Our mission at Braise is to reconnect people with their food. There is no better way than to spend time on the farms where it was grown and learn from those who grew it.
Braise hosts multiple outdoor events throughout the year centered around the food and activities we love. Join us for a snow shoe in the winter, mushroom hunt in the spring, farm dinners in the summer, and a bike ride & cookout in the fall!
3~course Sunday Supper with complimentary punch,
$55/person, optional $15 wine pairing,
Dinner 6 PM Chef Chat 8 PM
1101 S. 2nd St, Milwaukee, WI, 53204
Sunday, May 7th @ 6pm
Chef Jennifer Blakeslee is the co-chef/owner of The Cooks’ House restaurant in Traverse City, MI. She is a native of Traverse City and a culinary graduate of Johnson & Wales University. Chef Jennifer has over 20 years cooking experience. She and Chef Eric Patterson earned one Michelin Star at Andre’s French Restaurant in Las Vegas.
Chef Eric Patterson is the co-chef/owner of The Cooks’ House restaurant in Traverse City, MI. He spent most of his career in Las Vegas. Chef Eric received his culinary education through an apprenticeship under celebrated Michelin star chef Andre Rochat. Chef Eric has 36 years cooking experience and earned one Michelin star with Chef Jennifer at Andre’s French Restaurant.
Sunday, June 4th @ 6pm
Luke Zahm grew up in La Farge, Wisconsin- a rural community in the heart of Vernon County with a population of 775 residents. As a kid in a small town looking for an identity, he found it in a newly formed cooperative of family farmers that became Organic Valley. Food became the vehicle for his aspirations to build strong community between farmers and diners in the Driftless Region. Currently, Vernon County has the second highest concentration of organic farmers in the United States.
Luke started cooking in small kitchens in Wisconsin and fed his passion for food with work ethic, drive and a love of the Wisconsin identity. He returned to Viroqua in 2011 to pursue a restaurant that could showcase the bounty of the Driftless region. The restaurant, aptly titled “The Driftless Cafe” became the stage for an ever- changing menu of local foods, highlighted by the farmers from the region who produce the menu. More than just a farm-to-table restaurant, the operation spans into the community and spends 85% of its food budget on ingredients that are sourced within a 100 mile radius of the Cafe.
The Cafe has been named a two-time Edible Madison “Local Hero Award” Winner, has been featured on PBS’s “Wisconsin Foodie” and Luke has spent time in Washington D.C. advocating for transparency in food labeling on behalf of Organic Valley.
Luke and his wife Ruthie, daughter Ava and sons Benjamin and Silas all live in Avalanche, Wisconsin.
Sunday, July 16th @ 6pm
Owner and executive chef Dan Fox's lenghty resume includes cooking at some of Chicago's most beloved restaurants (Everest, Spring Restaurant) as well as abroad at restaurants in Austria and France. The Kendall College grad most recently worked as executive chef at the members only Madison Club before opening Heritage Tavern in 2013. Fox was Madison Magazines Chef of the Year and a James Beard semifinalist for the Midwest regions in 2015 and 2016.
In 2011, Fox founded Fox Heritage Farms to raise heritage breed pigs which are prized by chefs for their flavor. Heritge Farms provides meat to other Madison area kitchens and numerous Milwaukee restaurants.
In 2011, Fox also founded Slopig, billed as a "celebration of heritage pigs and the people who drive the movement". The successful culinary event features a celebrity chef competition, heritage pig tastings, butchery demonstrations and craft spirit tastings.
Garlic Fest is our annual Walker's Point street festival celebrating all things garlic. Various restaurants around Walker's Point dish up their favorite garlic cuisine. There are drinks from local distillers, brewers, and you don't want to miss the Braise Green Garlic Bloody Marys! Listen in on live music, jam with our DJ, or play some games. Crafts by local artisans are also for sale.
Chef Dave Swanson first started Braise as a traveling culinary school in 2004 by holding classes and dinners out in the farm fields. We continue this tradition by hosting 3-course dinners out in many of our farm partners' fields throughout the summer and into the early fall.
Enjoy the fresh bounty of small Wisconsin farms while taking in the beautiful scenery. When guests arrive they receive a small appetizer and cocktail to enjoy while strolling the grounds and talking with the farmers. All farm dinners are 3 course family style with wine pairings. Farm dinners have a maximum of 30 guests.
Steve & Marie Deibele of Golden Bear Farm host Braise, along with 3 of Milwaukee's top chefs, to prepare a 4-course meal on the hillside of their farm in Kiel, WI. Take a tour of the farm, stroll the grounds with a cocktail, and meet the pigs before dinner. Each course features a section of pig, even dessert! Each course is paired with local micro-brews.
We are happy to announce Jonathan Manyo of Morel Restaurant, Chef David Magnasco of The Chef's Table, and our last chef is still to be determined!
Tour de Farms is the annual fundraiser held for the RSA. Over 200 cyclists, ranging from beginners to avid riders, gather every year at Jeff Leen Farm for a day of scenic bike riding, locally sourced food and refreshing drinks. We begin the morning by fueling up with homemade goodies from Braise, sports drinks, water and coffee. Our route then takes us winding through 25 miles of country roads, stopping at Willoway, Wellspring and Rare Earth farms along the way for tours, lunch and refreshments. The ride finishes with a pig roast and cookout with beer and wine. Enjoy live music, a silent auction, awards and games.
Tour de Farms takes place in September. Tickets are on sale now ! Click here to sign up !
Every winter we bundle up, strap on our snow shoes and brave the cold out at Jeff Leen Farm in Random Lake, WI. We spend the afternoon snow shoeing on trails around the farm, then return to the barn for a meal prepared over an open fire by Chef Dave Swanson and his staff. The cider, cocoa, wine and beer are flowing to warm you up!
Mike Jozwik, owner of Mushroom Mike LLC, and his team take us hunting for the elusive morel in the Kettle Moraine area. After a few hours of collecting mushrooms, we head to a tented area and enjoy a meal prepared with our treasures! Depending on the size of the bounty you may even be able to take some home!
