full disclosure: brad and i were treated to a free night out at the wise – drinks and food were on the house. i am not being compensated for this blog post and, as always, all opinions expressed on the blog are 100% my own.
since i moved to the madison area almost 5 years ago (in august 2008), i’ve been in awe of all of the amazing and creative restaurants this town has to offer. my list of restaurants-to-try is continuously growing faster than i can whittle it down. part of my problem now is that many of the places i want to try are downtown and we don’t live downtown anymore. the amount of effort it takes to visit those places is often inconvenient enough to make us choose one of our closer-to-home go-to places.
so, when i received an email from carla inviting me to stop at hotel red to hang out with chef john bauer of the wise (the restaurant inside hotel red) for an evening, i jumped at the chance. actually, i took it a step further and asked if kelly & i could bring our husbands along to make a night of it. carla was so nice and was happy to accommodate our group.
one of the first things i learned about chef john is that he is a fan of a small, creative, seasonal menu. in fact, the menu at the wise is one page (front & back). oh, and it’s a pretty awesome menu. we were lucky enough to try many, many items on the spring 2013 menu. kelly did a pretty great recap of the whole meal, so if you’re curious about the food details, you can check out her post.
instead of focusing on what we ate, i want to talk more about the other tid-bits i took away from our conversations with chef john.
one of the biggest things i gathered from our conversation was chef john’s passion for the local food community in madison. for example, when he was telling us about the olives, meat, & cheese appetizer, he mentioned that he picked up the cheeses from the dane county farmers market the previous wednesday and that the meat was from underground meats. he knew the people behind the cheeses and meats by name and was able to share his experiences with working closely with those small businesses to get great products for his menu.
the same thing happened when he told us about the wisco pop! ginger brew that is in the moscow mule – brad’s favorite drink of the evening. (he had two). you could just hear the enthusiasm chef john has for what wisco pop! is doing with their soda.
another one of my main takeaways from the evening was how creative and innovative chef john has to be. not only when it comes to making delicious & exciting food, but logistically when he is cooking. the restaurant at hotel red is fairly small as it is situated pretty much in the hotel’s lobby. small space = smaller kitchen. add in some zoning requirements that led to placing part of the ladies restroom in a chunk of space that was originally marked for kitchen space, and the already limited allotment for kitchen area was cut down. that story continues to the bar area. they have limited room for beer & drinks behind the bar, so you can be sure that the selection changes often, and that precious space is allocated for only really good beers.
chef john has really embraced the area they have to work with, and in my humble opinion, he and his crew makes the most of it! i cannot say one bad thing about the food or drinks we were served.
i know i said i wasn’t going to focus on the food, but i would be remiss if i didn’t share a few of my favorites.
we tried three appetizers: the olives, meat, & cheese (pictured above), the crab cakes, and the grilled fish taco. all were amazing, but i was really a fan of the crab cakes.
they were fried, but not heavy, and so flavorful. also, i loved the flower garnishes on top. the flowers were edible, which was a new (cool) experience for me!
we also got a big serving of the hand-cut french fries with a medley of dipping sauces (smoked paprika, mustard dip, ginger & wasabi mayo, aioli, & basil mayo).
this might have been the dish that was devoured most quickly. we all couldn’t get enough. the fries are fried twice to get that really great frites texture. so good!
we were also treated to a salad course, which included the stone fruit & passion salad (with mango & avocado), spring greens salad (with asparagus & a citrus dressing), and the spinach salad (with roasted beets!). all of the salads were amazing, but my favorite was the stone fruit & passion salad.
it was so refreshing with the mango & avocado! yum.
next up was the entrees. my eyes must have grown to the size of saucers when the entrees were place in front of us. the lamp chops, pork tenderloin, and short ribs looked incredible. and let me tell you, they did not disappoint. brad and i both really loved the short ribs.
they were slow cooked in guinness & were served with delicious wisconsin potatoes. if i could replicate this dish, i’m pretty sure brad would be in heaven.
dessert was served out on the patio, which was a great experience by itself! the patio is right across the street from camp randall (where the badger football team plays!), so it was a treat to have a great view of the stadium. desserts aren’t really my favorite – i’m a savory girl all the way – but that didn’t stop me from trying all four of the desserts we were served!
my favorite was definitely the citrus olive oil cake with blueberry jam and mascarpone. so. delicious. my mouth is watering as i am typing this. i would go back to the wise just for that cake.
lastly, the drinks. we got to indulge in several drinks throughout the night. wow, definitely the most creative drink menu i’ve ever seen! also, the drinks weren’t too strong that i couldn’t enjoy them for the creative flavor combinations that they were. i already mentioned that brad loved the moscow mule. my favorite drink was the lavendar collins.
it had gin, lemon juice, and lavender syrup. so simple, and so delicious.
we tried many more of the drink options throughout the night and each was exciting. i am so impressed with the drink menu.
photo from kelly.
i can’t speak highly enough of chef john & our entire experience at the wise. i know it’s hard to have anything bad to say when you’re treated to a night like that, but it is the truth. brad and i can’t wait to go back at our first opportunity!
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