{image1} The much-anticipated Milwaukee Public Market has added two more vendors to its line up of independent, locally-owned businesses to be featured at the permanent structure at the corner of Water Street and St. Paul Avenue. The festival favorite Sushi-A-Go-Go and Bay View's The Soup Market are two of about 25 vendors who will make up the year-round indoor portion of the market.
After years of providing sushi on the go at Bastille Days, Jazz in the Park and the Third Ward’s Summer Sizzle Jazz Festivals, Sushi–A-Go-Go has finally found a permanent home at the Market. Owner Troy Withington received formal training at the California Sushi Academy in Los Angeles, and as a sushi master, he started his Milwaukee sushi catering business in 1999.
The Market will be his company’s first permanent and public space, and Withington says that a second location should be opening in about a year. He plans to open a sit-down restaurant on 33rd Street and Greenfield Avenue, the site of his current catering business.
In addition to maki rolls and nigiri sushi, Sushi-A-Go-Go will feature four to five ethnic entrees each week. Unagi, spicy tuna rolls, chicken satay and a fusion of Pacific Rim and southwestern flavored entrees will be the bill when the market opens. Some offerings from the Pacific Rim menu include beef curry stew and vegetarian-friendly teriyaki sautéed tofu and veggies.
“I feel very lucky to be a part of the Milwaukee Public Market,” says Withington. “It’ll be a prestigious destination and an incredible cultural opportunity for Milwaukee. It’s about time!”
The Soup Market, co-owned by Dave Jurena and Tim Talsky, boasts a repertoire of over 200 soups – including thirty to forty vegetarian soups. At the Milwaukee Public Market, their second location in the Third Ward, The Soup Market will sell made-from-scratch soup stocks and six different handcrafted soups daily. Stuffed baked potatoes and sweet potatoes will be offered as side dishes.
“Both Tim and I really wanted to be a part of the Milwaukee Public Market,” says Jurena. “It’s going to be another cultural destination that distinguishes our city and draws more people downtown.”
The Soup Market serves up soups ranging from adventurous flavors like African peanut, asparagus bisque with rock shrimp or chicken Paprikash stew with spaetzle, to the familiar chicken noodle, chicken dumpling and chili. They are also known for their entrée-inspired varieties including Beef Stroganoff stew, Indonesian chicken satay, seafood paella soup and the meatloaf and mashed potato soup, a liquefied version of the ultimate comfort food.
The Milwaukee Public Market seasonal farmers market, featuring 19 vendors along Water Street, opens July 16 and runs through Nov. 13. The bigger, permanent indoor market will open in late summer or early fall. The Web site is milwaukeepublicmarket.org.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
