Madison Restaurant Review: Bucatini

This past weekend my partner and I had our first “date night” since the birth of our child. Dinner and movie seemed like the simplest of plans. Little did we know that dealing with our 3 month old would be easier than a meal at Bucatini in Middleton.

The service on our visit was so bad that it became laughable and certainly overshadowed the food. On a previous lunch visit that was close to the restaurant’s opening, I thought the service was a little rough but chalked it up to opening irregularities. Now nine months later I must say nothing has been ironed out, in fact it is much, much worse. The place seems to do a brisk business but thanks to its size, waits are few and far between. Perhaps the management should either reduce the number of tables or increase wait staff because we learned that just because we got seated, didn’t mean we’d get served. After 15 minutes of no water and no waiter, my partner went up to the two hosts. Neither apologized upon hearing the news and one asked which table we were. My partner pointed me out but the hostess that had seated us asked again for clarification. This time my partner pointed me out once more, and said, “We’re the only table in our area with no food or drink on the table." To top it off we had two tables surrounding us that were seated after us enjoying their drinks already. After a few more minutes we were greeted by a waiter whom I will call Weapon X. Just like Wolverine himself this guy had horned hair and while he did not have adamantium claws, he did have finger nails that protruded at least 4 inches from the end of his fingers. Weapon X welcomed us with a “Gooood evening” that sounded like he should be answering the door at Daddy Warbuck’s house. Switching to a hushed tone he did apologize for the delay, but he also provided an excuse. He explained that our intended waitress was serving a large group and that we got lost in the shuffle. Note to servers, apologies go a long way but excuses don’t. We ordered both our drinks and entrees and thought our meal was back on track. Weapon X returned quickly with our drinks but our confidence in him took a shot when he asked me to repeat my order. Still our salads and entrees arrived very quickly. While I’d love to move on to the food, I must sadly share another service mishap. We finished our meal and I noticed the movie started in 40 minutes. While my partner thought we had plenty of time, I said we should pull out our payment for the next time Weapon X stopped by. Unfortunately I was right as we waited another 25 minutes before he stopped by again to check on us. Adding insult to injury was the fact that he checked on an adjacent table 5 times while we waited. In review it was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had service wise and if we weren’t so caught up in enjoying our one night out, it could have turned out far worse.

There was of course food involved as well and while it was mostly positive, it was marred by inconsistency. Our house salads were made with very fresh greens, a simple balsamic dressing, and some of the very best shaved parmesan I’ve ever enjoyed. However I’d question the $3.99 price tag. On a previous visit I had enjoyed a rigatoni with pancetta, artichoke hearts in a white wine sauce, so this time around, I wanted to sample one of their red sauces. Their version of eggplant parmesan provided me that opportunity. The eggplant was cut perfectly thin but unfortunately was over breaded. When I complained, my partner reminded me that our state motto could be “when in doubt, add more breading”. Despite the over breading though, the accompanying sauce was satisfying and hit all the right notes. The highlight though, was the simple penne with fontina cheese sauce that accompanied the main dish. It was creamy without being rich and the saltiness played well with the marinara sauce on the eggplant. My partner opted for a bacon wrapped filet with gorgonzola cheese. Advertised at 7oz. the dish arrived with a piece of meat that was undercooked and no more than 4oz. We tend to order medium rare and don’t mind when the kitchen delivers something more on the rare side, however other patrons would not be as forgiving and no one should forgive that small of a piece of meat especially at a cost of $18.99. Again though the stars of the plate were the sauces. The gorgonzola cheese sauce around the steak was mild yet tangy and the porcini mushroom sauce that enveloped the accompanying risotto was exceptional. Too bad the risotto was overcooked and mushy. In short the kitchen excels at sauces but seems to miss the boat on the main items on the plate. Furthermore, this type of inconsistency does not make one forget about questionable service as other kitchens can.

