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A Culinary Respite at Brandywine
The ambition to source local, fresh ingredients comes through in a big way...
Visiting Cedarburg feels, if only briefly, like a needed escape. Heading northbound from Milwaukee on I-43, the city gives way to the suburbs which bleed away into the bucolic trappings of Thiensville. As the sky opens up and flits of green hit the edges of one’s vision, the side roads begin to beckon. The winding roads narrow and as all the homogeneity of chain stores and urban sprawl fall behind, Cedarburg welcomes you like the sweatered arms of a grandmother awaiting a hug.
With one tone-setting moment following the next, it’s fitting that one of the first establishments to greet you in Cedarburg’s historic downtown is the family owned and operated Brandywine. The building the restaurant inhabits was built over a century and a half ago, but this is the first time it’s hosted a restaurant. The name ‘Brandywine’ nods to the varietal heirloom tomato and operates as something of a meta-memory for Chef Andrew Wilson. His mother, an enthusiastic gardener, would plant the namesake Brandywine heirloom tomatoes, and in doing so would provide the nascent inspiration for her son’s future establishment. While there is no distinct theme or rigid adherence to a specific cuisine, a firm appreciation for freshness and seasonality ring true on the restaurant’s menu.
Breaking through the breezeway into the warmth of the main dining room demonstrates that concepts old and new hold one another’s hand. The wooden furnishings and the bar cut to resemble the cross section of a tree are complemented by the copper-colored ceiling, leaving the customer consumed by a soothing, yet revivifying ambiance. The massive picture windows provide a captivating view to take in the bustling pedestrians, a picturesque snowfall and the setting sun while diners enjoy their dinner. It is both the perfect date location as well as a place for exhausted millenials to take their toddlers; a pointed and reflective addition by an owner who knows the importance of taking one’s brood out to eat at a place that doesn’t exclusively serve mass produced pseudo-foods.
Ultimately, Brandywine’s efforts truly come to focus on the plate. Cedarburg is a town of discernible charm and has a brand all its own. It can be a tremendous challenge to alter the landscape of something beloved without appearing insulting or spiteful, even if it serves to elevate. Not only do Wilson’s dishes elevate the culinary scene in Cedarburg, they compliment and celebrate it. Even in the dead of winter, the ambition to source local, fresh ingredients comes through in a big way when a plate of fresh, handmade ravioli hits the table. The familiar accompaniment of squash is given new life with segments of ripe blood orange that cut through the richness of its fellow components. In all of the delicacy, the Branzino finds parenthetical flavors competing on each side of it, a punch of brine on one side by way of capers and olives and the characteristically striking flavor of saffron sneaking in on the other, all finding their home on a nourishing bed of flavor. A bowl of handmade pasta with Hook’s cheddar from the kid’s menu offers a high quality and unpatronizing option for younger diners (and their parents) to enjoy.
At Brandywine, it’s about the glimpses; the sparks. You can hear diners interrupting their stories of the day to gush about the food, demonstrating how important it is to take a break and enjoy a bite. Special components take a dish from merely an exercise in adept execution to a league of its own, offering something special like a memory of seeds being planted. It’s not about being an iconoclast. Cedarburg’s charm may as well have been hewn from marble with how perfectly frozen it feels, but tucked in Washington Avenue, the roots of something new at Brandywine have taken hold of the town’s foundation and are growing into a symbol of what’s to come.
W61N480 Washington Ave
Cedarburg, Wisconsin 53012
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