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In the new dining out, reservations are key

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The house bar/restaurant at Garver Feed Mill is open for patio service only, Thursday through Sunday. New sun shades have been installed, and there are a variety of seats available: picnic tables, Adirondack chair groupings, cafe tables and higher bistro-style tables.

Reservations are recommended (and from the look of things, absolutely necessary for any time there’s live entertainment). In general, reservations are now key at many restaurants open for in-person dining, even when that dining is outside, because there is often no extra space for people to stand safely to wait for a table.

Upcoming at the Garver patio is an acoustic happy hour on July 31 and a 90s brunch on Aug. 2 (both full), a “crafternoon” happy hour with Revel Craft Bar on Aug. 6, jazz night on Aug. 7 with the Anders Svanoe, Brad Townsend, Nick Zielinski Trio and Lesser Lakes Trio, and a bluegrass brunch on Aug. 22 with the No Name String Band.

Garver’s patio is serving drinks — local craft beer, kegged wine from The Gotham Project, and cocktails including the “Garver Bloody Mary,” featuring Chef K. Clark pickled asparagus and carrots — and a summery menu including a cheese and charcuterie plate, chicken salad, vegetable bowl and barbecue pork sliders. Vegetarian Ayurvedic dishes from Garver’s Kosa kitchen have also been featured on the menu as specials.

Guests receive a menu via email when they are seated and that link is the basis for a contactless transaction. Masks are required for heading inside to use the bathroom, and recommended for all times when you’re not seated. And for those who want to know: leashed dogs are welcome.

Also at Garver: The Calliope Ice Cream stand has reopened inside. Masks are, of course, required. 

Note that the Thursday-Sunday hours are for the Garver patio only; other food vendors within Garver — Calliope, Ian’s Pizza and Ledger Coffee — have their own hours. Also within Garver, Sitka Salmon Shares is open by appointment only, and Surya Cafe is closed until September. (Surya’s Fitchburg location is open for dine-in and takeout.)

City funding for the Madison Public Market is threatened due to the COVID-19 budget crisis, but market proponents are fighting back. The Northside Planning Council has written that defunding the market is yet another city “divestment from communities of color,” many of whom have participated in the Market Ready program to grow their businesses in advance of the market’s opening. The project has received broad community support since the Wisconsin State Journal reported that Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway was considering shelving the project. 

The Madison Public Market will be located in the city’s former fleet services building on First Street, and owned by the city, while operations will be managed by a nonprofit foundation. The Madison Public Market Foundation and the market’s “friends” group are asking people to email the mayorand city alders before Aug. 10, in advance of the mayor’s budget proposal, in support of the project.

The Willy Street Co-op’s hot bar is back, although only at the east location, and it is not self-serve. Deli staff will scoop up your food in a more cafeteria style and package it. The Co-op’s north and west locations are currently serving only grab-n-go options.

The outdoor dining version of Merchant, thanks to the Streatery program, will launch Aug. 5, with fixed course dinners and pairings, as well as other menu items a la carte. Merchant will also be serving brunch. Also a new Streatery production: Brasserie V is open for outdoor dining with both a sidewalk cafe on Monroe Street and a new patio in back of the restaurant. Brasserie V is not taking reservations but will text diners when a table is ready. Curbside takeout continues, as well. 

Ragin’ Cajun Seafood opened July 10 in a former Ginza of Tokyo at 4802 East Washington Ave.. Diners can order seafood by the pound or half-pound, or order a combo meal. Options include oysters, blue crab, crawfish, shrimp, squid, baby cuttlefish, mussels, black mussels, three kinds of crab legs and two kinds of clams. The base combo boil (for two) includes snow crab legs, shrimp, fish cake, mussels, squid, corn, egg, red potato and sausage. Combo boils for more people add more types of seafood. Appetizers include egg rolls, edamame and potstickers.