The Isthmus: An Ode to Madison, Wisconsin
The James Beard Foundation recently announced their semifinalists for the 2017 Restaurant and Chef Awards. I was extremely excited to see several of my favorites listed, and was immediately taken back to my time in Madison, Wisconsin … I credit this wonderful city for instilling in me a wealth of food knowledge, and cultivating my food photography interest into the passion it has become today.While it would take me several dozen posts to cover the entire amazing Madison food scene, I would like to mention a couple of this year’s nominations where my husband & I were fortunate enough to become very familiar.
I was always super impressed with the way he easily melded non-traditional flavors, and created dishes easily accessible to the Midwest palate. For example, one of the first dishes we tried was tempura-fried bacon-wrapped cheese curds & seasonal vegetables … served with a fish sauce based dip! Even though Madison has its fair share of international students, it was still a bit of surprise that he would choose to use certain flavor profiles, and ingredients not normally paired with them. All his dishes were extremely flavorful, fresh, bright, and new.
Heritage Tavern was the best place to bring a group of friends: one of our favorite meals was my 30th birthday + Chinese New Year. There might be some bias because we were also celebrating our engagement, but our family-style meal was absolutely amazing! Chef Fox delivered a roast suckling pig head (along with a couple pork shoulders) with steamed buns, several whole fish (for luck!), and multiple of our favorite appetizers: like their various styles of deviled eggs, a surprisingly delicious pairing of crispy headcheese with escargot, and a duo of foie gras and tuna sashimi. We ended this epic meal with food comas and their gigantic family-style Heritage Sundae!
Meanwhile, L’Etoile (nominated for Best Outstanding Restaurant 2017) with Chef Tory Miller (JBF’s Best Chef: Midwest in 2012) has a particularly special place in my heart because my husband & I celebrated many special occasions there – including our dating anniversary every year, several birthdays, my husband’s graduation from UW-Madison. I think I counted 12 visits in 4 years… on a grad student stipend! But it was always completely worth it, because they make every effort to make your meal extra special: from personalizing the menus to complimentary bubbly when you sit down.
The service is always warm, welcoming, and absolutely sincere. Like much of Wisconsin and the rest of the Midwest, people are always friendly – which makes celebrating at an upscale restaurant even more enjoyable & approachable. Our little secret was to stop by and just sit at the bar; the menu was the same, and the service was just as impeccable & attentive as when we sat at the tables.
One of main things I love about L’Etoile is that you can often find Chef Miller and his crew out at the Dane County Farmers Market pulling long a large wooden wagon full of fresh local produce. Watching them shop taught me to keep my eyes open at the market for new items to try. This also made me gain even more respect for those who actually practice what they preach about sourcing locally & seasonally. Fortunately for us, many of the chefs in Madison loved to take advantage of the ever-changing market as well… and I learned a LOT from my experience there.
**Update: final nominees were announced on March 15th, and unfortunately none of the Madison-based restaurants made it… But they’re all amazing anyway!