Buckley’s Kiskeam Inn at Cass and Wells is like a little jewel box.
The soaring walls in this 19th-century building are a striking aquamarine blue; the 14-foot-high ceiling is jet black. Large portraits depict society types from the '20s: a man in a top hat, women with bobbed hair. The restaurant looks like their sexy drawing room.
Elegant details stand out in crisp black and white: the striped shades on the sconces that cast wedges of golden light, the layered tablecloths, the modern, large scroll pattern on the backs of the banquettes. Some of the building's original charm remains, such as the egg-and-dart plaster molding at the ceiling and the ionic columns at the entrance.
What's more, the food is appealing, too.
Like the restaurant, the menu is small, but it's varied. You'll find a few nods to the restaurant owner's Irish heritage, such as a corned beef sandwich (Kiskeam is a village in County Cork and the owner's ancestral home), but the menu also borrows from other cuisines. Surprises may be few, but the delivery by chef Joe Sandretti is solid.
During that first dinner, Irish whiskey-glazed salmon and chicken saltimbocca won me over.
The moist, boneless chicken breast ($18.95), a variation on an Italian dish, wore a layer of thin, crisp prosciutto. Fresh sage leaves were sandwiched in between, and fried sage served as a crisp, aromatic garnish. A white wine-butter sauce finished the dish, which was served with roasted-garlic mashed potatoes just as they should be - light, not leaden.
The salmon ($24.95) had been grilled and brushed with the ever-so-slightly-sweet glaze and served with asparagus and Potatoes O'Brien. The cubed potatoes, which appeared deep-fried rather than pan-fried, were combined with traditional sautéed onion and colorful bell pepper bits.
Buckley's BBQ Pork Ribs ($22.95) - a full rack - had been braised in Guinness stout and roasted in barbecue sauce until supremely tender, but still clinging to the bone. The coleslaw served with it was dressed in a vinaigrette, but a creamy dressing would better have balanced the tang of the barbecue sauce.
A grilled 12-ounce rib eye ($28.95), rubbed with garlic, was full-flavored, if characteristically chewy for the choice cut. It came with the mashed potatoes and thin, deep-fried slivers of onion. If you want a green vegetable, it will have to be ordered as a side dish ($2.50); seasonal vegetables and just-tender thin green beans topped with blue cheese are options.
Appetizers generally were large enough to share, or would make a fine light supper for one, paired with a salad or cup of soup. Trios of Kobe-style beef mini-burgers ($10) seem to be everywhere these days, and Buckley's are another pleasing example, layered with pickled red onions and blue cheese, with horseradish cream on the side.
Another widely found appetizer, baked artichoke dip ($7.95), was rich with Parmesan cheese and lemon mayonnaise.
You can find a pizza ($10) here, too; it's tasty, with fontina cheese, tomatoes, roasted garlic and sautéed spinach. Shallots and red bell pepper flavored two large deep-fried blue-crab cakes ($12), served with spicy mayonnaise. I found them moist and flavorful, even though my own preference is for plain lump meat, pan fried.
It won't take you too many visits to conquer the brief menu, but Buckley's keeps things interesting with daily appetizer and entrée specials. A starter of Mediterranean mussels in rosemary cream sauce ($14) was outstanding. The tender mussels came with grilled bread to sop up that harmonious sauce, which also held bits of tomato and onion.
Sandwiches are served all day, but they're a popular lunch item - especially the upscale version of Philly cheese steak ($9.95, with a choice of side), a savory blend of flavors. It's layered with thin-sliced, grilled prime rib, white cheddar cheese sauce, sautéed onions and bell peppers, and pepperoncini on crisp, toasted Italian bread.
Other sandwiches I tried were good, too - the corned beef ($9.95), faintly beery from its braising in Guinness, on marble rye with Russian dressing; and a vegetable panino with artichoke, red onion, peppers and olive spread, though the bread had some trouble standing up to the moist ingredients.
A chopped salad ($10) is big enough to tuck into for dinner, with freshly grilled chicken, tomato, cucumber, bacon, blue cheese and sliced green olives, in just enough blue cheese dressing and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar reduction.
