A new concept will soon bring a wine-focused menu and modern atmosphere to Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood.
Voyager, a wine and cocktail bar, is set to open by late summer at 422 E. Lincoln Ave. It will occupy a space that formerly housed Refuge Smoothie Cafe, which closed last year.
Jordan Burich and Micah Buck are behind the concept. Burich is the co-founder of Italian pop-up concept Sprezzatura. He previously directed the cocktail program at the now closed Hinterland Erie Street Gastropub, which is where he met Buck, who also worked there. Buck’s wife, Kathryn Lochmann, will manage the bar’s finances.
Voyager will offer a selection of 80 to 90 “minimal intervention” wines from around the world, along with seasonal craft cocktails, and beer. It will also serve a selection of food from new French restaurant Fauntleroy, being opened soon by DanDan and EsterEv owners Dan Van Rite and Dan Jacobs in the Historic Third Ward.
“I’ve been trying to get a project off the ground for a while now,” Burich said, “For me, it started with Sprezzatura and kind of grew from there. This partnership came together naturally, and it seems like a step in the right direction for both Micah and me.”
The bar will offer indoor seating in its modern-designed space complete with natural lighting and plants, as well as outdoor sidewalk seating. Voyager’s “Euro-style” happy hour specials will feature food and wine for two people for $25. It will also offer weekly wine tasting events on Mondays and Fridays.
“We tend to think that Milwaukee is ready for this kind of modern approach to wine, and for us, the goal is to show the conviviality that drinking good wine can bring,” Burich said. “Looking at a wine list shouldn’t give you anxiety. We always say that discovering wine is a life-long journey. We learn something new about it every day and we want to pass that on to our guests.”
Voyager will be open Monday through Thursday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 3 p.m. to 12 midnight and on Sunday from 12 noon to 8 p.m.
