The white plastered walls were inset with Spanish tiles. A Picasso reproduction on the wall pictured the restaurant's namesake astride his lanky steed, lance in hand, ready for a tilt with a windmill. The restaurant's tiled floors sounded perfect for flamenco dancing. And the music coming over the sound system, along with a glass of rich red sangria ($3) with little chunks of apple and nectarine, made me think that a bullfight would be starting down the street at any moment.
The high point of the evening came when our waiter delivered a shallow steel pan of paella ($30 for two) -- saffron rice studded with clams and mussels still in their shells; chicken, pork and squid; bright red pimentoes; glistening green beans; and bright green peas. It was fragrant and delicious.
In the one month since its opening, Don Quijote restaurant has become the darling of Milwaukee's well-heeled dining aficionados. On weekends, the restaurant fills early and diners wait an hour or longer in the bar (which is at the back of the restaurant, facing Hackett St.) for one of the establishment's 52 seats.
The restaurant is owned by Elena Salas; her sons, Cesar and Guillermo Salas; and Nicole Denil. Elena Salas, the restaurant's chef, is originally from Madrid but moved to Venezuela, where the family has a restaurant in the town of San Fernando, Guillermo Salas said. Denil stayed with the Salas family while she was a foreign exchange student in Venezuela 10 years ago.