12:30 Lunch- Alchemy Café, 1980 Atwood Ave
The latest gastro pub in Madison has been on my culinary radar since it opened a couple months back. Having a large group of folks (7 in all as my best bud and his wife joined us as well), seemed like the perfect opportunity to try the place out. The former Wonder’s Pub can be difficult to find since it seems to make no sense that the strip of road it occupies is still Atwood. Make sure you find it though because this place is soooo worth it. When dining with a group of seven you expect to find some missteps, but the ones we found here were so minor. My Bloody Mary was a little weak and lacked the spice I love, and one companion found the potato salad ok instead of great. Other then that, I think we were all in love with the food. The buffalo melt with fresh mozzarella was tender and had a great sweet savory combo thanks to the caramelized onions and garlic dressing. The already famous wasabi green beans lived up to the hype, and somehow managed not to be overpowering while maintaining the wasabi heat. The thin cut fries were crisp on the outside and full of potato mushiness on the inside. A house salad with glazed carrots and Door County cherry vinaigrette was smarter and tastier then the average salad. Perhaps the biggest star was the simple chips and salsa. The fresh fried chips were the best tortilla chips I’ve ever had. The chips seemed to have been dusted in chili powder right before they were fried. A hint of lime made the chip complete, and while the corn based salsa was tasty, we could have all eaten the warm puffy chips by themselves. One post meal complaint is the lack of website for the new dining destination. I looked this morning to find the details of the tasty burger and ham sandwich other companions enjoyed but came up empty. Get thee to a web designer Alchemy owners…stat!
3:00 Snack- Chocolate Shoppe, Multiple Locations including 519 S Midvale Blvd
After our filling lunch we took a walk through Atwood’s street festival in an attempt to work it off. Of course right after our hike through hippy-ville flanked with tasty street fair, our hunger pains raised right back up. Thankfully after a short drive back to my neck of the woods, an oasis of frozen goodness arose in the form of the Chocolate Shoppe. While the University’s Babcock ice cream is the undisputed champ of Madison ice cream, Chocolate Shoppe is a very close second. On this visit I went with a green tea ice cream that was smooth, velvety and dangerously creamy. The Shoppe’s soy based ice cream also got high marks from two of my companions who were looking for a less dairy and more health based option.
7:00 Dinner- Tex Tubb’s Taco Palace, 2701 University Ave and 2009 Atwood Avenue
When we were in the Atwood neighborhood my visitors were all intrigued by Tex Tubb’s original location. Both my partner and I are huge fans of Chef Kevin Tubb’s food and regaled our visitors with tales of his food. His El Dorado restaurant is our favorite brunch place in town and I own and use his cookbook full of Tex-Mex goodness. His Taco Palace on Atwood is a favorite of my fiancée and when he opened the near Westside operation last fall we flocked to it as well. Our first visit there last September was a bit rough, as service was more miss then hit, and the food had an uneven quality. I’m happy to report that on our return visit Saturday night, there were no such deficiencies. While the chips themselves paled to the Alchemy’s, Tubb’s salsas and queso are top notch. We devoured the cheese sauce, and found that mixing the hot salsa with it made for dip heaven. The margaritas were a bit on the small side for the price but that was made up for by the amount and quality of the tequila. I still prefer the choices at El Dorado but given the more casual atmosphere of the Taco Palace, one can’t find too much fault there. My fried avocado flour taco, which was a miss last visit, was a complete hit this time round. The meaty flesh of the avocado was warm but raw and the tempura like coating made for a satisfying crunch. The pork filling in my second taco made me run home that night and search for the recipe in Tubb’s cookbook. I think I found it which means I’d like to have a slow cooker of pork butt going in my house for the rest of my life. Mmmm….pork butt. Other highlights were the mild nutmeg accented chorizo and an avocado burrito whose size put Madison’s LaBamba’s to shame. As for the service, what a difference nine months makes. Not only was everything speedy and correct, but our server was also very knowledgeable about the menu. One companion has a real distaste for cilantro and the server was able to steer her to a cilantro free meal.
9:00 Drinks Part 1- The Memorial Union Terrace, 800 Langdon Street
Despite the fact that my visitors have been to Madison a number of times, they had missed out on a couple of landmarks. Friday night we solved one by taking them to the magical LeTigre Lounge, and Saturday it was off to the Union Terrace. Sadly I’ve only made it to the Terrace a couple of times this summer, so I was equally happy to enjoy $7 pitchers, live music, and of course, the best people watching in Madison. As much as I know that the students drive the Madison nightlife, I prefer the summer crowd at the Terrace as you get a broader mix of old and young. What was intended as a pit stop before a night carousing the State Street bars, turned into four hours of perfect relaxation on a beautiful night.
12:00 Drinks Part 2- Blue Velvet Lounge, 430 W. Gilman Street
So there are times when drinking downtown makes me feel old. After enjoying the Union we decided to grab a couple more drinks on the campus end of State Street. After a shot at the completely dead Pub, we walked up to the Blue Velvet Lounge. Certainly not a regular pit stop on my State Street journey the place is a narrow bar that seemed like a good idea for a couple night caps. What we saw was a den of debauchery and sin. It seemed the other patrons were all hopped up on goof balls and thought they were on the Real World. There were faux-threesomes, nose twitching snorts in the bath room, and a general sense that this could all go downhill fast. Thankfully I can report that the staff there seems to have an awareness or at least a willingness to keep it under control. One over served patron leered and drooled at our table all night long and when it became clear that it had gone from funny to creepy the staff responded to our complaint and cut him off. Still I couldn’t help but walk away feeling old and dammit, somewhat responsible, two things I don’t normally associate with drinking. In the end though, it was the right dash of excitement to end an absolutely perfect day with some of my favorite food, favorite beverages, and most importantly favorite people.
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