Bonfyre, Madison

A new place opened recently in Madison, Bonfyre. Vic and I had perused the menu online. It looked good - a little pricey. There aren't many detailed descriptions of dishes. Things are listed like "Chopped Salad" without description, or the descriptions are brief, "San Francisco style fish stew." Anyway, the other thing that kept us from visiting right away was the location. The restaurant is in the bottom floor of a new office building in which the street level has been turned into a strip mall. It's next to a sub shop. We read some good reviews and decided to stop in for burger at the bar. I'm glad we did because this place totally rules.

Despite its odd location the restaurant is very large. Lots of stone and wood on the interior makes you forget the glass front. There are several dining areas, a large exposed kitchen and a big beautiful bar. The bar is very comfortable. Just flat granite with no rail. Lots of bars have some big rail on the bar's edge, preventing one from pulling their plate forward when dining. No such problem here. The bar stools are also nice and cushy with backs. Plenty of TVs surround the bar without making you feel like you're at Hooter's. It's very comfortable - relaxing even.

We started with the Maytag Blue Potato Chips. These were thick-cut perfectly cooked home made chips covered in a mix of blue cheese and pepper jack. Delicious! Then we both had a burger. We think they're the best burgers in Madison. Flame-broiled 1/2 pound patties on toasted ciabatta buns. They've got every cheese you could want. The burgers come with with fries, smashed potatoes, asian slaw, tabbouleh, or vegetables. I had the asian slaw, which was a little dry. Vickie had the smashed potatoes, which were very rich and cheesy. Oh, and the burgers are $9 with fixins an additional fifty cents. Incredible.

On our next visit we hit the bar again. This time we started with the Queso Fundito. It was a blend of white Mexican cheeses, chorizo, and chiles, served with blue corn chips. It was another winner. Vickie said she could have it every time we come, but then remembered how awesome the potato chips were. This time we shared a burger with bacon, pepper jack and fried onions. We noticed that for $2 we could add either a caesar, wedge, house salad, butternut squash soup, or gumbo with our burger. And not instead of the side, but in addition to it. I love wedge salads, so we got that and fries. The wedge was small, but very good. Great blue cheese dressing with lots of blue cheese crumbles on the top. The fries were solid. The burger was once again, fantastic.

The service so far has been great and they pour a good drink. We haven't been for dinner yet, but now I can't wait. Thank god for Bonfyre, my new favorite place in Madison.

Nitty Gritty - Middleton

Today Vickie, the kids and I visited Nitty Gritty for the first time. There are two locations, one off campus and the one we visited in Middleton. The Middleton location is much larger than the outside would leave you to believe. There are two stories and lots of TVs. We went around 1:00pm on a Sunday and the place was almost empty. It's kind of Friday's-esque inside.

The service was good. Our server got our order, all particular in some fashion, mostly right. I was missing some bacon on my burger but that was fixed promptly. She did a really good job keeping up with drinks which were going quickly.

The Nitty Gritty always shows up on best burger lists in Madison. The burgers just aren't that good, which is part of my problem with Madison. The burgers aren't juicy, or flavorful, or memorable in any way. Vickie and I both got burgers. She got a roasted garlic burger, which was really, really garlicky. No complaints there. I got a burger with pepper jack, bacon and grilled onions. The burgers are six ounce. I always think eight ounce should at least be an option. They do offer a double, which I would never order, or would never admit to. Many of the burgers come with Gritty Sauce (a variant of thousand island). Our problem was mainly the buns, which were wheat, and were kind of sweet and a little soggy. Declan had a breaded chicken sandwich on a pretzel bun that he loved. Jane had chicken fingers that she also said were good. We all had fries which were well-cooked. We started with cheese curds that were marginal at best.

I should mention that the menu is is pretty diverse. There's a veggie burger, a black bean burger, a salmon burger, a cod fillet, and several different chicken options. They even had some interesting looking salads. The problem is that The Nitty Gritty represents itself as being a great place for burgers, and it's not. Maybe we'll go back sometime so Declan can get the chicken sandwich again. Maybe.

Parkway Restaurant - Madison, WI

We have a dearth of good breakfast places in Madison. It's kind of hard to explain. It really bothers me because back in Long Beach, we had a bunch of totally badass breakfast joints. We do have a favorite place, however, and it is pretty solid. We go to Parkway. Parkway is tucked away in the curve of an off ramp at Fish Hatchery and the Beltline. You don't really notice it. In fact, we've mentioned it to several people and no one seems to remember seeing it there. It's like a void in everyone's memory. However, the locals must know about it because it's usually packed.

