The Capital Times • 3rd August 2021

Just a sample: Smaller Taste of Madison gears up for Breese debut

Taste of Madison moved off the Capitol Square for a variety of COVID-related reasons. The move wasn’t universally popular. But Sara Klemme, president of Madison Festivals, sounded both determined and optimistic at a preview event.

The Capital Times • 28th July 2021

A food cart without wheels: Taco Local tries a new model on Willy Street

The taco shop 811 Williamson St. is essentially a food cart without wheels. The menu has been streamlined, so similar toppings on petite tacos fit in limited cooler space and the kitchen can be managed by one cook at a time.

The Capital Times • 6th July 2021

Globally inspired Hone refines itself on East Johnson Street

At his three-month-old restaurant, Hone, Mike Parks asked chef Adam Droski to play around with dishes he loved. Reinterpret those culturally specific foods to create a “common language.”

The Capital Times • 3rd June 2021

Reopening Sardine, Part 1: Sardine’s pandemic year

The Corner Table: Reopening Sardine is a limited series. For this first episode, we interviewed Sardine's co-owners John Gadau and Phillip Hurley about what it was like to shut down for over a year.

Feast and Field • 31st May 2021

That’s my jam: 3 recipes with homemade preserves

Chef Laurel Burleson makes lots of jams, jellies, marmalades and preserves these days as the owner of Ugly Apple Café, her food cart in Madison, Wisconsin, that focuses on breakfast.

Feast and Field • 31st May 2021

Quince & Apple preserves the sweetness of Midwestern summer

The husband and wife team of Matt and Clare Stoner Fehsenfeld founded Quince & Apple in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2009. Their delicate, not-too-sweet preserves often include tea — peach chamomile, tart cherry and white tea, figs and black tea — and aromatic elements. They’re designed to pair with cheese, crackers and cured meats. (Part of a five-part package)

The Capital Times • 21st May 2021

Cooking with the Cap Times featuring Dan Fox of Heritage Tavern

Heritage Tavern founder and chef Dan Fox demonstrates how to make panko-crusted pork tenderloin with a rhubarb, cabbage and radish slaw while talking to Cap Times food editor Lindsay Christians in the test kitchen at Kessenich's in Madison, Wisconsin.

The Capital Times • 19th May 2021

A destructive cocktail: At Merchant and Lucille, a pattern of tirades and rage

Staff described violent outbursts that sometimes became physical, tirades in front of diners, threats and unpredictable rage.

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."

YouTube • 17th February 2021

Cooking with the Cap Times: chef Evan Dannells of Cadre

Cap Times food editor Lindsay Christians talks with chef Evan Dannells of the Madison, Wisconsin, restaurant Cadre as he makes bouillabaisse.

The Capital Times • 13th February 2021

Don't delete these cookies: 6 Madison-area bakers to satisfy a sweet tooth

Cookies by Calli’s royally iced cut-outs are part of what looks like a cookie boom. Amped by Instagram, growing by word of mouth and finding their way into markets, cookie businesses are hot.

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 • 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 • 6th January 2021

Cooking the books: 9 cookbooks to kickstart your kitchen

Cookbooks do reliable recipes better than anything else. As I kickstart my cooking for another season of dining in, these are some of the cookbooks (and cocktail books) that drew me back into my kitchen in 2020, and a peek at what’s next.

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.”

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.

The Capital Times • 3rd October 2020

Salud!: 'United States of Cocktails' captures a cocktail boom

While he was traveling, researching and writing last year, Brian Bartels had no idea his celebration of American spirits would become a time capsule.

The Capital Times • 1st October 2020

The Corner Table podcast: At the grill with Heavy Kevy

Kevy is not a chef. He’s not a brand ambassador or social media influencer or an ad rep for anything. He’s just a dude who likes to cook and decided to start making videos about it, and they're pretty great.