Kyle Nabilcy
Lamb sausage in a bun with fries.
The lamb merguez is an alternative to Wisconsin’s ubiquitous bratwurst.
These days it’s easy to miss the history on East Washington Avenue amid all the new development, but there are still buildings that were built in the 19th century. Turn Key, from the restaurateurs who brought Madison the Settle Down Tavern, has set up shop in one of the oldest: the 1885 Fuller and Johnson Manufacturing Company office building, a designated Madison landmark. It’s been home to a number of restaurants, most recently Pasqual’s Cantina, but Turn Key manages to combine old and new in a way that may fit in better than the Tex-Mex mini-chain.
If you’ve been to the Settle Down, just off the Square, you’re somewhat familiar with the new-school/old-school hybrid vibe favored by owners Brian Bartels, Ryan Huber and Sam Parker. The spacious building makes it possible to offer shuffleboard play. Old books are repurposed as menu holders (they’re tucked right in the middle). And a house Jim Beam highball on draft has all the Cool Grandpa Energy you’d ever want.
And yet there are lively cocktails with banana, and lavender, and bell pepper, and any number of other ingredients you might find shelved under ‘M’ for Mixology.
Indeed, the bar is a focus of Turn Key, which makes sense because co-owner Bartels has spent years writing about drinks and bartending. He has two books, The Bloody Mary and The United States of Cocktails: Recipes, Tales, Traditions from All 50 States (and the District of Columbia).
Dinner focuses on a few sandwiches and a handful of upscale entrees. Turn Key has already made its mark with the Wisco Roll, a vertically impressive trout-centric take on the lobster roll — it’s a gorgeous construction, but as a sandwich its hugeness defies a conventional bite. The buttery, toasty brioche is maybe its best feature, with the salty potato chips and grassy shallots taking turns complementing and contrasting its soft richness.
The sausage on the lamb merguez sandwich could have been browned or seared for a little depth, but it was a clean and snappy bite all the same, with a mouthful of bright, crunchy toppings. A lightly fried crocchè, basically the potato cousin of the arancini, appeared as an early spring special; its delicate texture requires a softer touch than french fries and curds.
Another special, a generous plate of ramp fettuccine, was quite green but was missing the sought-after spring allium’s pungency. For a real whack of flavor, go for the bacon-braised collards, loaded with bacony goodness and a lot of vinegar — a steal at $5. But maybe plan to share them.
Turnips show up a couple times, really driving home the grandparent vibe. On the turnip toast, a starter, they act a lot like beets, nestled sweetly between a pile of greens and a thin layer of goat cheese. This is more like a reconstructed bread salad than a take on avocado toast, in case the name leads you to make assumptions. It’s a lovely summer starter, light and texturally fun.
As a side to the Pull Tab Steak Frites entree, where they are allegedly grilled, only one baby neep showed even a little streak of brown. And unfortunately, the steak — on my night, a sirloin cap or picanha — needed a little more heat as well. The chewy fat hadn’t rendered enough, and the meat arrived too cool to melt its dollop of compound butter. Matchstick fries, however, were terrific.
More successful overall is the brunch menu. Gravlax might feel a little dated, but not only was the salmon tender and flavorful, the replacement of traditional blini with straight-up silver dollar pancakes was charming. A flight of three different mini-doughnuts (two each), made in-house, are some of the best doughnuts I’ve had in Madison.
The Hamborghini (a penchant for flamboyantly goofy names has clearly made the trip from Pinckney Street) is everything I could ever ask for in a brunch dish. Crisp potatoes (almost chips, frankly), wilted spinach, a runny-yolk egg, a buttery, herby biscuit and literally the most wonderfully cooked slice of ham steak I’ve ever had. It was everything I had wanted the steak to be.
Interestingly, a separate kitchen manager is the brunch lead, both for menu development and service, under the overall leadership of chef Taylor Benson. I think this kitchen manager is onto something, because brunch definitely presented Turn Key’s strengths most compellingly. However the superb corn pudding pie, Turn Key’s signature dessert, proves that sweet success can happen at any meal.
Even without a new high rise directly adjacent to anchor a customer base, Turn Key seems poised to sustain a draw to a block of East Washington that could otherwise get forgotten between flashier developments. Ham steak and corn pie might sound like a food history course, but I assure you, they’re worth a stop.
Turn Key
1344 East Washington Ave.
608-416-1109
Turnkeymadison.com
$11-$33
4-9 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 4-10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-9 p.m. Sun.
