EsterEv restaurant announces opening date for new Bay View location
Soon, Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood will add an award-winning fine-dining restaurant to its ever-growing lineup of buzzy restaurants.
EsterEv, the upscale tasting-menu restaurant helmed by chefs and co-owners Dan Jacobs and Dan Van Rite, will serve diners at its new Bay View location, 2165 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., beginning April 17.
Formerly a restaurant-within-a-restaurant, EsterEv opened in 2016 inside Jacobs’ and Van Rite’s other restaurant, DanDan, 360 E. Erie St., a hip take on classic Chinese-American fare.
The new space, which formerly housed the C-Viche Peruvian restaurant, was announced in January, and EsterEv has been closed since mid-February while the restaurant prepared for its move to Bay View.
The new space comes with expanded hours. Beginning April 17, EsterEv will be open from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, with five seating times available each night. Reservations can be made online at exploretock.com/esterev.
The opening menu plays on the chefs’ Midwest roots
At each service, the restaurant will present a four-course, prix fixe menu for $80 per person with optional beverage pairings for an additional $50 per person. Additional courses such as Wisconsin cheese or the restaurant’s signature caviar tater tot (inspired by the chefs’ love for McDonald’s hash browns) can be added for a personalized dining experience.
From the start, EsterEv has been influenced by family and tradition. The restaurant is named for Jacobs' great-grandmother Ester and Van Rite's grandmother Evelyn. The restaurant's new opening menu pays further homage to Jacobs’ and Van Rite’s Midwest roots and a shared love of Wisconsin’s rich farming history.
Dishes could include chicken liver toast with green tomato and red onion on an everything bagel; matzo brei, a breakfast-for-dinner dish inspired by Jacobs’ favorite childhood meals; steak tartare with laab, herbs and lettuce; clams with konbu and sourdough; cavatappi with peas, ricotta and whey; halibut with white asparagus, almond and Meyer lemon; and a sunchoke dessert created by EsterEv sous chef Syd Zwieg.
Signature beverages will complement the dishes, including the Balam (Anodyne cold brew coffee, xtabentun and cardamom cream float) and the Drunken Monkey (bourbon, brandy, amontillado, apricot, coconut, lime, pineapple and Chinese 5 spice). A curated selection of wines, such as American Wine Project Rivals, a unique women-owned Wisconsin varietal, will also be available.
A bright and homey interior
The inviting interior was designed by Jacobs and wife Kate Riley with support from Scott Star of Bay View branding and design firm RevPop and Josh Miller.
There are seats for 40 at the restaurant — two-top and four-top tables, mostly — including the eight-seat bar lined with warm wood slats.
The custom-designed wallpaper features flowers long used in EsterEv’s logo, and the space is filled with living plants perched on open shelving, which also hold the chefs’ favorite cookbooks and shared memories. The restaurant also keeps it in the family with the ceramic dinnerware made by Riley.
A busy year for the EsterEv chefs
On April 3, EsterEv chefs Jacobs and Van Rite clinched their first-ever James Beard Award finalist nomination in the category of Best Chef: Midwest. They were previously semifinalists in the category in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
While Jacobs has been preparing for the new restaurant, he’s also been busy promoting his star-making turn as a competitor on “Top Chef: Wisconsin,” the popular cooking competition show that premiered on Bravo in March.
Beginning April 30, the restaurant will host a series of guest chef dinners on select Tuesdays through November, with many visiting chefs who appear with Jacobs on “Top Chef: Wisconsin.” Tickets are currently available online at exploretock.com/esterev.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: EsterEv restaurant announces opening date for new Bay View location
