The Georgian People Really Love Garlic and Other Scenes from Dining Out

Since being driven from my house, I have done more cooking than I did while still living there. However, I have eaten out a fair bit this year. Much of my dining at restaurants can be attributed to being out of town or simply going to a show closer to home and choosing to grab a bite to eat beforehand with a fellow concert-goer.

The Great Dane's French onion soup has long been a favorite of mine. I believe they make it with a brown ale which is odd in that they rarely have a beer advertised as being a brown ale on tap. Hmm...?

I attended a couple puppet shows in Chicago back in January and the first was preceded by a meal at Elephant & Castle - the one on Adams. French onion soup once more, wings, and their meat pie sampler. There was a table of genuine Englishmen behind us so I guess E&C's take on the venerable English pub isn't too bad/inauthentic. Either that or they have a wide selection of soccer, er, football games on their TVs.

I ate at Forage Kitchen for the first time a couple months back. My Cobb-like salad was tasty and I appreciated all the kombucha on offer. Methinks the restaurant's owners also own a kombucha factory.

Madison's Mexican dining options used to be Pedro's and Chi Chi's. Now you can't swing a dead cat in this town without hitting a taqueria. I stopped in at El Gran Taco Gato after a movie and had a tasty burrito. Bonus points for having "cat" in the name. The Big Taco Cat?

My second trek to Chicago for a puppet show included a stop at Athenian Room in Lincoln Park. My companion and I split a Greek salad which came with a shingle-sized slab of feta while the pork tenderlion kabobs were nice and tender and delicious. Opa!

Before going to see the Paul McCartney documentary on the big screen, my fellow music doc lover and I had dinner at Buraka. I hadn't been there in ages. The chicken tibs were delicious and I ate every last square millimeter of injera.

Somehow I believe that I'd never eaten at Elie's Café until just a few weeks back. The omelet was tasty and surprisingly full of jalapeño. My mug was a bottomless well of that elixir of morning.

One chilly winter evening I took a companion to La Taguara as they'd never eaten there and I was looking for a little variation from El Sabor de Puebla which has become something of a go-to in times of evening hunger pains and a lack of desire to cook. The grilled chicken was simple yet highly delicious, although another gallon of guasacaca wouldn't have hurt.

As noted above, El Sabor de Puebla has become a semi-regular stop for me as they have locations on the north and northeast sides - close to home. I splurged one day and got a burrito poblano which is a rather large burrito smothered in rich mole sauce and covered in sesame seeds. OK, not covered but I was going for a Waffle House thing here.

On the way home from a puppet show in Chicago, my companion and I ended up in Wheeling and stopped in at Fresh Farms International Market. It has an Eastern European slant to it and the bakery was wonderful.

We discovered a Georgian restaurant across the street from the supermarket - Kitchen House Cafe. I hadn't been to any place that served Georgian food for many years - since a visit to the now-closed Argo Georgian Bakery on Devon which had extremely delicous khachapuri. The ones on the menu here looked great too but I tried other dishes that night. I began my meal with a bowl of Chikhirtma, a.k.a. - Georgian chicken soup.

A dinner roll on one side and little cups of vinegar & diced garlic on the other. A rather generous portion of garlic too. It was all delicious but I had no idea that garlic was served with the soup and the meal ended up being a total garlic festival as I had also ordered Chkmeruli, Georgian garlic chicken.

The Chkmeruli was great and I think I ended up eating about 40 cloves of garlic with that meal. I could still taste it the next morning no matter how much coffee I drank.

Before the Los Lobos show at the Stoughton Opera House a fellow music lover and I dined at Water Street Tavern. The French onion soup was excellent. It was hot and didn't taste like it had been sitting in a stock pot for hours. There were about 2 pounds of cheese on top so it was a bit of a messy affair.

The Bún bò Huế at Saigon Noodle quickly became a favorite of mine since trying it last year and has filled a soup gap in my diet riven open when Wah Kee closed. Different soups, I grant you, but this Bún bò Huế satisfies that mid-winter noodle soup lust. One of my dining companions that night is Hmong and they highly rate this stuff so we are in accordance on its deliciousness.

