Milwaukee's Ardent unveils major changes to its restaurant concept

Last week, Ardent, 1751 N. Farwell Ave., celebrated 10 years in business. Starting tonight, it will have a whole lot more to celebrate. 

The restaurant, which has received seven James Beard Award nominations under chef-owner Justin Carlisle, is undergoing major changes, introducing a new split concept: White tablecloth fine-dining on one side and a more casual, walk-in experience on the other. 

The idea spawned before the pandemic began, when Ardent was undergoing its first remodel in March 2020. Carlisle said he and general manager Russell Tinley always wanted to split the space to accommodate two types of dining styles. 

“But, that dream was abolished coming out of COVID,” Carlisle said. “So we decided to keep doing what we were doing instead of rolling the dice.” 

That included keeping Red Light Ramen, Ardent’s more casual ramen concept, in operation for the foreseeable future. 

Red Light Ramen started as a pop-up concept a decade ago and transformed into a full restaurant in 2016, where it operated until it closed in July of this year. 

After it closed, Carlisle and Tinsley rekindled the dream of the part-lounge, part-tasting-room concept.

“We had two spots right next to each other. We knew we could do it right,” Carlisle said. 

A more refined tasting-room experience 

It was time to create a more elegant space that matched the food Ardent had been serving for 10 years. So the Red Light Ramen space underwent some light remodeling. No walls were broken down, but the floors, walls, ceiling, shelving, bathrooms and bar were all updated. Now the space features warm wooden floors, a raw-edge wood bar and white walls accented with abstract work by local artist Timothy "Timo" Meyerring. 

It all fits Carlisle and Tinley’s vision of a more refined space for the tasting menu side of Ardent. 

“I’m not quite the rambunctious kid I was when I was in my 30s and opening up Ardent,” Carlisle said, noting that the style of fine dining a decade ago meant breaking down the barriers of white-tablecloth staunchness and instead focusing on the food presented in a more casual setting. 

“You just don't see the double white tablecloths with silverware that’s actually silver,” Carlisle said. “So we thought, ‘Why don’t we do that? It can be our next revolution.’ We just missed that style of dining.” 

Carlisle said their idea reflected what they’d heard from their clientele, who shared they’d love a more refined experience to better match the price tag and three-hour time commitment that goes along with a 10-course tasting menu. They wanted it to feel more intimate. 

Part of the intimacy will come from the view of the new space’s open kitchen. In the new tasting room, the four white tablecloth-topped tables are set up in a theater-style setting, each angled toward the kitchen. “Everyone can see the kitchen and interact with them,” Carlisle said. 

He added that the tasting room is likely to introduce limited bar seating in the near future. 

Seatings in the new tasting room start tonight, Nov. 8. Tasting room reservations can be made online for 6 p.m. seatings Wednesday through Friday and two seatings on Saturdays, one at 5 p.m. and another at 8:15 p.m. Carlisle added that they hope to open an additional 8:15 p.m. seating on Fridays soon. 

Coming soon: The Ardent lounge 

While Carlisle welcomes a more refined dining experience in his tasting room, he understands there’s other clientele they’ve been missing and can now serve with a new, more casual lounge space. 

“Some of the people who used to come here a decade ago now have families and kids and can’t make it in like they used to,” Carlisle said.  

Ardent plans to debut its new lounge next Friday, Nov. 17, at the latest. It will be in the former tasting room space, which will welcome diners with a comfortable, more laid-back setting.

“To the left, you’ll see a door with a tasting room sign and to the right will be a lounge sign,” Carlisle said. 

It’s a more accessible extension of the restaurant, with Ardent-quality food aimed at broader palates with less commitment. Seating will largely be walk-in only, with no reservations required. 

Carlisle said they look forward to serving the larger community, bringing in more types of diners and more diners per night altogether.

“We live in a city of 600,000 people and we’ve only been able to seat 10 people a night,” he said. The new lounge has seats for 25 to 30 diners. 

A casual menu done the Ardent way 

The lounge space is meant for casual diners to pop in, whether for a snack and a drink or a full dinner. When they do, they’ll find more laid-back fare than they’d see on the tasting menu but, in true Ardent fashion, more elegant than everyday pub grub. 

“These are the things Russell and I love to eat and want to share, but it’s been hard to do in the structure we’ve been doing for the past 10 years,” Carlisle said. 

A hot dog from Ardent? Yes, a hot dog from Ardent! Theirs is made with Wagyu beef with Nueske's bacon, celeriac-truffle relish and shaved foie gras. 

There's a burger, too, which comes with either a single or double patty served with nutritional yeasted onion, miso pickles, Boursin cheese and special sauce. 

Pasta’s on the menu, as well, including a tajarin pasta with squash, brown butter and sage and a ricotta gnocchi with matsutake mushrooms. 

Other entrees include a roasted half chicken with apple, radish and herbs; and a hamachi collar (a Japanese broiled fish) with fermented plums and turnips. 

Elevated snacks like anchovy olives, peaches with ham and chili crunch, smoked trout with creme fraiche and everything spice, and Brussels sprouts with pears, pistachio and spruce. 

Beef tartare with deviled egg mousse and whipped bone marrow will also appear on the lounge menu, giving walk-in diners a chance to snack on one of Ardent’s longtime tasting-menu staples. 

The bar in the lounge area will be expanded, too. Aside from a larger wine list, Ardent will introduce a full bar for the first time, with more a la carte options available. The bar will also have more non-alcoholic options.  

Carlisle said the introduction of this new two-concept operation is all part of the ebb and flow of the restaurant industry and the way he’s grown as a restaurant owner, chef and diner, himself. 

“We still have the tasting room and the things we’ve been proud of and survived somehow for the last 10 years. We keep on refining it and trying to grow ourselves and grow the community,” Carlisle said. “But we're extremely excited to offer a more accessible casual setting all done with the same philosophies from the same people.”