Parkway is an old fashioned greasy spoon restaurant. It's family run. No frills, but clean. The Greek folks that own the place are always there. The service is great. Vickie and I take the kids. The busboy always knows we want the usual - two coffees and two hot chocolates with whipped cream. Vickie loves the fact that they always leave a pitcher of coffee on the table for her (us). Jane loves the pancakes. Thick, fluffy and not too chewy. Dec loves the French toast. Today Vickie got biscuits and gravy, though she usually get eggs and grits. The biscuits and gravy were good, not great. It's not perfect. I got the panhandle which is, you know, a panhandle dish with everything in it: hashers, onions, peppers, mushrooms, american cheese and a meat of choice , topped with three eggs. Their eggs are pan-fried in butter. Oh, I should also mention that they actually serve eggs over-medium. I don't know why this is so difficult, but lots of places can't make it happen. I usually get my pan handle with gyro meat, which isn't on the menu, but they hook me up. Today, however, I was feeling the link sausage. It was deeelicious.

I have a friend who said he didn't like Parkway. He explained that he was put off because they served him american cheese. I get it, but I have a couple of thoughts. First of all, the place is cheap as hell. You're not going to get gruyere . And second, I know they'd hook him up with anything he asked for. That's the kind of place it is.

Culver's

Why review Culver's you may ask? Well, people from outside the Midwest probably haven't been, and Culver's is really good. Culver's is a burgers/frozen custard chain all over the Midwest. What is frozen custard? I'm glad you asked, thanks. Frozen custard is like soft serve ice cream, but richer and creamier. My understanding is that custard has more butterfat and egg yolk in it. It took me a few times to tell the difference, but frozen custard is waaay better. Waaaay. It comes in different flavors and you can get sundaes, shakes, cones, etc. I usually get vanilla custard with strawberries and cashews. I have to say they always hook me up with the 'shews. They've also got just about everything else you can think of to add to custard from nuts to berries to Reese's to gummy bears. Oh, and they have ice cream sandwiches with real oreo cookies. Shoot me.

Culver's is also a burger joint. The food is really fresh and high quality (for a burger joint). The burgers remind me of In-N-Out. I know, I know... that's sacrilege, you say. The burgers are grilled, though the grills must run hot, because there is usually a little char on there. Culver's also grills and butters the buns - thus the name Butter Burgers. You can get singles, double or triples. Also, when you order a meal you have lots of choices for sides. You can get fries, cheese curds, green beans, or a side salad. Culver's also has more "real food" than the usual burger joint. You can usually get several types of soup. I think they had four different kinds today. Vickie loves one of the salads. It comes with romaine, tomato, chicken croutons, and lots of shaved parmesan. She swears by it. At night, there's always a dinner special too. You know, real dinner like pot roast with mashers and green beans or something. They also have fish and chips, fried chicken, etc. It's all good (for a burger joint).

I've admitted before to being a food snob. That doesn't mean I don't like burgers. I just like good ones. For fast food, I think Culver's is as good as it gets, at least in the Midwest. Further, frozen custard can kick ice cream, frozen yogurt and gelato to the curb. Guaranteed.

Last night Vickie and I went to Eno Vino in Madison. The funny thing is that it's right around the corner from Vickie's house and we've never been. I found it by doing a google search for best restaurants in Madison. Most reviews online were positive, with the negatives complaining about the prices. I really don't pay too much attention to those because some people just don't get paying for good food. Overall, we liked it.

Eno Vino is in the corner of a shopping center. The place is deceptively large because the entry is in the corner of the shopping center. The bar is very large, as is the dining area. The dining room, where we sat, was dark but relaxing. We noticed that several tables in the bar area had arm chairs. Nice. The crowd was kind of odd for Madison - kind of baby-boomer meat market. Cougarville deluxe.

The service was a little slow but it was because our server was busy. When he got to us he was very attentive. The wine list is extensive. I had a wine flight of three cabs for $15. All were nice. The glasses sit on a little card so you can read about the different wines. We started with some rather bland wheat bread and butter that I think was unsalted. Vickie thought it was meant to compliment wine. Maybe so.

