Zaffiro's Pizza on Farwell, Birch and a Brewer: 'Top Chef' host, judge continue sharing Milwaukee food adventures on Instagram

"Top Chef" host Kristen Kish and judge Gail Simmons have continued letting people in on their Milwaukee eating endeavors via social media.

The competition-based cooking show is filming its 21st season in Milwaukee and Madison this year. While in town, Kish and Simmons have been checking out what our local dining scene has to offer.

Here are a handful of their more-recent stops:

Zaffiro's Pizza on Farwell featuring 'za and deep-fried eggplant

"Classic Milwaukee tavern-style" pizza. That's what Simmons and company got into at an east side pizza institution this week.

Simmons shared several photos at Zaffiro's Pizza on Farwell Avenue — known for its really, really thin crust — to her Instagram Story. One of which was re-shared by Kish.

There was of course pizza — missing a slice — that featured an array of vegetables with the caption: "Getting our veggies." That's how we like to get ours in, too. Another pic was of the deep-fried eggplant, captioned: "Fried eggplant all day."

Zaffiro's, 1724 N. Farwell Ave., is owned by Michael Zaffiro and his wife Rose. Michael's father, Bobby, and uncle, John, opened the restaurant in 1954.

Note: The Zaffiro's restaurants at Marcus theaters are operated entirely separately; Marcus Investments bought the Zaffiro’s brand name and recipes about 15 years ago.

Gail Simmons had a 'delicious Midwestern feast' at Birch

Simmons recently had a "delicious Midwestern feast" at Birch, 459 E. Pleasant St. And, she shared it in a series of photos on Instagram.

The meal featured "all the summer things," she said in the caption.

After consulting with Birch's menu and Insta, it appears that these were among the dishes Simmons had:

• Marinated summer melon featuring Jerry’s lemon cucumbers, orange peppers, sungold tomatoes and holy basil.

• Stone Bank Farm tomato salad featuring nectarines, focaccia croutons and herbs.

After being the chef at Birch for about a year, Kyle Knall became its owner in spring 2022. The restaurant's open-hearth, live-fire cooking is central to its menu, along with ingredients from area farmers.

Kristen Kish gave a shout-out to Milwaukee Brewer and foodie Mark Canha at American Family Field

The Milwaukee Brewers' Mark Canha isn't only a major-leaguer, he's also a major foodie. The outfielder often shares pictures of his meals on his Instagram account, @BigLeagueFoodie.

Over the weekend, Kish shared a photo to her Instagram Story of American Family Field's scoreboard with Canha's pic and stats up on it.

"We love a baseball player and a food blogger combo," she typed, tagging his account.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Top Chef judge Gail Simmons eats at Milwaukee Zaffiro's Pizza, Birch