Bucatini is in a space that formally housed a Macaroni Grill in Greenway Station. While they could have taken the easy route and slipped into the building, I must credit the ownership in making plenty of physical changes so that the restaurant sheds any comparisons to the chain uniformity that once marked the space. Unfortunately I cannot give them much credit for anything else.

Bucatini, 1611 Deming Way, Middleton, WI 608-824-0004

Madison Restaurant Review: Picasso's

Picasso's is a restaurant with ups and downs but the ups are food related and the downs aren't enough to chase away customers...yet. Located off of Verona Road on Madison's Westside, Picasso's sits in an unassuming strip mall. The space itself is nice with an open kitchen centered in the room. There are tables on both sides and then a huge covered open-air patio off the dining room. While the center kitchen makes for good eye candy the heat of the giant pizza ovens creates some interesting climate situations. On multiple visits the front door has been propped open to let the heat out. This helps the tables to the left of the room but can leave some of the tables on the right a bit chilly. Also this certainly lets the flies in. The tables are rather barren and don't even include silverware. For the quality of the food you'd expect silverware at the table.

Speaking of the food this is certainly the best part of the place and since it’s a restaurant that's a good thing. The fried portabella mushrooms are a nice starter and certainly tasted fresh. The Creole dipping sauce was a little off though as there was a tanginess that didn't seem to belong. Pizza is a strong suit for Picasso’s when it comes to both traditional pies and more gourmet ones. Their homemade Italian sausage stars on your more normal pies, as does their sauce. The mac and cheese pizza is one of the best I've had although the fettuccine that came on top instead of traditional macaroni was a bit odd. The gorgonzola rib eye pizza was the favorite on our last visit. The thinly sliced meat stood out against the rest of the ingredients but the bite of the cheese was still there too. The same combination is featured in a pasta along with haystack onions and a garlic cream sauce. The steak was again amazing and made me wonder what the kitchen could do with a piece of meat all by itself. Another winning pasta dish was the cannelloni stuffed with the aforementioned sausage. You can choose your sauce and I went with the alfredo, which had outstanding flavor and avoided the pitfall of being too heavy. The fish fry has a lake perch option that always excites me and Picasso's delivers a lightly battered rendition that is very tasty. The coleslaw is solid but the fries are pretty pedestrian. While I have not had it at the restaurant, the stuffed chicken breast is another winner. Picasso’s catered one of the best wedding meals I’ve ever had and served the chicken stuffed with gouda and accompanied by risotto. The two dishes juicy and creamy respectively. The burgers and hot dogs that round out the menu are ok but not in the same league as the entrees and pizzas.

Service is inconsistent at best. On one visit we were forgotten about after our drink order. On another refills of water and silverware delivery needed double mentions. Then again the owner is almost always present and he makes a point to visit each table. This helps the place achieve a neighborhood vibe that almost makes you forget toilets that are often dirty or the odd temperature fluctuations.


Picasso's, 5266 Williamsburg Way, Madison, WI 608-271-8440

Pop Has Eaten Me

As you can see I've given the old blog a fresh coat of paint and with it I've gained some perspective. When I started this blog, I had just come off an enjoyable but unsuccessful run in independent film as a writer and producer. I thought the blog would be an outlet for my writing and it certainly has been. However, somewhere along the line I stopped thinking of popwilleatme.com as an outlet for my writing and more as a second job complete with income possibilities. Over the last few years I've junked up the blog with ads, t-shirts, and more ads all in the name of making a few bucks. Also I've treated my writing as a chore instead of a joy. Take for example the fact that I recently tried to cover three reality shows in weekly columns. Reality shows tend to be easy topics as they are filled with idiots and drama, but they also demand quick turnaround from viewing to posting. Back in the day I focused on more on movies and narrative TV shows. Now I've become a slave to reality TV and I think it shows in my writing and my enthusiasm.

