Three-time James Beard-nominated chef Kyle Knall and his wife Meghan, co-owners of downtown Milwaukee restaurant Birch, recently announced plans for a new venture. Cassis, a French bistro-style restaurant, is slated to open in the fall of 2025 in a space along St. Paul Avenue and the Milwaukee River in the Historic Third Ward. It’s the first retail tenant to be announced for new 31-story luxury apartment tower 333 Water. Cassis will occupy the largest of three retail spaces on the ground floor of the building with 5,000 square feet of space and seating for nearly 200 people. BizTimes reporter Sonia Spitz recently sat down with the Knalls to discuss their vision for the new restaurant following the success of Birch, which opened in 2021.
A deviation from Birch
Kyle: “Our favorite bistro in New York is called Pastis and the vibe of that restaurant – lots of tables close together – is what we’re trying to emulate at Cassis. 333 Water is a new, modern building, but the idea is that when you walk in, you feel like you're taken away to Paris. We want Cassis to be a place where anyone feels comfortable coming in. In a classic bistro, you can grab a burger and you don't have to sit down and spend a ton of money. We want Cassis to be a fun restaurant where people can just pop in in the afternoon and have a cocktail and some seafood at the bar, or have a big celebration dinner in the evening.”
Establishing in Milwaukee
Meghan: “I grew up in Brookfield and then I moved to Alabama, which is where Kyle and I met before we moved to New York. My mom has always lived in Wisconsin so when we’d come back and visit Milwaukee, we’d notice that there was a lack of restaurants compared to other cities of the same size. Looking at the restaurant scene in Milwaukee, the size of the city and how it continues to grow, the decision to come back was easy.”
The origin of Cassis
Meghan: “Seeing how Birch has grown and the community’s reception of it has made us really excited to think of different concepts, and thankfully (we) have the opportunity to do so. We've always loved French bistros, they’re one of our favorite types of restaurants. There are a few in the area like Le Rêve Patisserie & Café in Wauwatosa, but there's no classic French bistro in Milwaukee. When Kyle and I met, he was running the kitchen of a French bistro in Birmingham, Alabama, called Chez Fonfon, which is still one of our favorite restaurants. Whenever we go back to visit his family, visiting that restaurant is a must-do. So, opening a French bistro has always been in the back of our mind, especially Kyle’s.”
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Kyle and Meghan Knall[/caption]
