Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin

media release: “From 1970s Madison to The Manna Cafe Cookbook: How Two Businesses and a Cookbook Took Root”

Presented by Barbara Pratzel on Wed., February 1, 2023, 7 PM

This free presentation will be held in-person at the Goodman Community Center (149 Waubesa, Madison), and via Zoom (for access link, go to http://www.chewwisconsin.com/).

The author of The Manna Cafe and Bakery Cookbook, Barb Pratzel, will explore how the 1970s was an incubator for her and her husband Mike, as their love of food and eating became a career and a piece of Madison history. Madison in the 1970s greatly influenced their decision to open a food-centric B&B, and later a restaurant, and much of what defined their businesses drew from what defined Madison as a city and a place to eat well. The evening will include a book signing, food samples and stories.

Barb Pratzel was a UW Journalism School graduate and science writer whose career took a sharp right turn into the world of bed and breakfasts, catering and restaurants. Then, for 35 years she welcomed guests to her Collins House inn and customers to her cafe and bakery, all the while cultivating recipes that helped define a community. When the 2020 pandemic caused the widely beloved Manna Cafe to close, she turned once again to writing, grateful to bring her career full circle with this memoir/ cookbook.