It’s hard to get excited about a trip to Milwaukee in February – especially when it’s been so darned cold here in the Upper Midwest. But the NYTimes travel section yesterday had a story about the Walker’s Point area that got me a little psyched. (Granted I’ll be there more for work than pleasure but hope to sneak in a quick walk around town.) Here’s the story:  In Milwaukee a district for a bite or a brew

Of particular interest to moi:

BRAISE

Servers note that 90 percent of ingredients used at the two-year-old restaurant — with the exception of coffee, tea, spices, citrus and chocolate — are sourced from regional farms. Menus change daily, but the cooking by the chef David Swanson is consistently hearty and robust.

1101 South Second Street; 414-212-8843; braiselocalfood.com

CLOCK SHADOW CREAMERY AND PURPLE DOOR ICE CREAM (The cheese appeals more than the ice cream this winter)

A cheesemaker and a separate ice cream business share production and retail space in the newly built, LEED-certified Clock Shadow Building. Tours ($3) offered by the urban creamery (come Wednesday or Friday to see the popular cheese curds being made), culminate in cheese samplings. The popular Purple Door, known for unusual ice cream flavors like whiskey or chai with pink peppercorn, plans to move at the end of the month and reopen nearby in March.

Clock Shadow Creamery, 138 West Bruce Street; 414-273-9711;clockshadowcreamery.com. Purple Door Ice Cream, 205 South Second Street; purpledooricecream.com.

ANTIQUES ON SECOND

The biggest of several antiques stores in the area, this one opened in 2010 in two merged early-19th-century warehouses. Shoppers can ride the operator-manned freight elevator between three floors stuffed with vintage clothes, wood chests, record collections and eclectic finds like a midcentury vinyl living room set.

1039 South Second Street; 414-645-9640; antiquesonsecond.com