Underground Food Collective
If all goes according to plan, there could soon be two top wedding venues off Atwood Avenue on Madison’s east side.
Underground Food Collective is hoping to open a large restaurant and event space at the Garver Feed Mill, which is located behind Olbrich Botanical Gardens, one of the city’s most popular wedding spots.
Underground has applied to the Alcohol License Review Committee to transfer its Class B Beer and Liquor license from 809 Williamson St. to its proposed new location in Garver; the Willy Street liquor license was for a restaurant, Middlewest, that never opened. The ALRC will consider the application at its June 19 meeting. The proposed event space will also be discussed at a neighborhood meeting June 17 at the Goodman Community Center, 7 p.m.
Pending approval from the ALRC, Garver Events would be the exclusive events caterer for Garver Feed Mill, says Tiara Ranney of Underground Food Collective, who is spearheading the project with chef Jonny Hunter.
Underground Food Collective includes Forequarter, a restaurant, as well as Underground Butcher and Underground Meats, a butcher shop and meat producer, respectively. The catering menus for Garver Events would draw from all of these entities, according to Underground’s ALRC application: “Our custom menus will pull from the influences of our award-winning restaurant Forequarter and feature our hand-crafted artisan products from Underground Butcher and Underground Meats, as well as produce grown on the grounds.”
Tentative bar snacks include a selection of salami from Underground Meats, served with Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese, mustard, olives, pickles and sourdough toast. Other proposed menu items feature such salads as grilled cauliflower with red pepper chimichurri, and marinated white beans with fresh herbs; plated dinners include braised pork ragu on creamy polenta.
The application also calls for bar service that will feature “natural and kegged wines, keg cocktails and a selection of the area’s best craft beers.”
Alds. Marsha Rummel and Grant Foster, who are hosting the June 17 neighborhood meeting, could not be reached for comment.
