The state of Madison’s food scene is strong. Entrepreneurs are developing new hot spots across the city, downtown remains flush with options, and access to local food continues to increase. But local chefs and restaurateurs also see a new reality downtown, after years of growth. Chef Tory Miller says it's about time.
“How many restaurants can little Madison support? I think we’re finding out,” says Miller, owner of L’Etoile, Graze, Estrellón and Sujeo. “There’s a false sense of what our local economy can sustain.”
“It’s tough. Opening a restaurant is a huge financial investment. It’s a huge psychological and physical investment. You can never rest on your laurels,” says Tami Lax, owner of the Old Fashioned and Harvest. “Unlike in Chicago, we still really rely on our weekends here. If there's a snowstorm on a Saturday we could lose half our income for the week.” Lax shares Miller’s concern that the city will have difficulty supporting this kind of density long-term.
Miller also says high rent prices downtown are now spreading to adjacent isthmus neighborhoods as new mixed-used residential developments sprout. He’d like to see more of an effort by developers to support fledgling businesses and restaurants in these new spaces.
“I hope this trend of developers insisting on putting a restaurant in every new building comes to an end in 2017,” says Miller. “There needs to be more of an understanding [by developers] that restaurants can’t start paying sky-high rent immediately.”
The Capitol East Corridor is one area to watch this year. An expected influx of people and activity brought by new development projects has yet to fully materialize. Julep and Barolo, part of Robinia Courtyard, opened in 2015 in the midst of East Washington Avenue construction. The two folded at the end of 2016. Gwen and Kyle Johnson, owners of Johnson Public House and micro-roaster Kin Kin Coffee, once ran the A-OK coffee shop in the building. (The Black Locust Cafe, which replaced A-OK, continues to operate at the space.)
The Johnsons see much promise in the new high-rise residential and commercial developments popping up on East Washington. But the couple say the central corridor is still maturing, and a bona fide food scene is still a ways off.
“East Wash is a really exciting place because there is so much being built. Ideally, there’s going to be a lot of new people and arts options in the area,” says Gwen. “I just think we're about five years before everything clicks.”
Kyle says walkability on the traffic-heavy thoroughfare is an issue. “People are sticking to one side of East Wash and not gravitating back and forth,” he says. “The people who live on East Wash also seem to be heading to other parts of the city when they go out.”
The Johnsons, fittingly, have found success on East Johnson Street with Johnson Public House. They’ve seen a tight-knit community of business owners emerge since opening the coffeehouse and breakfast spot in the Tenney-Lapham neighborhood six years ago.
“There's no chains. Everything is super fresh, farm-to-table. We have some of the best businesses in the city. Forequarter. La Taguara. Cork N’ Bottle. Drunk Lunch. Macha [Tea Company]. The Robin Room is a world-class bar,” says Gwen. “Our clientele is a great mix of young families, professionals and longtime residents. It's definitely a unique scene, and we feel lucky to be a part of it.”
Daniel Bonanno, chef and co-owner of A Pig in a Fur Coat on Williamson Street, agrees that downtown might be at capacity for new restaurants, but sees opportunity on the near east side. He says healthy competition forces chefs to get creative.
“The more restaurants the merrier,” says Bonanno. “It just shows who's good, who’s not. Some concepts work, some don’t. It helps motivate restaurants that have been there for a while, too.”
Bonanno predicts simplicity will be a trend in 2017.
“You can’t try to do everything; you have to home in on one thing.” says Bonanno. “If you’re going to do tacos, you only do tacos and you do it well. And if you only do pizza, you only make really good pizza. That’s what the big cities do.”
One advantage Madison has over some cities is easy access to fresh food. Farmers have become far savvier at getting their products into local kitchens.
“We have farmers from five, 10, 20 miles away come directly to our restaurants with fresh products,” says Bonanno. “Nobody likes driving in the middle of rush hour in Chicago. So why would you take produce or a dead pig on a five-hour drive when you can sell it for the same price here?”
“Chefs have also become more willing to work with farmers on pricing and availability,” says Miller. “Farmers have gotten a lot more hip to what chefs are expecting, too. There’s just no reason not to buy local nowadays. It makes your food taste better, and it supports other local people in the process.”
Miller expects to see more joint efforts by local chefs in 2017 in the form of collaborations, mash-ups and pop-up events.
“That was my hope when we formed the Madison Area Chef Network. The food scene gets better when chefs open up their kitchens and their brains,” says Miller. “You have to collaborate in order to further your craft. The members of this community are very supportive of one another.”
