After more than ten years on Capitol Drive, Zesti is getting ready to say goodbye to downtown Hartland. The chef-driven Lake Country restaurant, run by Chef Michael Feker, is closing, taking one of the village’s better-known dinner destinations off the local dining map. Known for globally inspired plates and a wide-ranging wine list, the spot has been a reliable evening draw since the mid‑2010s.
The pending shutdown was first reported by the Milwaukee Business Journal, which published details on June 18 and framed the move as the end of a long-running Lake Country venture that many diners and nearby business owners had come to count on.
A decade on Capitol Drive
According to its own materials, Zesti opened in January 2015, when Chef Feker launched a globally focused eatery in downtown Hartland. Zesti's website describes the restaurant as a stage for flavors inspired by the chef’s travels and notes that it has held a central place in the village’s evening dining scene ever since. Over time, the menu rotated with the seasons, with periodic special events that pulled in guests from across Lake Country.
Chef Feker's footprint
Chef Michael Feker’s local restaurant group lists Zesti alongside IL MITO and IL MITO Café, a lineup that signals he continues to run other restaurant and catering projects in the area. As noted on Chef Feker's site, the group still provides contact details and locations for its active concepts. That ongoing presence keeps Feker in the Milwaukee-area dining mix even as Zesti prepares to close.
Where this fits in a wave of local closings
The news lands at a time when independent restaurants around Greater Milwaukee continue to shuffle the deck, from long-established cafés to more recent bars, gradually reducing the list of locally owned options. Coverage of the dining scene has followed several of these exits. OnMilwaukee recently chronicled the widely watched closure of Beans & Barley, among others, highlighting a steady churn in the market and a shifting landscape for where people choose to eat and drink.
What's next for the space and staff
For now, Zesti’s online presence still shows standard operating hours and reservation tools, and the chef’s restaurant group continues to list Zesti as an active spot. Guests who already hold reservations or gift cards are advised to reach out to the restaurant directly using the contact information on Zesti's site to verify bookings or remaining balances. This story will be updated if the restaurant or Chef Feker releases a public timeline for a final service or issues a formal statement about the closure.
