The Cap Times • 20th June 2022

Brunch better at diner-style East Johnson Family Restaurant

Billing itself as “Madison’s coziest, greasiest spoon,” East Johnson Family Restaurant doesn’t take itself too seriously. Chef Michael Davis oversees an abbreviated menu populated with “morndogs” (little corndogs with maple syrup, for breakfast!) and chili dogs, summer sausage and potted cheese with Ritz crackers, and the traditional smashed-on-a-flattop diner burger.

The Cap Times • 8th June 2022

Harassment on State: Botanist Social staff describe a disturbing pattern

Seven former employees of the seven-month-old Botanist Social on State Street describe an ongoing, unchecked pattern of harassment at the downtown nightspot. “The Botanist is like a pretty little Venus flytrap,” Erika Pedersen said. “This industry is permeated with men who have money and means to do whatever they want, until women like us say something.”

The Cap Times • 11th May 2022

How Madison delivers: The rise of the ghost kitchen

For years, one of the best places to open a new restaurant was next to another restaurant. Then a global pandemic tossed everyone into the fryer, flipped some hot trends and threw others in the trash. Now, the best location for a new restaurant might be no location at all.

The Cap Times • 10th April 2022

The Ready Set is ready for date night and play dates in Oregon

Nobody wants to think too hard about Brussels sprouts and bacon, or steamed mussels with fennel and pepperoni, or pastry chef Jean Torija’s beautiful, quad-stacked, cream cheese-frosted red velvet cake. We can just eat them and be happy.

The Cap Times • 30th March 2022

Wisconsin invests in small-scale butchers as demand for local meat rises

Small-scale Wisconsin farmers and the communities they serve need people with butchery skills, particularly in rural areas. A recent infusion of federal and state money directed to meat processors and butchers aims to address a persistent gap between farm and table.

The Cap Times • 21st March 2022

Six years in the making, Bandit Tacos opens in historic Madison depot

Bandit essentially takes the place of Porter, a coffee shop that opened in the fall of 2016. The space next to The Harvey House and Motorless Motion Bicycles now seats 60 on a glassed-in platform with panels that will open in summer.

The Cap Times • 10th March 2022

Historic Paoli cheese factory to become Seven Acre Dairy Company

Sitka Salmon founder Nic Mink and his wife, Danika Laine, have embarked on a $10 million plan to renovate a historic cheese factory. Plans for Seven Acre Dairy include an 8-room boutique hotel, a farm to table restaurant, a dairy café, a creamery and a micro-butter plant.

The Cap Times • 10th March 2022

Madison restaurants fight COVID 'hangover' as federal funding stalls

To stay viable through the pandemic, restaurants deferred rent payments. They took out loans and shelled out money for masks, gloves, to-go boxes and bags. Supply chain issues pushed up costs. Wages needed to rise. “Politicians are looking at it like, ‘Businesses are bouncing back. Why do they need us to give them money now?’” said Tory Miller, who with Dianne Christensen owns L’Etoile and Graze in Madison. “People need to understand that so many of us aren’t out of it. We are really hurting still.”

Feast and Field • 7th March 2022

Are women the future of farming? The Female Farmer Project thinks so

Audra Mulkern is a Washington-based documentary photographer, podcaster and researcher who founded the Female Farmer Project, a multi-platform documentary project that chronicles the rise of women working in agriculture around the world.

The Cap Times • 16th February 2022

Find birria to bubble tea at the Global Market & Food Hall

Some 18 months after Global Market opened (eight months later than planned) in a former Babies “R” Us, diners are still discovering it for the first time. That a 46,000-square-foot space, Madison’s equivalent to an H Mart or Mitsuwa, could fly under the city’s culinary radar is, perhaps, a symptom of opening during a global pandemic.

The Cap Times • 31st January 2022

Small private dinners draw Madison diners amid COVID concerns

January tends to be a slow time for restaurants, and lately, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has led to even more empty seats. Is a private, reserved dinner the safest way to dine out right now?

Feast and Field • 13th January 2022

Joy in a jar: Big Spoon Roasters’ nut butters celebrate a sustainable mission

Big Spoon Roasters president Mark Overbay has a list of 40 nut butter ideas he’s working on at any given time. These go beyond the Durham, North Carolina company’s rich lineup of nut butters, which already includes almond butter blended with chai spices, espresso, Fiji ginger and toasted coconut. What about pistachios? Figs? Pineapple and lime? That’s where the R&D club comes in.

The Cap Times • 15th December 2021

‘Madison Chefs’ tells stories of culinary change in Wisconsin's capital

“Madison Chefs: Stories of Food, Farms, and People” highlights nine local chefs who re-imagined what Wisconsin food could be, from New Jersey-influenced farm-focused pizza to Wisconsin-style bibimbap.

The Cap Times • 14th December 2021

Fitchburg food insecurity nonprofit Little John’s pivots to catering

Little John’s started as a pay-what-you-can restaurant concept, and that’s still part of the dream. But lately it looks a lot more like a commercial catering company, one that serves nonprofits.

The Cap Times • 7th December 2021

Casetta Kitchen pop-up Lady Bird goes live on Saturday nights

Seanna Whalen and chef Nick Larke operate Lady Bird Dinner Parties, a pop-up operating out of Casetta Kitchen and Counter Saturday nights since mid-October. Lady Bird serves one five-course menu for one price ($50) to about two dozen guests.

The Cap Times • 1st December 2021

EatStreet launches virtual market, ghost kitchens on State Street

EatStreet, the Madison-based food delivery company, has taken over a storefront at 420 State St. and turned it into several connected delivery-driven concepts: a 7-11-style virtual convenience store and three “ghost kitchens” making tacos, pasta and salads.

The Cap Times • 12th November 2021

'The Wisconsin Supper Clubs Story' is a trip back in time

“The Wisconsin Supper Clubs Story,” subtitled “an Illustrated History, with Relish,” explores the supper club’s origin story myth and the colorful history of Wisconsin dining establishments still proud of long-ago mob ties.

The Cap Times • 1st November 2021

Kettle Black Kitchen cooks like it’s Sunday supper, all weekend long

The food at Kettle Black Kitchen on Monroe Street is good, in a homey, hearty, Sunday supper kind of way. Call it cozy.

Feast and Field • 26th October 2021

The hottest cocktail trends of 2021

This past year has shifted and amplified trends in how, what and where people drink. These types of changes are being seen throughout the entire industry, not just a select few brands. Here’s a look at how shopping at your local liquor store may look different these days.

The Capital Times • 18th October 2021

Make it like Manna: Cookbook captures bygone Madison café

If you have to endure a pandemic, write a cookbook. That’s the friendly advice from Barb Pratzel in her new “Manna Café and Bakery Cookbook.”