Back in the early 1990's when I was a denizen of Witte Hall, the mother of one of my new friends would occasionally take us out for dinner. These occasions not only meant a free meal and one not from Gordon Commons, but also an opportunity to get away from campus and see more of Madison. One of the places we dined at was the late Smoky's Club. R.I.P. Another was Smoky Jon's #1 BBQ. Smoky Jon's has a special place in my heart for being the first north side joint I ever went to and a special place in my stomach because they have the best BBQ in town.

I now live fairly close to the restaurant and have been there a few times this year. The shorter, middle-aged fellow who runs the counter - that guy is great. He gave me and my dining companion burnt ends samples one time and he has the dryest, drollest sense of humor in all of Madison restaurantdom. I was relieved to find out after Smoky Jon died that they still pipe blues music into the dining room. A Madison classic.

When Piper died, I needed comfort food which meant Italian beef which meant Portillo's.

Miss you, Pipey!

I try to meet a friend who lives in Middleton for dinner once a month or so. One recent excursion saw us at Taza, a place that serves Mediterranean cuisine. The beef shawarma was excellent.

One of the reasons why I chose the apartment I did was its proximity to the home of a friend. When we're both working from home and our schedules allow, we like to take lunch together and usually wander down the street to dine. The Tip Top Tavern serves a fine salad and my friend has high praise for their mac & cheese.

For one trek to Chicago this past winter to see some fine puppet action my traveling companion and I decided to park in Elgin and take the train into the city. That night we dined at Zaab Thai in the Chicagoland exurb before returning to Madison. The food was excellent though they were a bit stingy when it came to turning up the thermostat. It was chilly in there.

To start, their cucumber salad is probably the best I've had as it wasn't overly sweet like every other version I've eaten and had fresh jalapeño slices to boot.

The glass noodle salad was great too. Lots of vegetables and not just a little here and there atop a mound of noodles. I asked for very spicy and, for my sins, they gave me very spicy. Woo doggy! It was hot. As in endorphin rush hot. My scalp got all tingly. Despite the heat, it was very flavorful.

A real gem of a place tucked away in a mall tucked away on Elgin's southwest side.

On a recent stop at the Great Dane I acutally didn't order the French onion soup and instead got a tasty salad laden with shrimp. My dining companion ordered beignets.

Earlier this week I took my stepson out for dinner. He had a hankering for Pad Thai so we went to his local Thai joint, Thai Boat Noodle. Thai restaurants used to be rare as hen's teeth in these parts but no longer. Perhaps not as numerous as Mexican restaurants, nonetheless Thai places are now rather common. The spring rolls and chicken satay were fine, though I think the dipping sauces could use less sugar and more fish sauce.

I had Crying Tiger with a medium level of spice. It is a bit like larb but the meat wasn't ground. Slices of beef mixed with green onion and cilantro. And either their medium heat level is the equivalent of high elsewhere or the cook made a little mistake because this stuff was hot. Not blazing, not deadly but I did feel it. If I'd gotten their hottest level of spice I think I would have cried. As it was, very tasty.

And those are some of my gustatory exploits of 2026. I have gone to the cinema every day since last Monday and have either eaten at a restaurant or just prepared something quick at home like a salad or some Buona Beef. Today I am making lasagne, most of which is going to my stepson and his father, and baking a loaf of bread for them. Hopefully this is the start of more cooking at home. 

But not before another trek to Chicago where I'll no doubt be dining somewhere in the Loop.

Not one, not two but three peppers! Ah-Ah-Ah!

It was disappointing when I went to the Great Dane in Fitchburg last year thirsting for a Tri-Pepper Pils only to find they were out. I was to meet my boss and another co-worker there and was clad in my new t-shirt on for my boss' benefit -

Her being "salty" at work had been a joke for 5 or 6 years and I got it in burgundy in honor of Burgundy Tuesday at the office. In turn, she had bought a sweatshirt that said "NOPE", her feisty response to my vacation requests and bids to go home early. My wife had found my shirt in the dryer and assumed it had something to do with her which resulted in a late night spat. Uff da!

My boss and fellow co-worker consoled me as best they could that evening and I vowed to sample a Tri-Pepper next time it was on offer.

Next time arrived this week as we met out the Great Dane once again and, this time, the Tri-Pepper Pils was on tap.

