Best New Concept Launch
WINNER: Grate Modern Mac and Cheese, Menomonee Falls, Wis.
- Owner: Roaring Fork Restaurant Group, Milwaukee
- Architect: Perspective Design Inc., Wauwatosa, Wis.
- Interior Design Consultant: Elkay Interior Systems, Milwaukee
- General Contractor: Venture Construction Group, New Berlin, Wis.
- Kitchen Equipment: Avanti Restaurant Solutions, Costa Mesa, Calif.
Grate Modern Mac and Cheese puts its “cheesehead” heritage front and center with locally sourced ingredients, including Wisconsin dairy products. Transparency is paramount at Grate, where customers can watch staff prep and make their orders. A “cheese window” provides a firsthand look at the staff freshly grating large blocks of Wisconsin cheese. “From a systems standpoint it seemed very efficient,” the judges noted. The finished space was “clean, not overly designed.” And it was a winner because the project team was “true to their concept and it shone through very well. Highlighting the grater was an awesome touch.”
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Image courtesy of Neil Kiekhofer of Front Room Photography