1033 is a laid-back, luxurious dining experience in Walker’s Point

I have a dear friend who loves to cook intimate dinners at home. I'll go over and plunk myself onto a bar stool at her kitchen counter as she shimmies a bowl of Marcona almonds my way, nudging me to snack as she whips together a sauce and keeps an eye on whatever gorgeously garlicky main is sizzling on the stovetop. We chat while she shingles mozzarella slices for a caprese salad. She notices the wine in my glass draining dangerously low and she pours another splash or two, never missing a beat. There’s energy and calm on both sides, a casual pageant leading up to the main event. There’s grazing and sipping and chortling across the counter. We never feel the need to move to the dining table.

That's just what it feels like when dining at 1033.

Co-owners Tony Bisciglia and Rob Levin of WACH Hospitality and 2A Wine Merchants have created an exceptional dining experience. They leaned on the talents of Ardent chef-owner Justin Carlisle to develop the menu, and later hired Executive Chef Adam Kemmler to run the kitchen (stay tuned to find more of Kemmler's own creations on the menu going forward). Together, they've done something special.

Dining at 1033 is like lingering in the kitchen of your most culinarily gifted friend, watching them cook as you’re being cared for, with no rules for dining and pure, laid-back luxury.

Small space, big energy at 1033

Contributing to that intimate experience is the space. From the outside, it’s a blink-and-you'll-miss it storefront in the southeast corner of the Trio apartment building on 1st Street in Walker’s Point. Inside, the room is teeny, all of 600 square feet, with 14 stools lining an L-shaped bar where you'll most likely be seated, watching your dinner being made right in front of you. The only other seating is at a private table for three tucked into a bright corner near the back of the room, and a slim counter with more barstool seating on the south-facing wall, open to folks who drop in for happy hour.

Two of the restaurant’s four walls are lined with windows, but there’s a coziness inside. Patrons enter through a teal, crushed-velvet curtain, and more velvet drapery hangs over the bar and along the tops of the restaurant’s windows, adding softness and drama. The decor gets a bit of industrial grit thanks to graffiti art, created by Milwaukee artist Dom White, that fills the back wall in ribbons of green, blue, gray and orange. The wall beyond the wood-and-marble bar is a stretch of teal rectangular tile, the backsplash of the kitchen.

The vibrant decor mirrors the constant action behind the bar. In about the square footage of a parking space, cooks prep dishes and scuttle between stations to plate, and servers stretch over the bar to present the finished dishes to diners. Drinks are poured and presented. Somehow, the energy never feels anxious, hurried or scattered. The staff works in fluid choreography, always attentive to the diners roosted at the counter in front of them.

A snack to start

Every guest is greeted to their seat with an amuse-bouche, a cute little one-bite snack aimed to kickstart the appetite. An unexpected treat is always a delight, and the rotating bites offered at 1033 are playful peeks into what your meal will look like.

From there, it’s a choose-your-own-adventure experience. The buoyant servers assure you there is no wrong way to craft your meal. Order as much or as little as you want. Start from the bottom of the menu or the top. Pick and choose your way around and let your appetite be your guide. It’s your meal. You’re the guest at their dinner party.

Standout seafood

If you want to start light, begin with the Raw Bar portion of the menu, featuring a la carte seafood in the shell. Because these items are sold per piece, you can build your perfect platter and add more as you go. Or order the Seafood Plateau, which includes a little bit of everything: six oysters, six mussels, three shrimp, half a lobster tail, and half an ounce of uni. The raw bar items are served on a bed of crushed ice with lemon wedges and a glass dropper bottle filled with a balsamic-vinegar and shallot tincture, which adds a tinge of tang to your chilled seafood sampler.

I don’t know that I’ve tasted fresher seafood in the city, let alone seen this variety of raw bar items on a single menu. 1033 sources it from small coastal farmers and has it shipped overnight for peak quality. It tastes clean with a hint of fresh ocean brine, just the way you’d find it at an East Coast oyster shack.

But the highlight of the raw bar menu — and my favorite dish at 1033 altogether — is the caviar. I’m not typically a caviar kind of person, but this is something different. Sourced sustainably from North Carolina-based Caviar Star, it’s served with a side of savory mochi doughnuts — pillowy, golden-fried morsels that come out hot with a soft, chewy center — and 1033 “special sauce,” a creamy, herby dressing that creates a tangy bridge between the briny caviar and rice-flour doughnut. What a gloriously unstuffy way to indulge in something so loaded with pretention.

Yes, it’s a delicacy. C’mon, it’s caviar. But it’s enormously fun to craft your savory little puffs of grandeur, swiping on the sauce, spooning a mound of caviar over top, then indulging in the one-bite snack. It’s a clever take on the Russian blini — a bite-sized buckwheat pancake typically served with caviar and crème fraîche. What a blast.