With that said, popwilleatme.com will still exist and I still plan to post often, but I'm going to focus more on quality and less on quantity. The greatest joy I've had in recent months has been writing my restaurant reviews. These will certainly continue even though I know many loyal readers live outside the Midwest haunts I frequent. Also if you've grown to appreciate my rants on reality TV, don't worry. Just because I'm not going to write weekly columns, that doesn't mean I'm axing reality shows out of my diet. Beside the occasional column I'll certainly be tweeting up a storm at twitter.com/popwilleatme on reality shows and all other manners of pop culture.

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."- Sir Winston Churchill

“If reality TV has taught us anything, it's that you can't keep people with no shame down.”- Liz Lemon

Runway Roundup: Week 3

A rough week had filled me with piss and vinegar but thankfully last night’s episode of Project Runway brought a smile to my face. Praise the TV! Unfortunately it did not return the brain cells I’ve misplaced so this roundup will be brief and bulleted.

• Overall the surf challenge was a fun use of this season’s LA location. Although, I thought that many designers however missed the surf aesthetic.

• How cool was it to see Tim in sandals at the beach? I loved that he changed back into loafers by the time they all got to Mood.

• Any designer stupid enough not to see a second look being added to a team challenge deserves to go home.

• Is Nicolas’ accent real or fake? I just can’t decide yet. He and Gordana had some struggles but I liked the wrap around pants look in theory just poorly executed at the bottom.

• Thought Logan and Chris would blow this out of the water but surprisingly that giant hat stole the show.

• I also had high expectations for Althea and Louise and instead their looks were just ok.

• Loved Shirin and Carol Hannah’s looks. This only further cements my belief that Shirin is our early front runner.

• Johnny finally made a decent look and I think he owes a lot to Irina for that. The causal look was my favorite of the night.

• Ra’mon won despite being teamed with Mitchell and despite throwing together his looks rather last minute. While I don’t think Ra’mon deserved to go home, I don’t think he deserved to win either but whatever.


• Epperson and Qristyl never got on the same page but I did like Epperson’s causal look. It was flawed in the back but as the judges said it fit great up top and the print was handled well.

• So glad Mitchell went home over Qristyl. I haven’t been impressed with Qristyl but Mitchell has done absolutely nothing and I couldn’t stand to see him skate by another week. Can’t wait to watch Models on the TiVo to see how Fatma handles all this.

I Refuse To Call Them Cheftestants: Week 3

Last night’s Top Chef bored me in the beginning, irritated me in the middle and entertained me in the end. I think the irritation in the middle however ruined the episode overall for me.

The boring comes into play with the Quickfire Challenge where the folks are tasked with creating an “out of this world” potato dish. While I appreciate the variety of potatoes that were made available the challenge itself seemed rather blah. I was once again shocked at how new contestants appear oblivious to past seasons as Ash tried to use the ice cream maker. No matter what season the Top Chef kitchen ice cream maker always seems to fail its user. Ash was in luck though as his sweet potato “custard” came out with a nice consistency that the judges deemed to be of high quality. Jennifer took him top prize again and she’s clearly this season’s Stefan. Question is, can she continue to grow as a chef throughout or will she plateau in the final stages. The only real excitement in the challenge came as Preeti used Ashley’s gnocchi water to cook her asparagus. Ashley quickly schooled her but apparently not enough for Jen who further foreshadowed an eventual kitchen blow up.

While the Quickfire was boring, the Elimination challenge was downright annoying. I’m so tired of these military themed challenges on reality shows. It provides an hour-long ad for the armed forces and requires the contestants to stick their noses up Uncle Sam’s ass. Furthermore, while last week’s challenge was centered on an exclusionary institution (marriage) this week’s challenge was based around an institution that is exclusionary and fosters hate crimes against the LGBT community. Could someone please grow a backbone and talk some smack? I’m so sick of soldiers making comments like “I wish I could get this in Iraq.” Hey guess what, you volunteered to serve so if you get second-class food look in the mirror for someone to blame! It’s not even that I hate the military but there is no need for this kind of mindless worship especially when there are other groups you could center these challenges around. How about Project Runway designs clothes for some women at a battered women’s shelter? How about Top Chef cooks for a homeless shelter? How about Design Star refurbishes a historical home that’s been run down? By the time Preeti declared that “9/11 inspired me to be a chef” I was about ready fly my toy X-Wing into my TV and create a 9/11 in my living room.

