Alchemy Cafe

Alchemy Cafe is the kind of place that Madison breeds. It's a bar with a good selection of highly alcoholic beers, served in glasses particular to your beer selection. The food is mostly organic. There is a clear commitment to locally sourcing both the food and drinks and informing the consumer about the source of their food. Some cities have dives. Madison has gastropubs, where foodies expect to know the farm which raised the cow for their burger and smell a sample of the grass the cow grazed. One of those statements is an exaggeration.

Alchemy is a cozy place inside. It does not take credit cards, but is kind enough to have an ATM inside (pet peeve alert: ATM stands for Automated Teller Machine... people who say "ATM machine" are best publicly humiliated). The lights are relatively low and they often have music, though not on our trip.

We went as part of REAP's local harvest: taste of the town. I got the burger special, which was seasoned with aioli and had some seasonal veggies. The burger was great... except for the meat part, which I ordered medium-rare but turned out very dry and shrunken, served in an over-sized bun.

We also tried the Matilda "burger," which is your standard butternut squash burger. What, you haven't had a butternut squash burger? Well, they're really good. A creative dish, pulled off well.

And I guess that kind of sums things up. A bar that makes a squash burger better than a beef burger. Someday, I'm going to miss Madison.

El Rincon Tico

Ok, it's pretty rare that we just flat out do not enjoy a restauranteering experience. But when we went to El Rincon Tico we left not only really disappointed but also...really hungry. Allow me to explain.

I have been excited about this place for months, really since I saw the sign announcing it's arrival. We are big fans of Cafe Costa Rica and Mango Man so Version 2.0 was bound to be good right? We went on a Friday night around 7pm, and got a table right away. And that was the highlight.

Service was slow. Like, really slow. And after our waitress would stop by once it would take days for her to stop again. She also didn't seem to know what she was doing. I mentioned this to a friend she reminded me that this would be what is called "bad service." YES, bad service. Definitely bad service.

We both ordered the special (some kind of garlic chicken with potato stew and plantains), which not only came out suuppeerrr slowly but came out without plantains. THIS, was not acceptable. Before we could ask about where they were our waitress left and never came back. We started to eat- the food was lukewarm and bland. Our waitress FINALLY came back to "check on us" and we asked about the plantains. "Oh, we ran out. But I thought you two would get the last ones." Well, no, we didn't. Thanks for the heads up.

Anyway, we tolerated the rest of the meal, waited 20 minutes to pay the check, then got out of there. Still hungry. So, I made us stop by Willy Street Co-op to buy..you guessed it...plantains. Which we proceeded to take home, cook, and eat.

Ugh, I am so sad. But I just can't stay too mad at Mango Man.

Chautara

Chautara is one of SEVERAL Nepalese restaurants in Madison. Think it's surprising that there are an abundance of Nepali cuisine in deep-fried apple pie Wisconsin? We think so too. Yet, this is the curious situation in which we now find ourselves, and there's nothing for it but to soldier on, sample the food, and blog about it.

Here are our findings: First, Chautara is located on State St. and has outdoor seating. We note this as a plus. Second, unlike certain other Nepalese restaurants on the 300 block of State St. that I could name *cough* Himal Chuli *cough*, this restaurant serves meat. And not just meat, but my favorite meat, Lamb. We note this as another plus. Third, the menu looked pretty good, a nice mix of meat dishes balanced with grains (mostly rice) or vegetables (including the nice use of chickpeas). But the specials sounded great, and I opted for the market Lamb with Daal (thinner than other's I've had, more soupy, but tasty) and some seasonal veggies like patty-pan squash. I'll give this another plus.

So I guess Chautara gets three pluses. Out of how many? Oh, I don't know. Let's say four. Three out of four is pretty good, in my book, which is the one you are reading. All in all, it was a good, straightforward meal of traditionally cooked meat and roasted veggies with a nice soup, located on State St. I know it's a Nepalese restaurant, but that epitomizes good Midwest food for me.

Marigold Kitchen

Marigold is a cute just-off-the-capital-square restaurant. Yes, I know there are many but I would say that Marigold definitely stands out. It's pricy (maybe over priced) but really, what isn't these days? If you want a cheap meal, this probably wouldn't be your first stop but if you want a quality, pretty speedy meal prepared with care by people who obviously love food check it out. In fact, why haven't you gone already?