1033 also taps into the tinned fish trend by offering six varieties, from smoked oysters to razor clams to bonito in sunflower oil, each served with dashi mayo for dipping. These aren’t your grocery-store cans of tuna. They’re richly unctuous and taste as fresh as canned fish ever could.

Substantial shareables

Near the bottom of the menu you’ll find more substantial dishes — still made for sharing, mind you.

If you still have seafood on the brain, go for the scallops, three tender pieces, each served in their own shell with a vibrant sauce of browned butter, capers and lime pooled at the bottom.

The sourdough chicken is a standout, too, getting its name from the batter made with sourdough starter, amping up the chicken’s crispness to a 10 while imparting a subtle tang. Served with a miniature crock of smooth potato puree, it’s an elevated take on a country-style supper.

Then there’s the A5 Wagyu beef presented on a miniature clay hibachi grill, flame and all. It’s the sizzling fajitas plate of the fine-dining world — heads will turn to see it. The seared, medium-rare slices of marbled wagyu steak are served with a scrawl of maître d’ butter over top and a side of Worcestershire sauce that can overpower this luxury cut of meat if not used sparingly. And when you’re paying for A5 beef ($47 here), you want to taste it.

Yes, there are vegetables on the menu. The earthy beet salad gets perked up with crushed pistachio and vadouvan, a French variation of curry powder, and pairs well with any of the dishes listed above. And the mushroom porridge donabe is a comforting umami bomb of maitake mushrooms mingling with onions and aged kombu (Japanese kelp seaweed) that almost made me yearn for fall.

Streamlined sweets

Make dessert mandatory. Longtime Ardent pastry chef Ariel Welch steps in with two varieties. The Basque cheesecake has toasty scorched edges, but the texture inside is somewhere between creamy and fudgy. Topped with a tart-sweet strawberry compote and graham cracker tuile, it’s a playful nod to classic New York cheesecake.

But the real star is the canelé, a French pastry that resembles a miniature Bundt cake, but has a glassy, thick caramelized exterior with a tender, custardy center. It’s served with a side of salted ice cream that cuts the richness of each bite. Table manners be damned, I dropped my fork and ran my canelé slices through that ice cream with my fingers like I was sopping up pasta sauce with a breadstick. I didn’t want a bit to go to waste.

No beer, but carefully curated wines

Since the restaurant is owned by the folks behind 2A Wine Merchants, careful consideration obviously went into the wine list. With categories like “Zippy & Electric,” “Textured” and “Fresh, Fruity & Savory,” the list features roughly 30 bottles, each purposefully selected to pair with the food. You may not find your familiar glass of pinot grigio, but the staff is quick to offer a recommendation for the uninitiated.

Beer lovers, take a seat: You won’t find it on the menu. Levin said he chose not to include it because he doesn't feel a connection to beer the way he does to wine, and he wanted the menu to be filled only with things he's passionate about. Much respect to him there, especially in a beer-loving city like Milwaukee.

Not into wine? There are cocktails, five in total, created by General Manager Tori Karll. Built around a signature spirit — spritz (D’Amante Aperitivo), sake, vodka, gin and brandy — they’re batch-made and short on ingredients to let the showcase spirit shine through.

Kitchen-counter comfort

You’re not the first crowd I’ve told about 1033. In fact, I texted a couple friends about the experience midway through my first visit, eager to share how different it felt from any restaurant in the city. How they blend fine dining with a casual, come-as-you-are approach is a masterclass in hospitality. How I was eating the fanciest cut of meat I've ever had, then wiping the corners of my mouth with a thick paper napkin, my elbows planted on the counter while I laughed with my denim-clad server about what "skin contact" wine may be.

I promise it’s not just my yokel persona — the atmosphere at 1033 blends kitchen-counter comfort with impeccable service for an effortlessly approachable entry to fine dining that somehow feels like home.

What to know about 1033

Address: 1033 S. First St., Milwaukee

More information: (414) 266-5754, 1033mke.com

Fare: Coastal seafood, raw bar, shared plates with global influences

Atmosphere: Relaxed, barstool seating in a small space

Hours: Dinner 5:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 5:30 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Happy Hour: 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; late-night happy hour 9 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Prices: Raw bar, $2 to $8 per piece; charcuterie and cheese, $6 to $15 per ounce; tinned fish, $12 to $18; shared plates $9 to $47

Reservations: Recommended online, walk-ins available especially at happy hour

Rachel Bernhard joined the Journal Sentinel as dining critic in June 2023. She’s been busy exploring the Milwaukee-area food scene to share her favorite finds with readers along the way. Like all Journal Sentinel reporters, she buys all meals, accepts no gifts and is independent of all establishments she covers.

What should she cover next? Contact her at rseis@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @rachelbernhard or on Instagram at @rach.eats.mke.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 1033 offers a laid-back, luxurious dining experience in Walker's Point