Amy Stocklein
Chevre cheese curds sound rich, but eat light.
Cadre opened this fall to plenty of well-earned anticipation. Chef Evan Dannells has done stints at L’Etoile and Merchant, and he was one of the partners who opened the lost gem that was 4 & 20 Bakery and Cafe. Now he’s running his own show in the space formerly occupied by Oliver’s Public House. The results may not be perfect, but they are inventive and promising.
Cadre’s food and wine menus lean French, but not slavishly, with classic preparations like steak frites, moules frites, bouillabaisse and beef bourguignon, while the brunch/lunch menu features a croque madame, beignets and crepes. There is an expansive tap beer menu and a few inventive non-alcoholic options as well, like the light and tart “To Each Their Own,” iced tea lightened up with lemon and plum syrup.
The kitchen nods toward Wisconsin too, starting with a cheese curd appetizer that proved to be one of those oddball preps you order just to find out what’s going on. What’s going on sounds rich but eats light, a fried, mild chevre curd, tossed with micro greens, audaciously zippy pickled vegetables, creamy dabs of blue cheese, and chile honey. The chile was undetectable for me, but its heat would be one more welcome element in an already satisfying balance of crunch, creaminess, pungency, fresh greenness, and sharp acidity. The kale salad with duck confit, apple, and shaved squash performs a similarly welcome bait-and-switch: it sounds heavy but the squash are crisp, paper-thin ribbons, the confit rich and not overwhelming, and a generous dusting of toasty breadcrumbs makes each bite more interesting.
Whenever this kitchen is hitting its marks, Cadre has a skillful way with texture. Salads are fresh and lightly dressed, the sear on the trumpet mushrooms (served with the steak frites) left them meaty and crisp-edged, and the chew of the substantial, satisfying creamed lacinato kale reminded me that, as a culture, we should toss baby-food creamed spinach to the wolves once and for all. But the skirt steak that accompanied these delicious sides needed as hard a sear as the mushrooms got, while the julienned frites, overcooked to the point of a lingering burned taste on the palate, needed a lot less.
The pasta Provençal, unfortunately, was a clear miss: overcooked casarecce that arrived with a cap of congealed cheese suggested a dish that sat too long on the pass. Despite the Calabrian chili and the wild card possibilities of shishito peppers, this dish lacked discernible heat, but gained bitterness from an overload of olives and capers. It made me wish we’d tried the other vegetarian entree of lentils and buckwheat crepes with squash and chevre instead. But I did have a spritely glass of picpoul to console me.
Lunch and brunch at Cadre were more consistent. The Bleu Mont omelet was studded with chewy, well-browned lardons, apple, and plenty of savory caramelized onion. After seeing how pillowy, tender and golden this omelet was (with its rich ooze of cave-aged cheddar from the local dairy, it didn’t need the unannounced hollandaise), I’d gladly try the elegantly simple fines herbes omelet next time. That sort of stripped-down dish leaves you nowhere to hide, but whoever made this omelet didn’t need that kind of cover.
The smoked whitefish salad sandwich was not bad but could easily have been better if it were served on some other kind of bread — this was not the freshest croissant I’ve ever had — and if a little more acidity were laced in with its restrained aioli dressing and cool, crunchy celery and cucumber.
I hope Cadre develops the fairly minimal dessert offerings on the dinner menu beyond the current chocolate cremeux, baked apple, and ice creams, sorbets and cheese. Still, the dark chocolate cremeux with candied black walnuts, beet chips and feuilletine was rich and earthy, the golden shards of feuilletine and salt adding welcome bite to its midnight creaminess.
But it was the sourdough beignets on the brunch menu that we really disgraced ourselves over — a plateful of little pillows dusted heavily in powdered sugar and glazed with lemon, served over surprisingly not-too-sweet chopped maple pecans. Once again, it’s a dish that sounds heavy but turns out to be anything but; the pastries were tangy and feather light, the lemon a welcome lift to the sugar. Even the pecans and maple are kept in check, served beneath the beignets, just in case you find yourself needing that extra bit of crunch. I did; I do. Not everything here works yet, but high points like these suggest the restaurant that Cadre may soon be.
Cadre
2540 University Ave.; 608-819-8555; cadrerestaurant.com
11 am-2 pm and 5-9 pm Mon.-Thurs., 11 am-2 pm and 5-10 pm Fri.,
9 am-2 pm and 5-10 pm Sat., 9 am-2 pm Sun.; $5-$30
