Asian-Latin fusion restaurant Dia Bom is offering pickup and delivery ahead of January opening
Dia Bom, the Asian-Latin fusion restaurant that spent nearly two years as a vendor at Crossroads Collective food hall before leaving the space in late September, is on its way to opening as a full-service restaurant at its new location in the Lincoln Warehouse at 2018 S. 1st St.
The restaurant is expected to open in mid-January 2024, but until then, Dia Bom is offering a pared-down menu of street tacos, rice bowls and ramen via pickup from the CASHDROP app or delivery through DoorDash or Uber Eats. Orders open daily at 5 p.m.
Chef-owner Ramses Alvarez is making the food in a third-floor production kitchen in the warehouse without access to a grill, which means customers will have to wait for the kushiyaki and bao buns that were popular items on the menu at Crossroads Collective.
Alvarez said his current menu focuses on playful food that can be made on a smaller scale, including street tacos like beer-braised pork belly (with kimchee and mole rojo), Korean beef tacos (with yuzu, avocado and kewpie coleslaw) and togarashi-crusted shishito peppers with avocado yuzu. It also features rice bowls filled with protein options like gochujang tofu, Korean beef, pork belly and mole rojo chicken. Beef birria ramen is also on the menu.
Customers can pick up orders by entering the warehouse through a door located just north of Twisted Path Distillery. The restaurant will be notified when you arrive, and your order will be brought down.
Alvarez, who also works as a private chef and leads cooking classes, said he and partner Shannon Putz would have considered shutting down the business until the restaurant opens in January if it weren't for their employees.
“They said they’d love to keep working with us, and we made the decision to offer pickup and delivery to keep these employees because they’re such great people who have been supporting and working with us since day one,” Alvarez said.
Full Dia Bom restaurant to open in January 2024
In January, Dia Bom will debut in its first stand-alone operation on the first floor of the Lincoln Warehouse, in the light-filled, glass-paneled space where MOR Bakery & Cafe will continue to operate through the end of the year.
“We want to open up as soon as possible,” Alvarez said. “We don’t have to do much design work because the space is already so beautiful, but we do want to create a good atmosphere there.”
Dia Bom will offer a menu like the one offered at Crossroads Collective, but the new space will allow for a few new additions, including more meats, entrees and bao bun trays intended for sharing.
“We don’t want to make the menu too big,” Alvarez said. “We want to focus on making each plate the best.”
The restaurant will offer a full bar, with a focus on playful Latin-Asian fusion cocktails such as a margarita made with soju or sake. Alvarez wants to showcase the businesses within the Lincoln Warehouse, too, offering beer and spirts from Component Brewing Co., New Barons Brewing Cooperative, Torzala Brewing Co. and Twisted Path.
“I want to showcase Milwaukee, the neighborhood and all of the small businesses also located in the warehouse,” he said.
An interior "speakeasy" restaurant and cooking classes coming soon
Alvarez plans on opening a speakeasy-style restaurant at the back of Dia Bom when it opens in January. The eight-seat, reservation-only restaurant would have an upscale Korean steakhouse theme with a small menu of elevated dishes cooked in front of diners on a yakitori grill and a focus on serving soju, a Korean vodka-like spirit.
The plan is to eventually knock down a wall at the back of the restaurant to convert a large vault into a private dining room.
It gives Alvarez a chance to showcase different cooking techniques he’s picked up after more than 20 years of working in Milwaukee kitchens.
He’ll be able to teach others those same techniques with a series of cooking classes, which he plans to offer in his current production kitchen in the Lincoln Warehouse beginning as soon as early November.
Students will work alongside Alvarez on a large butcher-block table with an overhead mirror so they can easily see each step.
Alvarez said the private classes will have a flexible focus, from dishes on Dia Bom’s menu and beyond. If customers have a specific or custom menu request, Alvarez can accommodate.
It’s a lot to tackle for a business owner on the heels of opening his first restaurant, but Alvarez prefers to stay busy.
“We’re so lucky to wake up every day and have so much going on,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Dia Bom offering takeout ahead of January opening in Lincoln Warehouse
