The Capital Times • 3rd March 2021

As dining rooms reopen, restaurants rewrite the message to boost customer confidence

To hear some restaurateurs tell it, the problem with COVID safety in restaurants is not about masks. It’s about messaging. “There’s still a lack of confidence,” said Craig Culver, co-founder and retired CEO of Culver’s, a Wisconsin-based fast food franchise with 796 locations nationally.

The Capital Times • 20th February 2021

How to think smarter about ordering takeout and delivery

Garibaldi Mexican Restaurant is on all the apps: EatStreet, Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub. Every order helps, but Erik Francisco Doroteo would really prefer that customers call. “The deliveries always take a commission."

The Capital Times • 8th February 2021

Winter is Alive! lights up Madison with art about climate change

Some 30 sculptures will be hung, carved, dragged, lit and inflated around Madison. Crafted from fabric, wood and metal as well as ice and snow, each piece is part of Winter is Alive!, a new multi-disciplinary arts exhibition of global proportions. The event is an invitation for Madisonians to get out and (safely) enjoy the winter weather, while thinking critically about climate change.

The Capital Times • 10th January 2021

Comfort cuisine is flying out the door at Miller Family Meat & Three

As a co-owner and chef of Madison’s most celebrated fine dining restaurant, Tory Miller is no newcomer. Yet his latest concept, Miller Family Meat & Three, acts like a start-up. When Miller posts a video about the brisket, get it while it’s hot or don’t get it at all.

The Capital Times • 13th January 2021

One Old Fashioned to go, please: New bill aims to legalize takeout cocktails in Wisconsin

The Settle Down’s Red Squirrel Old Fashioned includes three liquors and two types of bitters. A packaged cocktail kit for that drink alone would cost $125. At the bar, one cocktail costs $10. “We’ve already had people ask,” Bartels said. “‘Can we get a cocktail to go?'"

The Capital Times • 4th November 2020

Cold comfort: With winter on its way, Madison restaurants scramble to stay alive

“We’re grinding through this for the pleasure of being able to do what we do for a living when this is over,” said Evan Dannells, chef/owner of Cadre. “As proud as we are that we’ve been nimble and able to explore areas of creativity, that we’ve diversified, I want to make sure the tone is not that we’re OK. None of us is OK. We’re on the cusp of mass closings. And nobody’s going to do anything until lots of restaurants start closing.”

madison.com • 24th October 2020

State Street murals, Black Lives Matter inspire new gallery show

“From Here On Out,” set to run through the end of February, features work by more than 17 Black artists and allies who support the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Capital Times • 22nd October 2020

‘This is going to be a long haul': Local taverns close for the winter

“It’s not an economic environment or a political environment for a business like mine to stay open,” Warnke said. “The government can’t get its stuff together. We can’t control the pandemic, and it’s getting worse in Wisconsin.”

madison.com • 10th October 2020

How Culver's created its take on the veggie burger

Plant-based “meat” is trying for similarity, while Culver's Harvest Veggie burger looks and tastes like vegetables, cheese and grains. That seems to be the point.

Cap Times Idea Fest • 28th September 2020

Rethinking restaurants: How COVID-19 is transforming the service industry

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the brokenness in a restaurant industry that too often exploited workers, perpetuated inequity and deprioritized mental health, all on perilously thin business margins. On this panel, we'll talk about how a time of crisis could lead to radical, positive change. Featuring Ashley Kosiak of the James Beard Foundation, Dave Heide of Liliana's Restaurant and Francesca Hong of Morris Ramen.

The Capital Times • 5th September 2020

Pick-up picnics, virtual brands: This is dining in a pandemic

This is what a new food business looks like during a pandemic: fewer staff, a focus on off-premises and ingredient crossover.

The Capital Times • 2nd October 2020

Missing American Players Theatre? Take a walk in the woods, and listen

If These Trees Could Talk takes visitors on a two-hour tour of the APT grounds and theater, set to poetry read by APT actors and stories of their experiences on the hill.

The Capital Times • 2nd July 2020

Your bartender tested positive for COVID. Now what?

“Workers call and they’re so angry,” Koenig said. “They want to know who it was they work with who tested positive. But it’s not their right to know that information unless it affects them.”

The Capital Times • 23rd April 2020

The Corner Table podcast: Grocery workers become 'essential'

Two local grocery workers discuss how they cope with coronavirus precautions, effects of panic buying and what shoppers can do to keep them safe.

The Capital Times • 22nd February 2020

Grubhub hubbub: Restaurants fire back at delivery companies that post menus without consent

Over the past few weeks, restaurateurs across Madison have been raising a chorus of frustration over the tactics of third-party delivery companies like DoorDash, Grubhub and Postmates.

Growler Magazine • 1st August 2019

Iron Woman: American Skillet Company and FeLion Studios’ Alisa Toninato forges a career in cast iron art

Two summers ago, five days past her due date, Alisa Toninato stood at the outer edges of an iron pour in Cambridge, Wisconsin. She was uncomfortable, and not just because her daughter, Rhea, wouldn’t arrive for another week. She wanted to get in on the action.

Growler Magazine • 28th May 2019

The Cheese Stands Alone: Willi Lehner forges world-class wheels on his self-sufficient wisconsin farmstead

Above the rolling hills near Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, at Willi Lehner’s 16-acre farmstead, a turbine spins in the wind. It looks like a child’s toy on top of an Erector set, but that wind turbine, in combination with a fleet of solar panels, generates about five times as much power as the whole farm needs.

Columbus Monthly • 27th March 2019

Best Driving Vacations: Madison, the Cultural Capital

"Being Forward" reflects a cultural aesthetic that feels particular to Madison—progressive values, deep local ties and a view of the future with a healthy respect for the past.

The Capital Times • 21st November 2018

Out of the box: After 25 years, community supported agriculture farms adapt to a changing market

Farmers worry that the number of new CSA members isn’t growing enough to sustain new farms and the growth of existing ones. Some are giving more choice, letting members build a box online before it’s delivered or selling market shares. Others emphasize convenience.

The Capital Times • 14th March 2018

Off the Menu: Could the #MeToo movement change sexual harassment in Madison’s restaurant industry?

In Madison, diners fawn over farm-raised chickens and celebrate forward-thinking chefs. Yet harassment is here, too. A few months ago, the Cap Times began reaching out to cooks, servers, baristas and bartenders, asking them to tell their stories.