A complex chili flavor melded with a nice biscuity maltiness overlaid with a firm, yet moderate, heat. Tasty stuff!

Where the sweet turns to sour

I was at the Great Dane earlier this week and sampled their Strawberry sour or tart or whatever they call it. The brew was very tasty. Light, a bit of strawberry, and a nice tartness. Not deadly like Destihl and not barely discernable. It was just right. A fine summer brew.

You got pepper in my pils! You got pils in my pepper!

I stopped in at the Great Dane yesterday and sampled their Tri Pepper Pils.

I've always found chili beers to be a real mixed bag with most of them being blonde ales with way too much jalapeño, as if it were a novelty brew from Archie McPhee. Here jalapeños are joined by poblano and habanero chilies in a Czech-style pilsner. There's just a smidgen of heat but a good dose of chili flavor that seems to mostly be the green taste of jalapeño and poblano.

Initial sips were light & brisk but, after the beer warmed a bit, the chili taste was joined by a fine maltiness which made for a nice balance with its contrasting flavor and sweetness.

I was happy to find this a very delectable beer instead of one that tempted you into Scoville madness.

What's In a Beer Name Anyway?

I recently came across the new label design for Great Lakes Brewing Company's Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. In contrast to the previous one, the picture looks more foreboding, more perilous, which it certainly was for the ship and its crew on that day in 1975 when it sank. Regardless of the label's exact appearance, I have always appreciated the Great Lakes/Upper Midwestern reference. Our world is becoming increasingly homogeneous and I appreciate things that are local and idiosyncratic - reflective of the place from which they originate, even if it's something simple like a beer name or label. Those of us in the middle of the country do not need to follow each and every trend from the coasts.

Great Lakes Brewing took a regional outlook when naming their porter. The Edmund Fitzgerald went down in Lake Superior in either Michigan or Canadian waters, I cannot recall which, not in Lake Erie on Cleveland's north side. Nonetheless, seeing the label got me thinking about beer labels that celebrate place, that do a little something to illustrate the ortgeist of the brewery's community. 

I suspect that I initially noticed this kind of thing several years ago with Goose Island before they were absorbed by the A-B InBev Borg. They offered 312 Urban Wheat and Green Line Pale Ale.

312 is the area code for downtown Chicago while Green Line is one of the L train lines which apparently ran near the original Goose Island location. 

As for Wisconsin labels, it seems that many a brewery draws on imagery from the state. Northwoods Brewpub has, for example, Wall-I-PA named after the fish popular in northern parts of the state, although it is found in the northern part of the U.S. generally. New Glarus has the ubiquitous Spotted Cow, Back 40, Uff Da, and probably others. However, I don't believe New Glarus has ever had a beer named after something or someone from New Glarus and I am unaware of any Northwoods brews that owe their names to Osseo or its previous home, Eau Claire. Of breweries that take that kind of hyperlocal naming to heart, Milwaukee Brewing Company is first to my mind. Well, perhaps not their labels exclusively, but also their packaging.

For instance there was Increase Wheat.

It was named after Increase Lapham who moved to Milwaukee in 1836 and cataloged the plants in the area and the shells he found on the shores of Lake Michigan. He founded the Wisconsin Natural History Association and was Chief Geologist of the State of Wisconsin for a time.

Another one of their beers that comes readily to mind is their milk stout, Polish Moon, which is the nickname of the Allen-Bradley clock tower on Milwaukee's south side which was heavily Polish.

More recently the design for MKE IPA feature the "People's Flag of Milwaukee", presumably a response to the city's official flag which is rather busy and gaudy.

Also from Milwaukee is Lakefront's Eastside Dark which features the gothic stylings of the North Point Water Tower.

A bit west of Milwaukee in Lake Mills is the Tyranena Brewing Company. They do a good job of reflecting Wisconsin in their beer names and labels. But they also aren't afraid to showcase the Lake Mills area. For instance, there was Stone Teepee Pale Ale whose label featured the supposed stone pyramids in Rock Lake which is on the west side of town.

The Madison area doesn't seem to exactly have a surfeit of beers with names that relate to it. We do, however, have Ale Asylum's Madtown Nut Brown.

Now why Burke and Hare seem to be on the label is beyond me. Or is there some Madison lore depicted on it of which I am unaware?

