For Black & White Café owner Feras Rahman, dreams of owning a restaurant came to life last month when he opened the doors to his first café. A mix of fast food style speed and fresh, cooked-to-order specialties, Black & White Cafe is making an impression that is good and simple.
Cozily reminiscent of Apollo Café on Brady Street, Black & White Cafe serves up everything from burgers and sandwiches to salads and wings for the lunch, dinner and late-night crowd.
Taking off from the restaurant's name, the interior is completely black and white with banquette booths and bar seating along the store wide front windows.
Formerly the home of El Chico Zuma, the transition to the new Black & White Cafe was nothing but a friendly one.
"The former owner of El Chico is an old friend who wanted to sell and focus on other things," Rahman explains. "He asked me if I knew of anyone interested, and I started to think I could really be interested."
Rahman purchased the North Avenue space early in the summer of 2008. Over the following six months, it was completely renovated to equip an open kitchen with brand new equipment and a create freshly remodeled seating area.
Rahman, a Milwaukee native, lived in Israel for eight years and returned when he was 14 and eventually received a degree in finance and real estate from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
"After I graduated, both the real estate and finance markets were down. I was working with (Casablanca on Brady Street) prior to this," Rahman says. "I'd always wanted to open a restaurant; I've loved cooking ever since I was a little kid."
Rahman carries Casablanca's overwhelming kindness and hospitality in his demeanor and approach to service at Black & White.
But beyond concepts of friendly, family-like service, Casablanca's Mediterranean influence is apparent. The menu offers beef and chicken kabobs and a Mediterranean burger. The burger, topped with olives, feta, pepperoncini and house-made Mediterranean dressing, is delectably flavorful served on a buttery, toasted sesame bun.
But Mediterranean flavors aren't the only ethnic flair. Elements of Mexican and Asian cuisine also make it onto the menu creating the Asian sesame salad and La Fiesta burger.
But it's the Black & White burger that is Rahman's signature item. Using fresh, never frozen ground beef, the Black & White is stuffed with mozzarella cheese and topped with fried onions, mushrooms, green pepper, lettuce, tomato, red onion and spicy mustard.
Rahman proudly uses buns and bread from Peter Sciortino's Bakery and Boom Brothers Coffee.
And while it seems Black & White Cafe is categorically a burger joint, the menu offerings go much further.
"We searched to see what foods were missing in this area and then we took a little bit of everything and put it in here," Rahman explains.
Sandwiches, paninis, wings, hot dogs and salads offer lighter options and allow Rahman room to experiment with homemade sauces and ingredient combinations. Jumbo wings are served with a variety of house made sauces including B&W sauce, a sweet and spicy mixture.
Deviating from the traditional French fry, Black & White's fries are battered and then fried. Pre-cooked in a light batter and then cooked again to order gives fries a crisp, crunchy texture.
Rahman's service exudes a dedication to his business and the surrounding area. Constantly considering restaurant improvements or menu additions, Rahman hopes to add a delivery service in the next month.
"We're just really happy to be in the neighborhood. I think our prices are really, really reasonable and I just hope to give people a chance to come and try our food," Rahman says.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Maureen Post grew up in Wauwatosa. A lover of international and urban culture, Maureen received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
After living on the east side of Madison for several years, Maureen returned to Milwaukee in 2006.
After a brief stint of travel, Maureen joined OnMilwaukee.com as the city’s oldest intern and has been hooked ever since. Combining her three key infatuations, Milwaukee’s great music, incredible food and inspiring art (and yes, in that order), Maureen’s job just about fits her perfectly.
Residing in Bay View, Maureen vehemently believes the city can become fresh and new with a simple move across town.
