{"id":10968,"date":"2013-07-21T22:00:22","date_gmt":"2013-07-22T02:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=10968"},"modified":"2024-12-04T17:56:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T22:56:38","slug":"eating-out-is-a-responsibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=10968","title":{"rendered":"Eating Out Is A Responsibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"21<\/a>Linda Burton posting from Madison, Wisconsin <\/i>\u2013 \u201cMadison folks are big on Sunday brunch,\u201d I read. Since that\u2019s my idea of a good Sunday too, I searched out the possibilities, settling on the Marigold Kitchen, the #1 Best, according to several reviewers. I liked its location too, right off Capitol Square; I could get my outdoor capitol photos while parked in the same spot. The weather had cooled, at last, to a civilized 73 degrees. The drive was easy, a straight shot towards the capitol down Washington Avenue, onto the isthmus that is Central Madison. This city of lakes, you see, really is; Lake Mendota and Lake Monona are two of the smaller lakes left by those \"21<\/a>famous glaciers of long ago, separated by a strip that\u2019s just wide enough to build a city on. The capitol sits in the middle with a few blocks in either direction towards the water; possibly the most pleasant spot nature and humankind could have put together for a Sunday morning outing. I parked in a meterless spot right beside the capitol under a shade tree; Marigold Kitchen was just a block down Pinckney Street. Somebody else had read the reviews; the outdoor tables were \"21<\/a>full and the line to get inside hung outside; someone passed out menus to study while we stood. The routine was set up for efficiency; order at the counter, pay and get your number; get seated when the next table came open. I\u2019d never thought of adding fresh sweet corn and yellow squash to my scrambled eggs, but that\u2019s what the Scrambler offered and that\u2019s what I chose, along with Marigold Potatoes and Rosemary French Toast. \u201cA table there, near the door,\u201d was offered with a frantic point; I scooted fast and grabbed my spot. Did I mention the noise? <\/p>\n

\"21<\/a>I\u2019ve never been in a mosh pit at 3 AM, but the noise level in the Marigold was what I\u2019d pretty much imagine it to be. The stereo speaker was above my head, from which the sounds of high-energy jazz tried valiantly to overcome the din of voices and the clanging of pans back on the grill. Two elderly ladies with walking canes had been escorted through the crowd early on to chairs set against the far wall; a young man stood in line behind me to order for them. \u201cWas this his idea?\u201d I thought, wondering if he was a grandson, as I noted the dazed look on their faces. But folks were having fun, and I did too; my food came promptly and the corn\/squash\/spinach\/broccoli eggs were great; a new recipe I\u2019ll try at home. Marigold Potatoes, by the way, are not cubed, they are sliced and very tender, not crunchy fried. I \"21<\/a>could have ordered Chile Poached Eggs or Duck Confit Hash or the Breakfast Sandwich \u201cwith fried egg, cheddar-spiked boursin, applewood smoked bacon, tomato and green onion on toasted ciabatta.\u201d I could have ordered any one of a number of omelets, with artichokes, zucchini, roasted poblano peppers, fried hominy, or chorizo sausage, accompanied by field greens tossed in champagne vinaigrette. The couple beside me went for pancakes; blueberry topped with orange almond butter and granola. \u201cCreative, healthy food prepared by friendly staff\u201d is their motto, and for sure, \u201cfolks in Madison are big on Sunday brunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"21<\/a>I got my capitol photos in no time flat; families strolled the easy-walking capitol grounds and sidewalks around the square were filled with outdoor diners enjoying a perfect day. Which made me wonder \u2013 just how many outdoor dining spots are there in downtown Madison? Back in my room, I flipped through the materials I\u2019d picked up from the front desk about the city. I daresay every city I\u2019ve been in has great restaurants and many interesting things to do. But not every city promotes what it has. Madison gets a big \u201cthumbs up\u201d from me for several of its publications. The Madison Visitors Bureau publishes an Official Visitors Guide<\/i>, Towns & Associates publishes Madison Originals Magazine<\/i>, and Isthmus Publishing Company puts out Isthmus Dining<\/i>. I found the answer to my question in the Visitors Guide<\/i>; in just the Central Downtown area, 48 restaurants are listed; 31 of those offer outdoor dining; 7 are right on Capitol Square. Like the Blue Marlin (seafood), the Brocach \"21<\/a>Irish Pub (brocach is Gaelic for \u201cbadger den\u201d), Francesca\u2019s Trattoria (Italian, of course), the Tipsy Cow (tavern food and beer) and Tornado Steakhouse (white linen dining). Harvest is on Pinckney Street like the Marigold; Gourmet Magazine<\/i> has featured it as \u201cone of America’s best Farm-To-Table restaurants;\u201d Organic Style Magazine<\/i> ranks it one of the \u201cTop 20 Restaurants in the USA;\u201d the New York Times Magazine<\/i> calls it \u201cMadison’s Must-Visit Restaurant.\u201d Who am I to argue with the New York Times<\/i>? It\u2019s on my \u201cmust-visit\u201d list for sure.<\/p>\n

