5 artisan pasta places in Wisconsin to help flavor a summer meal
Jennifer Rude Klett Special to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
In Bay View, find handcrafted dried and fresh pasta at Semolina MKE.
For now, Semolina’s pasta is sold only at its shop at 2474 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., and at the South Shore Farmers Market for the summer, according to owner and pasta maker Petra Orlowski. Eventually, she hopes to sell some products online.
“Bucatini is definitely our bestselling extruded dry pasta,” she said, of the thick, long, tube-like pasta. “And then our colored culurgiones are a big seller, that’s the pasta that’s stuffed with mashed potatoes, cheesy garlic mashed potatoes.”
Semolina MKE sources fresh, local ingredients to capture the best aspects of Old World pasta tradition, according to Orlowski.
“I do use stone-ground wheat from Meadowlark Mills from Ridgeway, Wisconsin. That’s an organic wheat,” she added.
Her personal favorite pasta is pappardelle. “I like the wide noodles. I like how it feels when you’re eating it, and it’s great with so many different types of sauces,” Orlowski said.
Semolina MKE does have a few openings for its popular cooking classes in May for ravioli, hand-shaped pasta and classic egg dough, check semolinamke.com for dates. No classes are scheduled for summer.
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Semolina Pasta Making Class
You don’t have to go all the way to Italy to learn how to make great pasta—just take a class at Semolina in Milwaukee. Founded by restaurant industry veteran Petra Orlowski, whose mother is Sicilian and whose father is Mexican, the small pasta shop is adorned with a large herb garden. In addition to the handmade pasta and sauces that Orlowski makes and sells, the shop is stocked with the best imported Italian ingredients. A couple of times a month, Orlowski holds a small pasta-making class. You’ll have personal attention from a talented pasta maker as you learn how to mix, roll and shape your pasta. In the kitchen, Orlowski will walk you through making a simple puttanesca sauce before you enjoy the freshly made pasta and simple yet packed with flavor sauce.
A look at the foods and flavors of Semolina MKE
by KRISTINE M. KIERZEK
Items in the refrigerated case vary daily at Semolina MKE. Typically the case has fresh pasta and sauces, cheese, marinated olives and confit tomatoes. Preserved lemons are also made in house.
Handmade pasta & Italian provisions await at Semolina, which opens Oct. 22
By Lori Fredrich
Senior Food Writer, Dining Editor, Podcast Host
As I write this, handmade Italian bucatini and mafaldini are drying inside the kitchen at Semolina, the new retail shop at 2474 S. Kinnickinic Ave. which will welcome its first customers beginning at 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 22.
The pastas – made by owner Petra Orlowski using finely milled organic durum wheat flour from Central Milling in Utah and locally grown stone ground flour from Wisconsin's Meadowlark Organics – were extruded with Italian bronze dyes, leaving their exterior purposefully rough so that it catches every drop of tasty pasta sauce.
Experience some of Italy's best pasta at Semolina MKE
MILWAUKEE — Petra Orlowski’s passion for pasta led her to open Semolina MKE. This love for pasta started with her Italian grandmother's Sunday dinners, where the entire family gathered and made pasta. Petra says that “pasta is a way of life for us.” A picture of Petra’s grandmother hangs in the front of her Bay View store, and Petra feels as though she is watching over her.
Petra is one of the many people who decided to use the downtime of the pandemic to pursue their passions. “There are so many beautiful pastas throughout Italy, and different regions have different specialties, and I took it upon myself to learn how to make them, to share them with people who’ve never seen them or eaten them,” said Petra.
Drawing on Sicilian heritage, Semolina MKE owner makes pasta and teaches classes in Bay View
Kristine M. Kierzek Special to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Kristine M. Kierzek Special to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Just outside the entrance of Semolina MKE, 2474 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., you’re greeted by an edible herb garden featuring nasturtiums, basil and rosemary. Every item makes its way into pastas and products made in-house by owner Petra Orlowski.
She spent years working in some of Milwaukee’s most well-known restaurants, from Sanford to Mistral and Blue’s Egg. When restaurants shut down during the pandemic, she perfected pasta recipes. Then people started asking to buy her pastas.
The Bay View native opened Semolina MKE in October 2021. Now with a reason to explore her Sicilian roots more deeply, earlier this year she visited Italy. She filled up on food, took cooking classes and visited farms and wineries producing products she carries in her shop. Every item is made or hand-picked by Orlowski, from the pastas, sauces and meatballs to marinated olives, capers, cheeses, olive oils and cannoli.
Semolina MKE to bring handcrafted pasta and deli items to Bay View storefront
Things are about to get even more delicious in Bay View. In addition to the flurry of recent restaurant openings, the neighborhood is on the verge of getting a dedicated pasta shop. The new business, Semolina MKE, is going to open at 2474 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., a retail space that most recently was home to Terrazas Cakes And Pastries.
Semolina MKE is owned and operated by Petra Orlowski, who has amassed a wide range of service industry experience over the last 20 years, including positions at Sanford Restaurant, Blue’s Egg in Shorewood, Puddler’s Hall, Sheridan’s Restaurant, and her current position as manager of both Avalon Theater and the theater’s adjoining Mistral Restaurant.