The menu is tapas style. The food isn't Spanish, but the plates are meant to be shared. We had feared that the food would be really small, but those fears were unfounded. We ordered three items: a flatbread, the squash gnocchi and the truffled fries. Oh, and we got desert to go, too. It was forgettable.

The flatbread was the Chef's Special. About the size of a medium pizza, the special had prosciutto, arugula, fontina and parm. No red sauce, just some garlic cream sauce (but not much). The ingredients were top quality. It grew on me as we worked through it. It was a simple, but strong start.

Next we had the Roasted Squash Gnocchi. Great presentation. The acorn squash came out on fire. When the flames died down, we removed the top to find a cheesy, gooey interior. It was stuffed with squash gnocchi, a melted cheese sauce, toasted marcona almonds, and roasted red peppers. The flavors were pretty subtle. The cheese was supposed to be manchego, which we both love. It wasn't. That might have been more exciting. Instead, we think they used more fontina. Maybe they ran out of manchego. It was still good, just not as good as it looked or sounded.

Last, we got the truffled fries. They came out well after we were done with the other dishes. I'm not sure they planned it that way. Vickie like truffles more than I do. The fries were steak cut . They were well-cooked, which I always like. A garlic aioli, Thai ketchup and marsala cheese sauce were served on the side. They were all fine - nothing spectacular. Vickie correctly observed that the cheese sauce, supposedly marsala-flavored, had lots of flour in it. I dunno, maybe it was just that I was already full when they showed up. I don't think I'd order them again, but Vickie liked them.

I almost forgot. We also got the red velvet cake to go. It was weak - not even cake. It was about the size of a hockey puck but a little thicker. The whole thing was a serving of cream-cheese based icing with two 1/4" strips of cake inside, along with some berry compote on the side.

Overall, we had a good meal at Eno Vino. It's the kind of place I'll try again hoping I'll like other dishes more. Maybe that will be another blog post.

Django - Des Moines

So Vickie and I visited Django in Des Moines. I had eaten there once by accident. The band I was traveling with stayed at the hotel in which Django is located - The Hotel Ft. Des Moines. I remember calling her then and telling her about how great the food was - I had the burger. I couldn't wait to take her there myself.

The atmosphere is come as you are but nice. White tile and wood paneling. White shirts and black neckties. Their motto is "All French- No Attitude." It fits.

We rolled in about 6:00pm on a Saturday night. The place was packed, which was a surprise because it's in a downtown area that seemed totally dead. Tumbleweeds dead. We were told that the only available seats were at the bar, which was fine because we usually eat at the bar anyway. Why? Because the service is usually better at the bar. Your server can disappear to god-knows-where to smoke, call his/her boyfriend/girlfriend, or go next door for a drink (I've seen it happen). The bartender can't really take off. Plus, bartenders are usually good talkers. Anyway, the bar was very comfortable. This is key. Most bars have some type of railing on the edge that makes it difficult to comfortably eat. Not so at Django. It's a flattop. Plus, they have nice cushy padded seats with backs. Awesome.

The service here was excellent. The bartender was very social and you can tell he really likes the food. He gave plenty of helpful hints about the menu. He reminded me of me, when I used to tend bar. I used to talk customers into letting me order dinner for them. I always had happy customers.

They gave us warm bread to start. It was rolled into little claw-shaped buds -a little salty. Delicious. Then, we started with the duck frites. Yes, french fries actually are French. They call them frites and they know what they're doing. These particular frites were cooked in duck fat. Jesus, they were good. Especially when you dip them in the bacon aioli, harrisa mayonnaise, or thai ketchup. I liked the Thai ketchup more than I thought I would, and not much needs to be said for the bacon aioli.

For entrees, Vickie had the Cassoulet and I had the chops. The cassoulet was duck leg confit, served in a white bean, sausage and bacon stew. The whole thing was covered in bread crumbs and baked. It was fantastic. I like duck more each time I have it.

I had the chops for dinner. They were exquisite. They came with two sauces - a dijon and a demi-glaze. Each was really good, but together they were great. The chops were a perfect medium and I suspect they'd been brined. The chops were accompanied by a cheesy potato casserole - crusty on the top and cheesy goodness underneath. The green beans were fine.

The weakest point of the meal was dessert. We took the lemon mascarpone cheesecake to go. It was a little too subtle - didn't really taste like much. The crust was weak. It was inoffensive, but that's all.

Overall, the meal was a real winner. A great meal in one of my favorite towns. Give it a try - you'll thank me later.