\"21<\/a>I believe it takes three things for a city to have a good restaurant environment: good restaurants have to be established, and promoted, and supported; I\u2019m seeing evidence of all three here in Madison. Isthmus Dining,<\/i> which is distributed free with the weekly newspaper, offers well-illustrated articles about FOOD; the issue I have in hand covers \u201c12 Months of Meals\u201d with tantalizing write-ups describing what the food editors have been eating. Kyle Nabilcy picked lomo saltado at A La Brasa Latin Cuisine (marinated sirloin with rice and vegetables) and the beef brisket and smokehouse salad at Dickey\u2019s Barbecue Pit. Linda Falkenstein picked crepe paysanne and salade nicoise at Chez Nanou, a 20-seat French caf\u00e9, and bun dau hu chay (vermicelli with fried tofu) at the Viet House in East Madison Shopping \"21<\/a>Center. Andre Darlington picked Alsum Farm spicy sweet corn with Fritos appetizer and a Sassy Cow shake (with booze added) at Dlux; and fish and grits with a side of black-eyed peas at Melly Mel\u2019s. You get the idea \u2013 variety is the spice of everyday eating! The magazine covers restaurants that deliver something other than pizza; Edo Japanese for sushi, Bandung, Lao Laan-Xang, and Curry in the Box for great curries; Banzo for Mediterranean; El Pastor for Mexican. And if you really want pizza, and salad, Ian\u2019s Pizza makes their salad dressings from scratch. They also offer a Mac\u2019n\u2019cheese pizza; \u201cCarb on carb,\u201d they say. \u201cWhy choose when you can have both?\u201d<\/p>\n

How would you know these things, if they weren\u2019t brought to your attention?<\/p>\n

\"21<\/a>What we like about eating out is partly about food, of course, but it\u2019s mostly about the experience; that\u2019s why hearing about the experiences of others gets us in the mood to go. My favorite article in Isthmus Magazine<\/i> is \u201c50 Food Experiences\u201d not to be missed in Madison; with color photos of each. I wish I could try all 50 while I\u2019m here; I\u2019ll settle for 10, and mention a few more. I\u2019m a dumpling lover; should I go for the vegetable dumplings at Himal Chuli\u2019s or the shrimp dumplings at Dumpling Haus? A few appealing breakfast items are mentioned: the V breakfast bagel with scallion tofu, roasted poblano peppers, tomato, and avocado at Gotham Bagels; the Epic Pop Tart at 4 & 20 Bakery; poached eggs on corn cakes at Eldorado Grill; grilled focaccia with scrambled eggs, avocado, and cheddar smothered in \"21<\/a>coconut-curry aioli at the Mermaid Caf\u00e9; lemon ricotta pancakes at Sophia\u2019s, it\u2019s said they convert customers who don\u2019t even like sweets. Pick one? I can\u2019t decide. Speaking of sweets, Gail Ambrosius offers up a wicked-looking \u201csalted caramel\u201d treat at the Chocolatier. I\u2019d like to try the Bluebird Sandwich at Crema Caf\u00e9, it\u2019s chicken salad with blueberries; and the Walnut Burger at the Harmony Bar; I\u2019ll skip Bob\u2019s Bad Breath Burger over at the Weary Traveler, which claims there\u2019s enough garlic on it to kill a vampire; now that\u2019s cute. The AP10 is an eggroll inside a spring roll at Ha Long Bay; the Rachel at Stalzy\u2019s Deli is a Reuben with cole slaw inside.<\/p>\n

The restaurants are there and they certainly are well promoted; it\u2019s the solemn responsibility of the mosh-pit-noisy crowds, and me, to support them, wouldn\u2019t you say? And did I mention they have beer-battered cheese curds at the Old Fashioned Restaurant, where everything is Wisconsin?<\/p>\n

Marigold Kitchen <\/i>http:\/\/marigoldkitchen.com\/<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

Harvest Restaurant http:\/\/www.harvest-restaurant.com\/<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

Old Fashioned Restaurant http:\/\/www.theoldfashioned.com\/<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

Visit Madison http:\/\/www.visitmadison.com\/<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

Isthmus Dining http:\/\/www.thedailypage.com\/eats\/<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linda Burton posting from Madison, Wisconsin \u2013 \u201cMadison folks are big on Sunday brunch,\u201d I read. Since that\u2019s my idea of a good Sunday too, I searched out the possibilities, settling on the Marigold Kitchen, the #1 Best, according to several reviewers. I liked its location too, right off Capitol Square; I could get my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4587,949],"tags":[2510,2513,2512,3072,2509,2511,2491],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10968"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10968"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10971,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10968\/revisions\/10971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}