Milwaukee = Happy Days

To a drizzling rain, we arrive in Milwaukee and stop for lunch at Miss Katie’s Diner, 1900 W. Clybourn. A vintage Select-O-Matic jukebox in the center of the dining room plays only 45s and only one at a time. The 1950s-retro diner is right out of the opening sequence of Happy Days.

My old friend Sue waitresses at Miss Katie’s, I discover. She and I used to work together when I was in college.

Gene orders the barbecued ribs and hash browns at my urging; it wasn’t hard to convince him. I have a wonderfully greasy tuna melt with hash browns. The hash browns are shredded thick, fried crisp on the outside and served with butter.

No one makes hash browns like the Miss Katie’s Diner, one of several restaurants in Milwaukee owned the Pitch family. Pitch’s famous ribs and hash browns are served at all their restaurants.

Two of America’s most famous grease-lovers have given Miss Katie’s Diner their stamp of approval—Bill Clinton and Rachael Ray.

In 1996, the Clinton and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl ate at Miss Katie’s Diner during the “Sausage Summit.” Clinton’s security detail, including dogs, left an impression on Miss Katie’s staff. Hillary made a return trip during her campaign.

Rachael Ray featured Miss Katie’s on a segment of her travel show, $40 A Day.

Eggs Benedict: What do the Birthers Believe?

I stand corrected.
I have always believed Eggs Benedict, America's ubiquitous brunch dish, was invented at Brennan's, the famous New Orleans restaurant. I ate the best Eggs Benedict of my life there--two poached eggs as spherical as globes, the lava of its yellow yolks popping out and running thickly down the mountain sides, captured by the craters of its muffin base.
The meal was a beautiful, three-course breakfast accompanied by champagne, lots of champagne. Indeed, the best breakfast of my life.
The question of the dish's invention came up while G and I were scarfing yet another variation of standard Bennies at our local deli--salmon instead of Canadian Bacon and inventively, a potato pancake instead of the muffin. I stood by my belief in Brennan's but G was sure the dish was invented right here in New York.
Word around the internet is, that Eggs Benedict was birthed either at Delmonico's in New York's Financial District or the Waldorf-Astoria uptown. Delmonico's claim of credit for the invention of many dishes raises my suspicion (the hamburger? really?).
Even Brennan's own website does not take credit for the Sunday brunch staple. Their menu calls Eggs Benedict a"traditional dish", but does take credit for Eggs Hussarde.
The description from Brennan's online menu:

EGGS HUSSARDE
(A Brennan's Original)
One of the dishes that put
"Breakfast at Brennan's" on
the map. Poached eggs atop
Holland rusks, Canadian bacon
and Marchand de Vin sauce.
Topped with Hollandaise sauce.
Suggested Wine - Sauvignon Blanc

Surfing around Brennan's website, I realize what I really ate that day was their Eggs Ellen, a bennie variation with salmon.