It offers fresh seasonal fare (seriously, if I had a dollar for every time we said that phrase on this blog; sheesh get over yourself Madison. But don't really because I love you) and I really love the charming simple interior. They have great outdoor seating and the case of tarts and baked goods near the register is edible decoration, I swear.

Breakfast is your best bet here because surprisingly, there aren't a lot of (good) breakfast options in this area. Lots of veggies, goat cheese and eggs. Can't go wrong. I've enjoyed quiche (which changes regularly) and scramblers (which also changes regularly) and really, anything that changes due to the seasons is a win in my book.

The only caveat is that it can get pretty busy, so maybe go at off times. But definitely go!

The Merchant

I watched The Merchant move in, redesign the corner, and open to the public, since it's just about a block from work and I would often walk by on the way to the post office, farmer's market, and the dozens of other restaurants in the area. I couldn't decide if it was going to be a grocery, cocktail/wine bar, restaurant, etc. Turns out it's kind of all three.

We went there last night by accident almost. We had intended to go to Graze, a long standing favorite, but with a 45 minute wait, we were too hungry to put off our own grazing. So, we wondered over to The Merchant and snagged a table outside- PERFECT. It was a good omen of things to come.

The menu is ideal- local ingredients, seasonal options, etc. Their website describes their cooking as regional American fare that is simple and comforting. I think it's super accurate. Here's why- between the two of us we ordered: watermelon and cucumber salad with ricotta, a grilled cheese and lavender honey sandwich, two bowls of creamy roasted corn soup, and a bbq beef brisket sandwich. I thought the grilled cheese was just a little on the simple side (though, it was only $8) but the honey really elevated it. Everything else was good (the roasted corn soup in particular) and washed it all down with a lovely glass of beaujolais.

Ok, it's on the pricey side, but it IS right off the square, surrounded by plenty of pricey. Hipsters will probably like it, but we think probably will most people. Plus, did you hear about all this confusion over whether or not Scott Walker was "kicked out" of this place? Lots of rumors- but we find them amusing. Solidarity Merchant!

Taste of Madison

Ok, so we had to debate whether Taste of Madison counts as a "restaurant." We also debated if we could count food sampled from a new restaurant as eating at that restaurant. I think we decided no...but still wanted to blog about the Taste and since we did it last year, we are justified!

We just love the taste. Betsy's parents are often in town over labor day so it has become a little bit of a tradition for the four of us.

With over 80 restaurants serving small tastes of some of their specialities, you could easily spend hundreds of dollars and eat your weight in food. We paced ourselves and tried food from probably 7-8 different restaurants.....mostly desserts.

With a chocolate chip cookie dough egg roll (I remembered these from last year), a frozen piece of cheesecake dipped in chocolate, deep fried cheese curds, mango gelato, jerk pork, falafel wrap, a beignet (see, I told you we had a lot of desserts), and a chicken stuffed jalapeno, we were pretty happy. Though, I was desperate for an empanada from Caracas but sadly, they were sold out by the time we worked our way through the crowd.

Great food, great fun! Though, the music stages are annoying. Maybe we're old?

Brasserie V

Apparently brasserie is French for brewer. Who knew? The name tips us off immediately that Brasserie V will be a restaurant devoted to the beers it brews. Did you notice I sent you to the "Beer" page? I did. I was going to count the number of beers they offer, but one look at the list makes it obvious that this is a fool's errand. I've tried many but will never get to them all, and despair of suggesting anything with such a small sample of their overall offering. They have over 40 Belgian beers alone. That's a big Belgian bender, that is.

The foods good too. Too good. Actually it's just pretty good, but good enough to bring in too many people. The place is pretty crowded during lunch and dinner, even the nice long bar. There's not exactly a lot of room to wait either. You should call for reservations if you want to go when normal people eat.

Ok, seriously the food. It's good. Nice franco/european fare, like steak-frites with aioli, but with a Madison effort to source food locally and inform their customers about the farms and dairies that make their meal possible. In addition to the steak-frites, I've had the V Burger and the Pork Belly, and they've both turned out pretty nicely.

I would say that Brasserie V shoots a little higher than it seems they can cook. Their food prices are moderately upscale, and the food they serve is good but not great. I like their steak-frites, but I've had better, just down the street at Jacs. The pork belly was good, but not as good as Graze and not in the same universe as the food at L'Etoile. If you go there, go for the relaxed atmosphere, the excellent selection of beers, and the good sandwiches.