Wisconsin Foodie

Three Brothers Farm, Uncle Wolfie’s Breakfast Tavern

– Luke Zahm: This week on Wisconsin Foodie.

– The motto and ethos of Three Brothers Farm is really use the farm as a tool to raise our family.

I assure you that you will taste the difference and you will see the difference.

It’s an experience, eggsperience.

– It’s an eggsperience.

What’s up, ladies!

– Most of our sales, though, are within about 15 miles of our farm.

– And that is the power of local.

– This is Uncle Wolfie’s Breakfast Tavern.

We’re in Milwaukee.

It’s a eggs, coffee, and beer kind of a place.

It’s like perma brunch.

– Uncle Wolfie’s, like, is the modern interpretation of what a community built around your friends, your makers, your creatives, your farmers, your food producers, all coming together in one experience.

– Literally from the farm to your table, you know?

– Luke: Wisconsin Foodie would like to thank the following underwriters.

[gentle music] – Did you know Organic Valley protects over 400,000 acres of organic farmland?

So are we an organic food cooperative that protects land or land conservationists who make delicious food?

Yes; yes, we are.

Organic Valley.

– Twenty-minute commutes.

Weekends on the lake.

Warm welcomes and exciting career opportunities.

Not to mention all the great food!

There’s a lot to look forward to in Wisconsin.

Learn more at InWisconsin.com.

– Employee-owned New Glarus Brewing Company has been brewing and bottling beer for their friends, only in Wisconsin, since 1993.

Just a short drive from Madison, come visit “Swissconsin” and see where your beer’s made.

– The house behind me is known as the farmhouse where the first commercial sausage was produced.

It is about authenticity and honest-to-goodness products that people can rely on.

– The Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers are proud underwriters of Wisconsin Foodie.

It takes love of the land and generations of farming know-how to nurture a quality potato crop.

Ask any potato farmer, and they’ll tell you there’s a lot of satisfaction in healthy-grown crops.

– With additional support coming from The Conscious Carnivore.

From local animal sourcing to on-site, high-quality butchering and packaging, The Conscious Carnivore can ensure organically raised, grass-fed, and healthy meats through its small group of local farmers.

The Conscious Carnivore: Know your farmer, love your butcher.

– Also with the support of the Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

[upbeat music] – We are a collection of the finest farmers, food producers, and chefs on the planet.

We are a merging of cultures and ideas, shaped by this land.

[sizzling] We are a gathering of the waters, and together, we shape a new identity to carry us into the future.

[glasses clinking] We are storytellers.

We are Wisconsin Foodie.

We’re in Oconomowoc in Waukesha County this morning.

We’re here to meet Mike and Courtney at Three Brothers Egg Farm.

Now, this is a multi-generational operation, but I am so excited to see this example of farming and food production so close to the urban center of Milwaukee.

It should be eggcellent.

Let’s go.

[gentle music] – Michael Gutschenritter: Fresh pasture.

– Courtney Gutschenritter: We’ve got our whole family here.

Elva just turned five.

Hannah’s almost three, and Peter is seven months old.

And this is Freya.

– Our retired guard dog.

– We usually have breakfast together, then we go out and do chores together.

Then we start the workday, and Elva will often head off with Michael, or she’ll be with us.

I never envisioned myself on a farm.

I never, like, thought it was a real possibility.

I honestly think I thought, like, it was something out of storybooks, like, farms didn’t exist anymore, or having a family on a farm, just, that was, like, something old-fashioned.

It is nice.

– Kinda nice, yeah.

We’ve been running our business here for about 12 years, but the farm was originally purchased by my grandparents in 1954.

We got started because of a phone call we got from Peter Sandroni at La Merenda.

When he was starting up Engine Co.

Number 3, he asked whether we would produce 180 dozen eggs for him every week.

And we had about 25 chickens just as a bit of a hobby.

And so of course, we said, “Yes, we’ll produce those eggs for you.”

And so that week, we bought 600 chicks.

And by the time the restaurant opened, we were producing exactly what he had requested.

