Cafe Hollander - Quite an experience!

This morning I had the opportunity to visit Cafe Hollander located on Downer Ave. The brunch was off to a great start seeing that the weather was perfect and the outside patio was packed. With the traffic on the patio being heavy and us being a party of 4 we anticipated the attentiveness of the waitress to be a little slow. Once we came to terms with the fact that the coffee drinks took a little over 10 minutes to get directions to our table we moved on to the exciting brunch menu. This is where the culinary fun began.

The two main dishes ordered that I want to focus on were the Napoleon Dynamite ($8.95) and the Tuscan Benedict ($9.95). I had read about the Napoleon Dynamite prior to our visit and since I was feeling adventurous I didn't have to scan the menu very long to have my selection. The Napoleon Dynamite is a tower of pancakes layered with four slices of smoked Applewood Bacon, two fried eggs, and white cheddar cheese sauce, then topped with whipped cream and served with maple syrup.

Now I will fully agree with you that the menu description is a little scary when you first read it, But I encourage you to go back, re-read and think about how all the flavors will blend with each other, it is really quite something. The flavor of the Napoleon Dynamite was a combination of sweet from the maple syrup and from the pancakes combined with the smokiness of the Applewood bacon (I decided to order the whip cream on the side and didn't touch it from that point on). As the menu described I chose the fried eggs, but this would be just as good with an egg done sunny side up. I think the flavors from a liquid egg yolk would go quite well and provide an extra pop of moisture that would be soaked up nicely by the pancakes. Any issues I had with this dish come from the contrast of what was written on the menu compared to what was actually served on my plate. Apparently, a tower of pancakes from Cafe Hollander translates into only four pancakes. Now maybe we have just been brainwashed by the IHOP all-you-can-eat pancake commercials, but I would have bet money a stack would have been a little larger that just four. The bacon also was quite disappointing from a volume standpoint. I can't say for sure if I actually had 4 slices of bacon as it looked like the kitchen had decided to use bacon bits on the last layer of pancake to satisfy the bacon requirement of the dish. Either way the flavors of the dish worked well together and it was a new taste for my palette. I left quite pleased nonetheless and wouldn't hesitate to order it again with a few special request to the waitstaff next time around.

The Tuscan Benedict can only be described as our favorite take on an unusual benedict. As the restaurant industry in Milwaukee is extremely competitive and all the good restaurants are competing for the same customers there has been an explosion is the area of re-inventing traditional meals. This pertains to the classic eggs benedict as well. Cafe Hollander has hit a home run with their re-invention of the eggs benedict in the form of the Tuscan Benedict. This is Grilled Tuscan bread topped with sliced prosciutto, asparagus, poached eggs, and homemade hollandaise and served with Hollander potatoes.

The Tuscan bread was grilled perfectly firm but not to the point of being tough. The prosciutto was perfectly salted and it was a great alternative to Canadian bacon which can be often be tough by nature. The hollandaise was fresh and bright which was an excellent pairing to an egg that was poached to perfection. The only downside was the small amount of asparagus that was served. But with such strong and bold flavors throughout the dish the asparagus was easily forgivable.

Cafe Hollander served up great atmosphere in a great part of Milwaukee. Check them out and try these two dishes or browse the menu for any other delicious meal. With a little bit of patience on a Sunday morning and an open mind you will not be disappointed.

Cafe Hollander - Milwaukee

www.cafehollander.com