Critiques, Cravings and Conundrums From the Madison Food and Dining Scene
Small Dishes |
10/31/11TONY
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10/19/11Adventures in Good EatingThat was the name of Duncan Hines’ restaurant guide in 1950s. He was the Tim and Nina Zagat of his day and the leading authority on dining out. Today, most people only recognize his name as that of a popular cake mix. Fame as a restaurant critic is fleeting and taste in food fickle. Just like what we eat, much has changed about the restaurant business in the last 50 years. For one thing, “adventure” and “good eating” are rarely associated with each other anymore. The success of chains like McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken were built on uniformity and no surprises. Now, a restaurant adventure has become a pejorative. Even Duncan Hines admitted, “I've run more risk eating... Posted at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments: 3 |
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10/05/11Counter CultureIt seems way too early to be thinking about Christmas, but it’s difficult not to, going to Target and Costco and seeing all the holiday glitter already on display. Like many, thinking about Christmas takes me back to when I was a little kid, because that’s when it was the most alive and real. Then shopping was an adventure, special from the start because I wore my best clothes even though it wasn’t Sunday. It was an essential ingredient in the anticipation of Christmas that never came fast enough. I still remember the thrill of squandering the $20 fortune that Aunt Bertie Louise gave me each year—much better than the Savings Bond I got on my birthday. I especially miss going to the five and dime, stores like S. S. Kresge and F. W. Woolworth.... |
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09/21/11Dining & Drinking Down UnderNo, I don’t have Australian cuisine on my mind. I’m not even sure I know what that is; surely not what they serve at Outback Steakhouse. I’ve been thinking about basement restaurants and why inexplicably they can be appealing. It flies in the face of logic that anyone over the age of 12 would relish the idea of dining, or even drinking for that matter, in a cellar! What makes for atmosphere, however, cannot easily be defined. My first experience of dining below street level was in Greenwich Village. I was in high school and with a friend and her rather eccentric aunt who lived there. She reminded me of Aunty Mame and took us to a little Italian restaurant, obviously her favorite. Just like in the movies, the tables had red... |
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09/05/11By the Side of the RoadIn the chaotic clutter and too often ticky-tacky of modern life, it’s still possible to find treasure and sometime when least expected. After all, television shows such as Antiques Roadshow and American Pickers wouldn’t be so popular otherwise. I recently made my I-hate-to-admit-it first trip to Door County and thought I’d share a few of the places on and off the road that gave me pleasure. I’m not much for traveling any distance in the car—perhaps that explains why I’d never gone to Door County before—so any excuse to stop is welcome and Ardy and Ed’s Drive-In in Oshkosh is a good one. The first time I came upon this place it was at night after traveling some distance down a very dark highway, and seeing its bright... |
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08/27/11Seeing More SeafoodNo doubt you’ve heard the joke, “I’m on the seafood diet … I see food and I eat it. Actually, I could very well subsist on a seafood diet—fresh fish and shellfish. I’m known to go on the lobster roll diet when I go to Cape Cod and the oyster diet when I go to New Orleans. I just can’t get enough, but I should start at the beginning.Growing up, in the center of the country far away from the bounty of the ocean was limiting to say the least. When I lived in Kentucky, I enjoyed fried catfish and fried oysters and still do to this day. Moving to Wisconsin, local lake fish—perch and walleye most likely—at the Friday night fish fry were a weekly rendezvous. I also remember occasionally seeing... |
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08/14/11Loving the Love AppleLa Pomme D'Amour—the love apple)—is the name the French adoringly gave the tomato back in the 16th Century. As things go, tomatoes, a native to South America, came to the European table relatively recently. It’s unclear as to who brought back the first tomato from the New World: maybe the Spanish explorer Cortez after he conquered the Aztecs in Mexico, but possibly even Columbus as early as 1493. Surprisingly, considering their national fondness for tomatoes, they were only used as ornamental table decorations in Italy until the late 17th or early 18th centuries. This was because at worse they wore thought to be poisonous (the plant belongs to the deadly nightshade family) and at best unsuitable for eating. Even though the tomato... |
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07/22/11Summer: Drink It Up!It’s time to put away the dark whiskey, martini glasses and olives. Instead, bring out the ice and lots of it. It’s hard to imagine summer without a margarita, mojito or caipirinha at some point; not to mention a gin and tonic. Gin and tonic is the classic summer libation. Like most good things, it has a history. Tonic water made with quinine was originally serious medicine, drunk in India by the British to ward off malaria. Some smart person figured out that adding gin masked the bitter quinine and made this remedy downright enjoyable. The Brits brought their taste for gin and tonic back home with them. Tonic water there is still called “India Tonic”, and when mixed with gin, affectionately referred to as a... |
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07/13/11Fantasy FeastIt’s that time again. Restaurant week approaches: July 24 - 29. I always regret that I have to pick which of the many participating restaurants I will be able to go to for great food that’s a great deal--$25 for three courses. It would be nice to think I could go out for lunch and dinner each of the six days, but that’s not going to happen. (My diet is challenged enough as it is.) What I would really like is to pick and choose between all the choices—most places offer at least three different three-course menus—at all 37 restaurants participating. And, then have this perfect meal delivered and served to me at my house. Okay, that’s not going to happen either, but here would be my eight-course fantasy... |
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06/29/11Four for the FourthCome Independence Day, it’s a given that most of us will be attending a picnic or cookout; more likely the latter. The idea of sitting on the ground and eating cold food out of a basket is now more nostalgic than appealing. Cooking in the backyard—like most everything else—has gone high tech with gas grills than rival a Maserati in both style and cost. The menu has changed as well and for many a wienie with yellow mustard on a doughy bun is just too pedestrian. However, the Fourth is a celebration of all things American. Granted we have become so multicultural than increasingly that gets more difficult to define. For me the holiday would be incomplete without certain classic summertime favorites. The list of entrees is... |
I found my interest in writing by accident. My training and first job was as a graphic designer. Unemployed, the only employment I could find in advertising at that time was as a copywriter. Somehow, I convinced Richard Newman & Associates to hire me. Later I learned they were desperate. Madison has been my home off and on since 1957 (nonstop for the past 31 years). I write about food, which I love. – Dan Curd