And the word got around to other restaurants that we were producing really high-quality eggs.

So more and more people started coming to us for eggs.

Typically, eggs are a very challenging thing for a farmer to produce, especially when they’re pasture-raised.

So it was hard for people to find ’em.

And we kept expanding and expanding.

And now we went from 600 eventually up to about 3,000 a year.

You know, we’re certified organic and pasture-raised, and we distribute within just a few miles of our own farm.

So people are getting food from their community.

– Good morning, friends.

How are you?

– Good morning, great.

– What are we looking at here?

– Yeah, we have about 3,000 laying hens out on pasture, which we move every single day to fresh pasture.

So they’re pasture-raised and certified organic, and we supply a lot of grocery stores and restaurants in the area.

– So I’m here today to help if I can.

Do you have chores that still need to be done?

– Yeah, yeah, and if you’re willing to do it, you’re hired.

– Luke: Okay, great.

[laughs] – Michael: And we’re gonna collect about 2,500 eggs.

– Luke: What’s up, ladies!

Oh, man.

Hello!

[hens squawking] – All right, Luke, show you how it’s done.

– Luke: Okay.

– Michael: So we have all rollaway nest boxes, which means that chickens are going in here, laying their eggs, and the eggs roll into here.

– Okay.

– So you’re gonna flip this up.

– Yep.

– Go for it.

– Okay, cool, okay.

– Pull that back.

– Luke: Pull it back.

Holy smokes!

– Got a lotta eggs.

– A lotta eggs.

You gonna show me how it’s done, please?

– Michael: Elva, why don’t you show Luke how to do it?

– Yeah, do you find that in the morning, they’re like, they’ve got a lot of energy, feeling a little cooped up maybe?

– It’s a cacophony over here.

– Yeah.

[laughs] – Yeah, so we’re moving these birds and their coops and fencing and everything every single day, at least once a day to fresh pasture.

So there’s a whole ecosystem that we’re managing.

It creates so much soil life, and in that soil life, there’s so many bugs and nutritious plants coming up that everybody can enjoy and ultimately, our customers enjoy.

– That’s a really big part of, like, healthy, what is it, integrated farming operation, to keep everything fresh and nutritious and healthy and alive, very, very vibrant.

And it feels vibrant in here.

It’s like a rock concert.

– Michael: Yeah, it is.

– Luke: How does this really, like all this movement and the biodiversity and the health of the soil and the chickens having access to fresh grass, how does that affect the flavor of the egg?

– So you crack open the egg, you’re gonna get a dark orange yolk.

And after that, once you actually bite into the egg, you’re gonna notice the texture is different.

It’s gonna be a thicker, creamier yolk.

– Luke: Custardy.

– Michael: Custardy.

– Luke: Yeah!

– Michael: And the white, the albumin actually holds together into a tight circle and kind of stands tall with the yolk.

– Luke: Sure.

– Michael: And the flavor profile is crazy.

– It’s striking, the difference between a fresh, well-raised egg and something that you just kind of take for granted, but I think that that’s kind of, you know, one of the ailments in modern American food society is when you go to the market and you pick up your eggs, you don’t ever really stop to consider where those come from and the conditions in which they’re raised.

– Super fresh, super flavorful, and really good-looking.

– Yeah, really good-looking.

– And I mean, just look at how the birds are living.

The birds are on grass.

You know, this is what people think of when they think of free-range, when in reality, people who are doing free-range eggs just have stationary barns.

This is truly pasture-raised.

– Luke: Yeah.

– Michael: This is the real deal.

– Luke: This feels like the better way to do it.

– Michael: It is the better way for us, for the chickens, and for the customers.

So yeah, this is a daily task, collecting 2,500 eggs.

It’s a lot like a dairy farm.

– Luke: Sure.

– Michael: Every single day, whether it’s -20 or if it’s 120, you gotta be out collecting eggs.

– Luke: What do you love about it?

– I love what it does to the soil.

– Sure.

– That’s what I love most.

What they contribute to the ecosystem on our farm is just remarkable, absolutely remarkable.