Monthly, on the last Monday, the restaurant holds wine or beer pairing dinners, which sell out quickly. September's theme was French wines and cuisine; October's menu will be paired with beers from Furthermore Beer of Spring Green.
A changing lineup of desserts, made by owner Mike Buckley's wife, Pam, is enticing, and Buckley's serves them late at night, too. A formidable wedge of a layered carrot cake was moist and nutty, and covered with a sweet cream cheese frosting. A chocolate mousse cake on a chocolate-cookie crust was cloudlike, with intense bittersweet chocolate flavor. The coffee, by the way, was strong and rich.
Buckley's is a mom-and-pop - and sons - restaurant. Mike Buckley, who operated a restaurant in Riverwest in the 1980s and previously worked on the East Coast, opened the Cass St. restaurant in February 2007, after sons Taylor, now 26, and Britt, 31, asked him to show them the business. His wife and his daughter, Tara, decorated the restaurant; Mike bought the antique bar, thought to have been built in England around 1870, from a defunct tavern on the lower east side of Manhattan.
You'll notice black and white photos of John F. Kennedy at the back of the restaurant; that's Mike Buckley's father, who was mayor of Lawrence, Mass., in the picture, too.
The atmosphere is welcoming; there's no TV above this bar to distract people from each other. Everyone from the barkeep to the wait staff greeted us genially and promptly. Service was attentive, always ready with more water and coffee, but it bobbled a bit one busy night. And though servers aptly described the specials and desserts, there was no mention of prices.
The dining room is, let's say, intimate - 34 seats, tops. But Buckley's smartly makes the most of the space with those banquettes lining two walls.
And that's a good thing - with the restaurant an easy stroll from businesses such as Northwestern Mutual and from downtown condos and apartments, it's frequently bustling both at lunch and dinner. On warm days, the sidewalk tables on these leafy streets are coveted.
Buckley's has assumed its place as a popular corner restaurant and pub.
Carol Deptolla is the Journal Sentinel's dining critic.
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Menu
Type of Cuisine:
Americana; Burgers; Seafood; Steaks
Menu:
APPETIZERS
KOBE BURGERS
3 American Kobe Beef Burgers Served with Greens, Pickled Red Onions,
Horseradish Sauce and Crumbled Blue Cheese
~ eleven dollars ~
STEAMED MUSSELS
Steamed Mediterranean Mussels Served in a
Chorizo, Tomato, and Cilantro Broth
~ fourteen dollars ~
BLUE CRAB CAKES
A Blend of Blue Crab Meat, Shallots and Red Peppers Sautéed in Extra Virgin
Olive Oil and Panko Breadcrumbs, Served with a Chipotle Aioli Sauce
~ twelve dollars ~
PROSCUITTO WRAPPED SEA SCALLOPS
3 Jumbo Sea Scallops Wrapped in Proscuitto, Pan-Seared and
Served with a Beurre Blanc Sauce
~ thirteen dollars ~
PETITE LAMB CHOPS
3 Mint and Garlic Crusted Frenched Petite Lamb Rib Chops Served with a
Port Wine Reduction and a Dollop of Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes
~ thirteen dollars ~
SPINACH PIZZA
Fontina Cheese, Seared Spinach, Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic
on a Flatbread Crust
~ ten dollars ~
BAKED ARTICHOKE DIP
A Blend of Artichokes, Parmesan, and Lemon Mayonnaise, Baked with a
Breadcrumb Topping and Served with Grilled Crostini
~ eight dollars ~
SANDWICHES
Sandwiches come with a choice of French Fries,
French Fries with Crumbled Blue Cheese, Santa Fe Cole Slaw, Roasted Garlic Mashed
Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables, or Green Bean Blue
GRILLED VEGETABLE PANINO
Grilled Peasant Bread with Kalamata Olive Tapenade, Gruyere Cheese, Grilled
Red Peppers, Zucchini, Eggplant, Artichoke and Red Onion
~ nine dollars ~
CLASSIC BURGER*
Grilled 8 oz Choice Ground Kobe and Choice Ground Chuck Patty Served on a
Toasted Bun with a Choice of Provolone, White Cheddar or Blue Cheese
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