Thankfully judges table pulled me back from the abyss. The strong dishes were pretty clear and predictable given the chefs. Yukon Cornelius and Eli made very tasty looking bbq pork. Brother Michael did a great pork dish as well and deserved the win just for thinking of braising the slab bacon that was the base of his lettuce taco. On the bottom though there were three equally valid contenders. Non-brother Michael thought he was safe since he cooked with brother Michael but since this was an individual challenge and he cooked a non-Greek Greek salad his ass was on the line. Boy was he not happy about that as he rocked back and forth like a guilty child. Preeti and Laurine however made sure he was safe by choosing to make a pasta salad. I can't ever remember seeing a pasta salad on Top Chef; much less one that looks like it was made from a Simply Salad box. Preeti refused to take responsibility for a sub par dish and argued with the judges for a second week in a row. Laurine forgot she was on Top Chef but at least she didn’t pick a fight, so she was safe in the end after taking a serious verbal lashing from Tom. Preeti wandered off into the sunset mumbling about being misunderstood. Meanwhile, Jesse and Ron pondered why there were still there. Never fear guys next week looks like a double elimination.

Fall TV Preview: Wednesday

New Shows:
Cougar Town, 8:30pm CST, ABC, Premieres September 23rd
I know the title of this show is horrible. Actually it’s beyond horrible. It’s so bad that I almost discarded the show before it aired. I’m thinking that might be a mistake though given the creative pedigree behind the show. Bill Lawrence, who created the inconsistent Spin City and the at times brilliant Scrubs, is behind this effort about a middle aged woman getting back in the dating game. Throw in Courtney Cox Arquette who dazzled last year on Scrubs and proved she still has her comedic talents and my interest is piqued. A supporting cast that includes Scrubs vet/ Lawrence’s wife Christa Miller, Ian Gomez, and Busy Phillips only adds to the idea that despite the title this show could be damn funny.

Returning Favorites:
America’s Next Top Model, 7pm CST, CW, Premieres September 9th
Unofficially dubbed the Shorty Season, ANTM brings us petite models for the first time ever. The auditions for this season included the infamous melee in NYC where girls went nuts all in the name of Tyra. I’ll be interested to see if that’s addressed at all. Guessing it will be and that Tyra will play the martyr. Also interested to see if she comes up with an opening entrance that somehow mocks the girls’ size. I’ve got images of the two Jays dressed up as munchkins and Tyra coming in as the Good Witch of the West.

South Park, 9pm CST, Comedy Central, Premieres October 7th
Not sure if anyone noticed but South Park was fucking hilarious last year. I hate to say South Park is back because I don’t really think it went anywhere but I’ll certainly say that Matt and Tre’s poking stick is sharpened and they are taking aim at America’s underbelly. I used to think that the show would become stale after a few years but instead they’ve kept it topical and fresh.

On Thin Ice:
nip/tuck, 9pm CST, f/x, Premiers October 14th
I think nip/tuck has already fallen through the ice for me as last season I gave up on it when Christian and Liz started up and Sean went through his 18th midlife crisis. Still this is the beginning of the final season and I’d be lying if I said I don’t care how it ends. Based on the previous years of quality I’m willing to give it a shot but if any combination of Kimber, Sean and Christian are in bed together by episode three then I’m out…for good.