– So when your family initially settled the farm, were they raising chickens and then farming eggs at that point too?

– No, my grandpa was just a hobby farmer.

Yeah, he was a real gregarious guy.

He was my best friend.

Yeah, this is my grandpa, Francis, but he instilled the passion for the land in me and now in my kids.

And we got some pictures here of my grandpa and me when I was a kid.

There’s me crawling on his belly, just the way Peter crawls on me.

[chuckles] Strikes an emotional chord when I think about my grandpa.

[gentle music] My grandpa was definitely my best friend.

We really had an incredible connection.

And I think he would be very, very proud of me right now seeing how creative we got with our lives and our business and the land that he bought.

His great-granddaughters are collecting eggs on the land that he was managing.

It’s what builds a family.

It’s what builds a person.

It’s what makes us so close.

It’s a lot of love.

The motto and ethos of Three Brothers Farm is really personal because the foundation of it is to use the farm as a tool to raise our family.

We’re teaching our kids.

Our kids are learning every single day about how to contribute to their community.

– This is a pretty magical childhood.

I mean, honestly.

– I would like to think so.

– Yeah.

– Yeah.

I would like to think so.

And the best part of it is that we actually get to spend 24 hours a day with them.

– Right.

– And so, the entire time, we get to watch them learn, watch them, you know, be a part of it all.

– Sure.

– And it’s beautiful.

– Seeing the kids’ confidence and ease in the natural world and around animals and just being outside, it’s so wonderful to witness and honestly, just to be a part of.

But truly, it’s just a joy to be with them every day here.

I feel so lucky to have this life with them.

I just can’t imagine doing anything else.

– Look at that, two in one hand.

– Two in one hand!

– You could learn something.

– I know, pro farmer here.

– Michael: All right, Luke, you can carry that one out.

– Luke: Okay.

– And Elva, you wanna carry this one out?

All right.

[hens squawking] [tractor rumbling] – Luke: All these eggs are laid out.

Is this one day’s?

– So this is about three days’ worth of eggs right now.

We unload ’em off the trailer, and then we wash every single egg before they go out to restaurants and grocery stores.

Most of our sales, though, are within about 15 miles of our farm.

– And that is the power of local.

I mean, right there.

– That’s huge.

– Keeps y’all on the farm.

Keeps these eggs local.

The people get to understand the storyline behind the eggs.

Getting people to support the farms and food producers in their backyard, I mean, it’s the MO of this entire program, but also, like, the MO of my life.

That’s what I wanna see happen.

– Yeah, it is fun, huh?

– So thank you.

– Thank you.

– Let’s wash some eggs, shall we?

– Cool, let’s do it.

– Cool.

– Elva’s the egg washing boss.

– Yeah.

– We’re gonna put a crate up here for Elva.

– Okay.

– And basically, Elva’s gonna be putting eggs in here.

The eggs are gonna go through the egg washing machine and come back to you, and you are gonna pack ’em right into here.

– Okay.

– Ideally, narrow side down.

So the nose side down.

– Sure.

– It lets the yolk sit in the bigger spot ’cause we have nice, big yolks, and then we’ll hit it with a date gun, so everybody knows the expiration date.

And that’ll be that.

[machine whirring] – I am super curious to see the difference between conventionally-produced eggs and the Three Brothers eggs.

Would it be possible for me to take a dozen with me on the road today?

– Michael: I think you’ve earned it after collecting.

– Thank you.

– That was a big day for you.

[both laughing] And I assure you that you will taste the difference and you will see the difference.

It’s an experience, eggsperience.

– It’s an eggsperience, eggsactly.

How many puns do you think you’ve encountered in your time as an egg farmer, during your tenure?

– So many, and they all crack me up.

[Luke laughing] [groovy music] – We are following the storyline of these Three Brothers eggs to a place where they are celebrated on the plate.

Uncle Wolfie’s Breakfast Tavern is, quite frankly, my favorite breakfast haunt in the entire city.

Today, we get to sit down with owners Wolfgang and Whitney, and hear about what makes their ingredients and their food the destination of choice for eggs.

