With three closed restaurants (Monsoon, Mocean's, and Mo's Cucina) in their litany, the Mo's Restaurant Group has now decided to add a half-garlic, half-Gaelic spin to its Irish pub by commingling Italian and Irish menu items and moving former Moceans head chef Andy Stiyer to the helm.
Sounds to me like one of those Chinese/Mexican/pizza restaurants that cannot nail any particular cuisine so instead tries to do them all averagely. Not to take anything away from Stiyer, who I encountered at a Battle of the Chefs contest several years back when he proved himself to be quite talented, but I am not certain that a pasta-meets-corned-beef menu is something any professional chef really wants to take on.
The pub's food has never been quite up my alley to begin with, but does this now mean I can expect to see Milwaukee visitors confusedly drinking Guinness, watching a Packers game and eating pasta primavera? To me that may redefine culture shock.
Amy L. Schubert is a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry and has worked in every aspect of bar and restaurant operations. A graduate of Marquette University (B.A.-Writing Intensive English, 1997) and UW-Milwaukee (M.A.-Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing, 2001), Amy still occasionally moonlights as a guest bartender and she mixes a mean martini.
The restaurant business seems to be in Amy’s blood, and she prides herself in researching and experimenting with culinary combinations and cooking techniques in her own kitchen as well as in friends’ restaurants. Both she and her husband, Scott, are avid cooks and “wine heads,” and love to entertain friends, family and neighbors as frequently as possible.
Amy and Scott live with their boys, Alex and Nick, in Bay View, where they are all very active in the community. Amy finds great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and passions for food and writing in her contributions to OnMilwaukee.com.
