 |  |
|---|
Jovian Taphaus tries to integrate beer hall and fine dining
on 10/16/09 at 9:00 am | The Jovian Taphaus tries to mash sports bar, beer hall and upscale restaurant into one entity and succeed as a community watering hole for the Grandview Commons neighborhood. Plus, the place needs to whisk away memories of its predecessor, Cloud 9 Grille, which flamed out last March. It's a tall order. |
 |
Ha Long Bay Bistro serves Viet, Thai and Lao cuisines
on 08/07/09 at 9:00 am | Bright neon green curtains enhance the comfortable new space for Ha Long Bay Bistro, previously occupied by Bab's French Quarter Kitchen. Bamboo pagoda lamps, rice paddy hats and nautical and floral images create a pleasing visual flow. Tiny bamboo plants in faux-jade baby elephant planters rest on each table. Cuisine is derived from Vietnamese, Thai and Laotian recipes. |
|
Tagging along with Tory Miller
on 07/24/09 at 9:00 am | "The most important thing is the relationships." It's 6:45 on a sunny Saturday morning, and I'm walking around the Capitol Square discussing how fresh food from Wisconsin farms gets to Tory Miller's kitchen -- and finally to your plate. |
|
Wine with your meal?
on 04/17/09 at 9:00 am | There are real differences between wines, but there are no absolute standards. Once you realize this, wine tasting becomes a lot more fun. For once, it really is all about you! |
|
Ironworks Cafe shines at breakfast and lunch at Goodman
on 04/10/09 at 9:00 am | The Goodman Community Center's new Ironworks Café -- a gorgeously retrofitted space well suited to breakfast or lunch lounging -- is an asset to the Schenk-Atwood neighborhood. |
|
Bucatini Trattoria: Basta pasta in Middleton
on 02/20/09 at 9:00 am | In a college town, serving spaghetti and meatballs to carousing students is a solid business plan. It doesn't have to be high art. Nonetheless, I was hopeful that Enzo Amodeo's new Bucatini Trattoria in Middleton might be a step up from the plate-o'-bland-pasta approach. |
|
Oliva is a new bright spot in west-side dining
on 01/16/09 at 9:00 am | When the nomadic, horse-riding Seljuq Turks migrated from their ancestral homeland of Central Asia and crossed the Volga into the Black Sea steppes circa 1300 A.D., they brought a highly distinctive philosophy towards food with them: In austerity is great beauty. The Turks have long employed a deep restraint in their arts, a design esthetic that cuts through the opulence of Western Europe like a scythe through a hunk of warm çökelek. |
|
Vindaloo, my darling: Flavor of India
on 12/19/08 at 9:00 am | Flavor of India is the third Indian restaurant in Wisconsin by brothers / co-owners / chefs Devinder Singh Badwal and Sital Singh and the second in Madison, following their Taste of India on Monroe Street. This latest entry gives Madisonians an opportunity to study the nuances of north Indian cuisine (though major regional styles are all represented on the dinner menu). |
|
Kushi Bar completes the Muramoto triumvirate in Madison
on 11/14/08 at 9:00 am | Chef Shinji Muramoto has revamped his original stomping grounds on King Street -- the new Kushi Bar Muramoto inhabits the same narrow space that housed the original Sushi Muramoto. (If you're keeping track, that restaurant has moved down the block to the space that formerly hosted Cocoliquot.) |
|
Doug's Soul Food Cafe serves heavenly country-fried Southern comfort
on 10/10/08 at 9:00 am | When my mother was a little girl, her Alabama-bred mother used to cook up "a mess o' greens" on tough days. The recipe consisted of a slab of bacon, collard greens and turnip greens, all stewed up into a mass of nutritious and heavy gruel. |
|
Arty kids
on 08/01/08 at 9:00 am | Madison is justly famous for its bicycle paths, lakes and world-class university. If you ask parents why they love the city, chances are they will name the school system as a reason. But one aspect of Madison that is frequently, and unjustly, overlooked is the wealth of artistic opportunities for children of all ages. |
|
Madison Senior Scenester Potluck reflects on a bygone musical era
on 07/14/08 at 11:18 am | The mindset on State Street in the early '80s among a certain subculture was one of violent underground dissent against Reagan's America and an embrace of the DIY culture of 'zines, homemade flyer art and punk rock. Sunday, the Senior Scenesters Potluck at Tenney Park brought many of the members of that social scene together again. It was Bill Feeny's brainstorm. Feeny played with Appliances SFB, one of the better-know Madison acts of the early '80s. |
|
Dine with the kids at Bean Sprouts Cafe in Middleton
on 07/04/08 at 9:00 am | Bean Sprouts cafe in Middleton Hills is one of the successes of that community-based architectural gambit. Bean Sprouts caters to parents and grandparents with a cafe that's specifically designed for young children but makes all ages feel at home. |
|
Spectacular salads
on 04/22/08 at 9:00 pm | The art of the salad is underappreciated. All too often, salads are just the quiet supplement to steak or fish or pasta. In Wisconsin, a lingering supper club mentality that views fish or steak as the "real food" means that the salad norm is a wedge of iceberg lettuce with a glob of dressing and a black olive. Salad is reduced to a condiment. But although we live in Wisconsin, we also live in Madison — historically, friend to the vegan, the vegetarian and the slow-food movement. The greens at the Farmers' Market on the Square come from a large network of independent and often organic farms, and the best restaurants harvest these and return them to us in excellent salads. Madison's top salads prove to be delightfully rich — and surprisingly sophisticated. |
|
|
Log in