Tuesday, March 19, 7:00 P.M.
Members $95, guests $120

Not so long ago, a casino was the last place in the world you'd go to for fine dining. Now, Dream Dance joins the ranks of world-class casino restaurants owned by the likes of Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Todd English, Nobu Matsuhisa, and Emeril Lagasse. Dream Dance's sophisticated New American menu, not to mention its exceptional wine list, would be at home at any top-flight restaurant in New York City, L.A., or Las Vegas, for that matter.

And that's not surprising, considering the team behind the "dream"—the Bartolotta Group, which consists of Joe Bartolotta, a well-known restaurateur, and his brother Paul Bartolotta, formerly chef of Spiaggia in Chicago. In the kitchen is the talented Brandon Wolff, a graduate of restaurants in the Adams Mark Hotels and Chicago's upscale culinary enterprise, Lettuce Entertain You. Wolff also perfected his craft at Doubletree's Four-Diamond property in Tulsa. Given these credentials, we'd expect no less than that the food at Dream Dance is, as Milwaukee Magazine's Ann Christenson put it, "impressive…delicious." Last September, the restaurant—set inside the Potawatami Indian reservation—earned four stars and a rave review from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel critic Dennis Getto. He called it "Milwaukee's best new restaurant" and among the city's "most intimate and most elegant dining destinations." The place, he continued, "blends Native American and European cultures subtly yet beautifully." Call it the New Fusion.

Subtle Native American touches abound. The wallpaper and specially designed pewter utensils are textured to resemble bark. Beautiful, hand-crafted antler lampshades adorn the white linen tables, and the restaurant's curved wooden ceiling reflects the tribe's traditional long lodges. The name itself comes from the Potawatami people's Dream Dance religion, and the supremely flavorful venison is supplied by Potawatami Red Deer Ranch, where, in accordance with tribal beliefs, the animals are raised sans steroids, chemicals, or hormones. Christenson wrote, "We've never seen venison look or taste better." Considering that the only way to improve on a fine piece of venison is to consume it with a glass of fine Bordeaux, we knew this dinner would be a sure bet. Dream. Dream. Dream.