– Wolfgang Schaefer: This is Uncle Wolfie’s Breakfast Tavern.

We’re in Brewer’s Hill in Milwaukee.

It’s a, I always say, eggs, coffee, and beer kind of a place.

It’s like perma brunch.

We’re here to soak up whatever you did to yourself last night and make you cancel your afternoon plans.

But it’s a charming little neighborhood and a lot of cool old houses, and just a lot of great folks.

I was always kind of chasing diners.

You know, I think that Webb’s is one of my favorite places in the history of time.

It was really important to us to develop relationships with farmers and a lot of local purveyors to make sure that we have the best possible quality product that we have.

It’s like, we put so much care into the product that we’re putting out, we wanna make sure that the people we’re sourcing from are putting the same kind of care into what they’re creating.

I remember the first time I tried Three Brothers eggs, it was, I mean, down to just cracking the egg and just looking at the yolk itself, just looking at this product as it was just emerging from the shell, I was like, “Well, this is clearly different.

This is better.”

And there was something so special about these eggs, and I’d had ’em at other places too.

And it’s such a funny thing when you’re, like, eating at a diner at, like, a breakfast place and you’re, like, going gaga because you just had a perfect, like, sunny-side up egg.

I just kept coming to this point where I was eating at places… God, I’m trying to think.

Like Engine Co. was one of ’em I remember, and I was eating this egg.

I said, “Where did this come from,” you know?

In order for us to make the best possible product we had, we couldn’t ignore the fact that people like Three Brothers exist, who are making the eggs like this.

You know, like, it’s undeniable that it’s gonna make our creations even better because we have such a solid, solid base, you know?

It’s just us piggybacking on somebody else’s brilliant work already, you know?

I mean, eggs, coffee, and beer is my tagline for this place.

If I don’t have the best eggs, what are we?

– Yeah!

Thank you.

Every time I come into Milwaukee, I always make, you know, a destination out of Uncle Wolfie’s.

– Man, that’s awesome.

– Oh, yeah.

I mean, I’ve been one of the people standing outside in the line.

– Sorry about that.

– No, no, no, no, totally.

I love it.

It’s like one of those things.

As long as I can get beverages, you know, I am legit.

– That’s how I feel.

– I’ll sit and camp for hours.

– You tell me I can have Bloody Marys and beers, I’ll wait ’til tomorrow.

– Yeah, exactly.

– It doesn’t matter; I’m fine.

[Luke laughing] It says I’m good.

– It’s such an honor to be here with you and, like, to meet your staff and get to know, like, what makes Uncle Wolfie’s tick.

I’m kind of hungry.

– Yeah, me too, but I’m always hungry.

I am going to…

I’m gonna have the Spamelette.

– My favorite thing on the menu.

– Heck yeah, I’m gonna add the chili crisp.

– Mm-hmm!

– Gotta have the chili crisp.

– And I’m gonna add a side of tavern potatoes as well.

– That sounds great.

For you?

– I think I’m gonna do the Beltch, please.

Do I want it sunny up?

– You want sunny up, yeah.

– I want sunny up.

Yeah, like I can– – Yeah, you want that run.

– All the sunshine I can get.

– I wanna see egg all over your face.

– Ask and you shall receive.

And then could I do, like, a virgin Bloody Mary?

– For sure.

– Is that okay?

Thanks, friend.

– We’re also gonna want… We’ll have two Shirley Temples of Doom.

And I’ll take one of those Bloods the same way.

– Excellent, thank you.

[Luke claps] – Luke: When you’re conceptualizing Uncle Wolfie’s and you know, you’re in, like, the agrarian breadbasket of America here in the Midwest.

– [laughs] Yeah, that’s a good line.

– Do you ever get to, like, experience the impact that, say, for Three Brothers, running Three Brothers eggs on your menu, do you get to go back to, like, that Waukesha, Oconomowoc area and see, like, how that family directly is impacted by you putting that on the menu?

– I mean, the sense of connection, it’s impossible almost not to have because the same people who are growing the products are dropping it off.

