There's a busy weekend coming up and a lot on the agenda. This is, of course, Isthmus Jazz Festival weekend, kicking off this very evening (Thursday - I hope you're one who gets the paper in a timely manner) at 7 p.m. with the High School Jazz All Stars, followed by Gerri DiMaggio & Friends and the Madison Jazz Orchestra, and through the weekend until Sunday. The venue (for all acts except headliner Roy Haynes on Saturday evening at the Union Theater) is the lovely UW Memorial Union Terrace. There is still time to get patron tickets, at $100 per, that provide you with reserved seating on the terrace, reserved parking, some free drinks, a weekend Memorial Union pass, a chance to meet festival artists and advance information about future jazz programming. Oh, and a ticket to Roy Haynes. Plus, you will have the satisfaction of supporting this worthwhile event. Call the Wisconsin Union Box Office at 608-262-2201 to secure patron tickets or tickets to Roy Haynes.
Concerning another matter, this week kicks off the balloting for Madison's Favorites, our annual reader poll in which you, the reader, state your preferences for all sorts of Madison purveyors and personalities. You can find the ballot on the inside back cover of this issue. By my count, there are 96 different categories in seven subject areas. To be valid, a ballot must have at least 20 categories filled in. Though we're giving you a ballot in the paper, we would be most happy if you fill it out online at thedailypage.com/favorites. It is so much easier for us to tally the ballots online, we consider it a big favor if you do so. We'll thank you in person at the Madison's Favorites Block Party, Saturday, August 16.
Regular contributor/reviewer Raphael Kadushin journeys this week to New Glarus, that outpost of Switzerland in southwest Wisconsin, and gives us a review of the kitchen (and other parts) of the New Glarus Hotel. The well-traveled Kadushin contributes regularly to Bon Appetit, National Geographic Traveler, and Conde Nast Traveler as well as Isthmus. He ventures soon into the blogosphere: "My blog will be the first and only travel blog for Epicurious.com, the Conde Nast food website linked to Bon Appetit and Gourmet.... The blog will basically follow me as I eat around Wisconsin and the world; I post three times a week."
He'll also be included in Best Food Writing 2008, coming in October from Da Capo Books. In the selected piece, from Bon Appetit, he writes about Devon, England, and "how the food revolution in England has spread from London into the shires." It's about time.