milwaukee spots: coquette cafe

Last Sunday, my lovely little sister turned twenty! Yikes! Luckily, I was able to face this inescapable proof of my own mortality in the best way possible:  with celebratory brunch!

We all know brunch is totally fetch right now (is it too late to make fetch happen?), but this was my first foray into the downtown brunch scene. As resident foodie (or the closest thing), I was placed in charge of researching the possibilities and presenting the birthday girl with her options. In the end, there was a clear winner:

Photo taken from my phone during brunch - I love technology!

Coquette Cafe (warning: site features autoplay music if you wait too long!) is located in the city's Historic Third Ward, serving "authentic bistro fare." Their menus are available for perusal in the website, and one look at the brunch menu convinced us that this was the right option (plus the fact that they serve brunch all the way through 5 o'clock; we would be arriving at 2, which is sort of a no man's land as far as brunch-serving restaurants are concerned). It features both brunch-y fare and many of their usual entrees, so there's an option for everyone.

The restaurant is really lovely and charming, and the staff was warm and attentive. Of course, the number one question is, as always, "how was the food?"

I am not a great food photographer. Trust me, it was super good.

I had the salmon cakes with poached eggs and bernaise sauce with a side of dauphinoise potatoes. It was absolutely divine, and I say this as a person who isn't particularly fond of eggs (but who loooooves salmon and bernaise sauce). I also had a mimosa - because, brunch! - and that was also very good. My sister had the pain perdu (brioche french toast with carmelized pears, candied pecans, maple syrup and a side of bacon), my mom had chicken confit crepes, and my dad went traditional with an order of coq au vin. All of the dishes received thumbs up from their respective diners.

All in all, I definitely recommend Coquette Cafe to any eaters in the area. It was my parents' second time eating there - they'd gone for dinner something in the neighborhood of ten years ago, and they said that nothing has changed. As far as I'm concerned, nothing needs to! The prices are definitely more on the side of "downtown" as opposed to discount (brunch meals range from $9 sandwiches and omelettes to $23 hangar steak) but I felt they were reasonable (of course, I wasn't the one paying, so...your mileage may vary!)

What's your brunch destination? I've read a lot of great things about the brunch scene in Milwaukee...hopefully I'll be able to investigate some more!