. It was a slower Wednesday evening, so we were delighted to be able to meet Chef Paul. After talking to him about what brought him here and where he wants to see the restaurant go under his leadership, we asked if he would send out some of the menu’s highlights that should be making the cut come November.
The menu is divided into seven sections: starters, dip and spreads, greens, pasta, meats and fish, sides and wood-fired pizzas. And then a separate, extensive drink list and dessert menu.
Per usual, there was way too much good food on the table, including: whipped farmer’s cheese, arancini, muhammara and baba ganoush dips with fresh pita, Campanelle pasta, wood grilled branzino, side of broccolini, then pistachio baklava, cheese cake and caramel pudding topped with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Divine Arancini
I’m not kidding … each plate was just as good, if not better, than the one before. For the sake of this article, I’ll highlight three. The arancini were made of balled and fried arborio rice stuffed with Bolognese and topped with nonna’s sauce. I’ve had a lot of arancini in my days and these were absolutely divine—melting in your mouth with a perfect blend of textures. Then, the Campanella pasta—wild mushroom, cippolini onion, pecorino, cream, thyme—looked like a simple white pasta but was surprisingly deep with flavors, even a little sweet with the charred and caramelized onions.
Then, the wood grilled Branzino with fegola sarda al pomodoro and prosecco butter sauce was to die. This restaurant is known for its custom wood-burning oven and grill in the heart of their kitchen. In fact, the restaurant has a wonderful-charred wood varietal smell to it that makes your experience all the more authentic. OK, and I have to shoutout the pistachio baklava cheese cake because it’s a genius blend of the world’s two greatest desserts. How is this not on menus everywhere? A true delight.
Part of me wishes I’d been going to Tre Rivali more over the years, but it’s like reuniting with an old friend who seems better than ever. And now that we have Chef Paul in the kitchen, we can look forward to even more exquisite dishes, this time inspired by cuisines from Syria, Israel and other Middle Eastern food hubs. I’m looking forward to going back this winter to try out all the new items and to order some of my new favorites from this lovely night out in Milwaukee.