Fall TV Preview: Intro and Monday/Tuesday

A sure sign that you are aging is the amount of new TV shows you’re willing to add to your Fall schedule. An even bigger sign is when you start cutting shows out that are still airing. Last year I dropped Family Guy and The Simpsons. While I’ll still catch them every so often and certainly in reruns, neither show was worth my time or my TiVo’s time any longer. With that in mind I’m splitting my Fall preview up into three categories this year: New Shows, Returning Favorites, and On Thin Ice. The thin ice category features shows that might be this year’s casualties of Fall. Remember these certainly aren’t every Fall TV show, just the ones that catch my lazy, lazy eyes.

Monday
New Shows: None

Returning Favorites:
Gossip Girl, 8pm CST, CW, Premieres September 14th
Gossip Girl fought through the typical second season doldrums and went out strong last spring. The return of Georgina was just the thing to spice up the kids’ lives and make the audience forget about the multiple episode arc with Dark Jenny. Sadly Georgina’s portrayer, the awesome Michelle Trachtenberg, is starring in some kind of medical drama for NBC so we’ll only get bits and pieces of her this year. Also the show faces the challenge of keeping Chuck and Blair fresh now that they’ve gone all Sam and Diane on each other. Point of fact, anyone who uses a Cheers reference when writing about Gossip Girl should probably not be writing about Gossip Girl. Oh well, that’s why it’s a guilty pleasure I suppose.

On Thin Ice:
Heroes, 7pm CST, NBC, Premieres September 21st
This is it. I swear if Heroes doesn’t start making logical plot lines and better use of their quality cast I’m out. Sadly the outlook is dim as we’ve been promised more time travel which means more plot lines that never get resolved. Also the show is going to the circus and I can’t say that sounds like a good idea either. Watching the actors do their press this summer at the comic conventions it seemed most of them are losing patience as well. Hard to believe this show once had such promise.

Tuesday
New Shows:
Melrose Place, 8pm CST, CW, Premieres September 8th
I tried 90210 last year and was quickly turned off by the awkward mix of the new and old cast. I hear the show found its legs toward the end of the season but by then I was long gone. I’m hoping Melrose Place watched and learned. More than likely the show will be a colossal waste of time but my nostalgia bone is tingling and I think it won’t hurt to give it a shot.

V, ABC, Premieres November 3rd
Speaking of nostalgia it doesn’t get any more geektastic than a new version of the 80’s classic V. I still remember watching the mini-series, sequel, and short lived series like it was yesterday and while it was full of cheese it was also great fun. The new version looks less cheesy and that could be its downfall. Production was just shut down for a couple of weeks while ABC retools the series and that’s never a good sign. On the plus side I'm looking forward to seeing Elizabeth Mitchell get a starring role after her Lost run.

Returning Favorites:
The Hills, 9pm CST, MTV, Premieres September 29th
Not only is this in my returning favorites category because I still got much love for The Hills gang but also because it’s got one of my favorite returning reality stars in Kristin Cavallari. Sure I’ve always been solidly on Team LC but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the drama that Team Kristin brings to the table. Meanwhile I’m hoping the LC’s departure opens up more time for my favorite Lo and that we get to see more Stephanie dysfunction. Sadly we’ll also be getting more Speidi but I guess you take the good with the horribly horribly bad.

On Thin Ice:
The City, 9:30pm CST, MTV, Premieres September 29th
When Whitney Port left The Hills for her own spin off last January I thought it was genius. Other than Lo I couldn’t think of anyone that would be interesting enough for their own show (sorry Audrina). Unfortunately the execution was just not there. Whit Whit did not play the fish out of water well and you could just see she had a tough time dumbing herself down every week. Her supporting cast was mostly bland and that didn’t help. BFF Erin was quite possibly the weakest Laguna/Hills/City character ever and boyfriend Jay was a not so bad boy. The best “character” was Neville the cousin of Whit’s coworker Olivia. Neville was a gigantic ball of drugs, alcohol, self importance, and oddly enough, wisdom. Unless Neville starts dating eating disorder model Allie, the show’s prospects appear dim.