You know, [laughs] like literally the same guys who are grabbing those eggs from Three Brothers are dropping ’em off, you know?

So it’s literally impossible not to have a relationship with the people who are producing the food, the ingredients for the stuff that we’re making.

It’s literally from the farm to your table, you know?

– Luke: Sure.

You know, when you eat these products that are coming from these local, you know, farmers, food producers, artisans, what do you notice about the flavor profiles?

– Well, it starts with the flavor profiles.

You know, you’re finding these items in order to fit what a lot of times, you know, these guys have an idea in mind of what they want, you know, the product to taste like, and down to whose watercress might be a deciding factor, you know?

So every element is scrutinized.

– Bloody Marys.

– Yeah!

– Shirley Temple of Doom.

– Yes!

– Shirley Temple of Doom!

Cheers.

– This is an Alex Shaw original.

– So the Shirley Temple of Doom, what we have going on here, you get that, like, obviously really familiar cherry, you know, probably a little bit of a Sprite.

– There’s a San Pellegrino element to it.

– Oh, gosh.

– Oh, hibiscus also for coloration and for obviously a little bit of that flavor too.

– This is a very sophisticated take on the Shirley Temple.

– This Bloody though, mm, that is so, so dynamite.

Overtly complicated.

– That is great.

– Lots and lots of ingredients.

– I get horseradish.

I get that tomato.

I get that, you know, beautiful salinity of the salt and pepper.

You know, you get the acidity from, like, the base of the pickles or whatever it is.

– Yeah, for sure.

And then a little bit of Jamaican No.

2 bitters.

– Luke: Yeah!

Talk to me about your journey in the kitchen.

Like, how did you figure out that this is who you are and what you were gonna do?

– To open a restaurant, was, like, my absolute dream.

I didn’t know we could even get this far.

Wolfie’s started with a hot dog cart and breakfast burritos out of a hot dog cart.

[laughs] – Seriously?

– I have, yeah, like a little umbrella with the stripes on it.

[chuckles] – That’s adorable.

– Really, really cool.

You’ve got all your fixings in there and you roll ’em up and then sear ’em on a flat top, you know?

Little mobile flat top.

– Yeah, mission style, baby.

– Wolfgang: Completely, 100%.

Exactly, back to those roots, you know.

It was definitely a strange path to get to this point.

This building that we’re in was empty for almost 40 years.

Four decades.

– Luke: Whoa, really?

– Wolfgang: 1979 was the last time it was operational, I think, or ’78 as a corner tavern, built originally as a Miller tied house, and, like, turn-of-the-century Miller tied house.

1902 is the, like, is the official listed date.

– Oh, yeah.

– Oh, yes.

You gotta clear some drink room.

– Mm, thank you.

– You’re welcome.

– Thank you.

– Your hot honey.

– Hot honey?

– Nice.

– Fancy sauce.

Charred allium aioli.

– Yeah.

– This one’s awesome.

– All of them are house-made.

This is one of the best things too.

I love these potatoes.

We roast them, smash ’em, fry ’em, and then season ’em and finish ’em in the fryer there.

[guests chatting] Creamy, tangy, fancy.

– Mm-hmm.

So what’s in my Beltch here?

I’m about to go in on that first bite.

– We got some Jones Farm bacon.

Oh, lettuce, egg, tomato, and cheese.

The sambal aioli is the other element, pops it up a notch too.

– Mm.

– You gotta get down in this.

Part of brunch is passing the plates too.

– Oh, I will.

This is ridiculous.

Super simple flavors, but when they’re brought together and they’re well-executed, it’s just, like, over the moon.

And to get that Three Brothers egg sunny-side up on there, like, to have this golden goodness all over my hands, quite frankly takes me back to my time on the farm and watching those young women pick those eggs up every day with their mom and dad to put them in and have them shipped right here to Milwaukee, so I can experience them at Uncle Wolfie’s.

This is a really, really good sandwich.

[both laughing] – Wolfgang: Yep.

You gotta try, speaking of Three Brothers, dude, this omelet.

