Since arriving on the Madison restaurant scene in 2010 Nostrano has consistently impressed me, enlightened me about new food, wine and libations and held a place in my top 3 favorite restaurants in town. EVERYTHING they make is fresh, seasonal and hand-made with precision and delightful detail. Nostrano is only open for "Apertivo" (their version of happy hour) and dinner. Although they are right off the square in a lovely historic building on Hamilton, they are still not on many people's radar (or at least not the people I'm telling). It's smart of them to take part in Restaurant Week because it allows them to showcase what they do and guests can try them at both lunch (only this week) and dinner for a modest price. Another crazy smart move Nostrano makes during Restaurant Week is to create beer and wine pairings for all three lunch and dinner courses. Beer pairings were an additional $12 and wine was an additional $15 at lunch. Nostrano also offers their popular marinated olives as a starter for $6. Over the years, I've heard many restaurants complain about Restaurant Week. There are various issues and reasons, but one of the big complaints of the higher end ...
Monroe Street has become a great place to eat and shop again after many years of multiple vacancies and poor fits. On a cold day or night, there’s nothing better than slipping into a cozy little pub or coffee shop to sit and sip with friends and eat comfort food. Brocach on Monroe serves up warm service, a welcoming atmosphere and hearty portions. I was lucky enough to join seasoned blogger and expert, Brian Lee, the creator of Eat,Drink, Madison.com, for lunch. I consistently use his website as my resource for coming up with where to go and what to do in Madison-very comprehensive and super easy to navigate. These were our Restaurant Week Choices at Brocach. We chose the Fire Roasted Prince Edward Island Mussels & Duck Fat Fried Fingerling Potatoes for our first course. The mussels came with a Beurre (butter) fondue for dipping and garlicky sourdough toast. Yum! Usually mussels are swimming in the sauce, but this time it was on the side and made the dish less messy and more ...