I’m gonna switch you out.

– All right, cool.

– And this is the same Three Brothers eggs too.

– Yeah.

– This is the Spamelette, the Spam omelet.

There’s kewpie mayo in there and alpine cheese, chili threads, some mushroom like shiitakes, oh, and Spam, and then our house chili crisp as well.

– Why Spam?

– Spam has been a part of life for forever ’cause it has some versatility.

It has a different sort of feel than bacon or pork belly, but it can add some of the same elements.

– Yeah, I can’t wait to taste this bite.

The eggs are superfluous, but like, the kewpie mayo, that chili crisp, you get that bite of Spam, you’ve got… Oh, my gosh, it’s so creamy and rich.

Man, and what a versatile way to use a lot of these ingredients that are locally sourced.

It just takes a couple things like, you know, the outside influence.

The Spam, the chili crisp, the kewpie mayo, all those things work to elevate this thing into something that’s much larger than the individual ingredients, and it’s fantastic.

– Heck yeah, completely.

That’s it.

It starts with that base, and you build off that base.

– Mm, like, I’m just going all over the table now.

– Do it.

That’s what brunch is about.

It’s about the reach.

– Enjoy it.

– Everybody needs some of that.

You just go for it.

– Yeah.

[laughing] I miss the wine.

– If you had wine and scotch.

– Oh, I love… – Hello!

– Hey!

– Hey there.

– How are you?

It’s really nice to meet you.

– Good to see you.

– Thanks so much.

– Hi.

– This is great.

– Good to see you.

– Oh, my gosh.

– How is it?

– It’s delicious.

How are you?

– I’m good.

– Yeah, Uncle Wolfie’s, like, is the modern interpretation of what a community built around your friends, your makers, your creatives, your farmers, your food producers, all coming together in one experience that I will say is always worth it.

– Wolfgang: Heck yeah.

– Every time I’m in the city, I’m popping in here because I appreciate what you two do, and I see it making a difference in the world, so don’t stop.

– We appreciate you.

– For saying that, thank you.

– Thanks.

– Thanks so much for having me in.

– Appreciate you.

– Thank you.

– Any time you want, baby.

Any time.

– Oh, yeah, boo, I like that.

– Thank you, thank you.

– Oh, that’s so great.

– I can’t do this.

[Michael laughs] – Your arm is stuck in your shirt.

– Luke: It happens.

And see where these Three Brothers eggs end up in the plate.

Nope.

– Michael: What’s that over there?

– It’s a play kitchen.

– Michael: It looks like a real kitchen to me.

[Elva laughs] – My friend.

[cheerful music] [lambs bleating] Wisconsin Foodie would like to thank the following underwriters.

[upbeat music] – Did you know Organic Valley protects over 400,000 acres of organic farmland?

So are we an organic food cooperative that protects land, or land conservationists who make delicious food?

Yes; yes, we are.

Organic Valley.

– Twenty-minute commutes.

Weekends on the lake.

Warm welcomes and exciting career opportunities.

Not to mention all the great food!

There’s a lot to look forward to in Wisconsin.

Learn more at InWisconsin.com.

– Employee-owned New Glarus Brewing Company has been brewing and bottling beer for their friends, only in Wisconsin, since 1993.

Just a short drive from Madison, come visit “Swissconsin” and see where your beer’s made.

– The house behind me is known as the farmhouse where the first commercial sausage was produced.

It is about authenticity and honest-to-goodness products that people can rely on.

– The Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers are proud underwriters of Wisconsin Foodie.

It takes love of the land and generations of farming know-how to nurture a quality potato crop.

Ask any potato farmer and they’ll tell you, there’s a lot of satisfaction in healthy-grown crops.

– With additional support coming from The Conscious Carnivore.

From local animal sourcing to on-site, high-quality butchering and packaging, The Conscious Carnivore can ensure organically raised, grass-fed, and healthy meats through its small group of local farmers.

The Conscious Carnivore: Know your farmer, love your butcher.

– Also with the support of the Friends of PBS Wisconsin.