Wisconsin Brewing has Badger Club, which is named after the official state animal, and Boom Run, a nod to the lumber industry - up north. Capital Brewery has Supper Club in honor of the state's unique culinary establishment.

On the other hand, Great Dane's German Pils was, I believe, once known as Verrückte Stadt, i.e. - Mad Town. Peck's Pilsner is named after the proprietor of Madison's first public house, Rosaline Peck. Rockhound Brewing (R.I.P.) had Greenbush Pale Ale, named after the neighborhood they resided in.

The Madison area's four lakes, State Street, the "lost city" of Lake Forest, flamingos, Frank Lloyd Wright**, the Capitol, et al provide plenty of fodder for beer monikers. But Madison area breweries generally eschew the local when it comes to beer names and labeling. Or is there some kind of Babcock beer with lactose that I've simply never seen? A hibiscus brew with pink flamingos on the label that has escaped me? Am I completely missing beer upon beer named after local places and people?

**My understanding is that Madison's House of Brews (R.I.P.) tried to use something FLW-related in a beer name and discovered his family was not keen on this.

Admirable Restraint: German Pilsner by Great Dane Pub

I recall the opening of the first Great Dane Pub. It was a dreary, rainy November day in 1994. A friend and I stopped in after class and found ourselves packed in like sardines and surrounded by middle-aged office workers. It was as if the G.E.F. buildings downtown had all emptied into the place. My companion and I seemed to be the youngest people there outside of staff. The beer was excellent but the massive crowds and the very naughty wandering hand of a woman who had probably worked at DWD for a few decades had us out the door after only a couple.

In the intervening 20+ years, the Great Dane has become a Madison institution with three more outposts having been added in the area and one up in Wausau to boot. Being our first brewpub, it became the template for those that followed. The Great Dane's lobbying efforts begat the so-called Brewpub Bill or Brewpub Tourism Development Act in 2007. Great Dane brewmaster (current?) Rob LoBreglio is friends with Kirby Nelson of Capital/Wisconsin Brewing Company and the pair have collaborated on beers over the years. And I'm sure there have been brewers at the Great Dane who have gone on to careers in the industry.

The Great Dane is a cornerstone of the Madison-area microbrew/craft brew scene and it continues to evolve. Last summer the brewpub began canning two beers and six packs of Hopsconsin Red Ale and German Pilsner began adorning store shelves.

Also known as Verruckte Stadt (German for "Mad Town"), German Pilsner and has been pouring forth from Great Dane taps for ages. Sadly, the last time I was at a Great Dane the big board didn't actually say Verruckte Stadt for some reason.

German Pilsner pours a nice straw color. In my glass it had just an ever so-slight haziness to it. I got a nice, big, frothy, white head which was happy to stick around for a while. And true to form, there were plenty of bubbles inside the bier making their way upwards. Pilsners are truly amongst the prettiest of beers with their brilliant color and effervescence. They make you thirsty by just looking at them.

The aroma was a lesson in modesty with some moderate grain and grassy hop scents. Nothing extravagant, but it was like putting blood in the water. Except it was the air. And grain & hops instead of blood. Like IKEA's furniture, German Pilsner's taste was clean and simple. It had that light pils crackery graininess with just the barest malty sweetness. I found that those grassy hops had taken on a spicy/peppery flavor. The carbonation was evident and the bier was bubbly and slightly dry.

On the finish, the malt flavors faded while the hoppy ones kicked in a little bit harder. And so the bitterness was a bit more pronounced as was the dryness. There was some really nice Schaumhaftvermoegen left in my glass with webbing everywhere.

I must admit that German Pilsner/Verruckte Stadt is the bier I drink most often when I'm at a Great Dane. It is not a big bier (5% A.B.V.) and can go well with just about any food that you'd order there. I really like the malt flavor which kept the sweetness at bay, something I appreciated. Being a German-style pils, the hops don't knock your socks off though they do more than simply play a supporting role. While there are times when German Pilsner/Verruckte Stadt tastes a little too laid-back and I wouldn't mind if there were just a bit more malt and hop flavor, it is, overall, a nice, easy-going brew.

Junk food pairing: Verruckte Stadt is a light-bodied beer that shows gustatorial restraint so take it easy on the food. Try some French Onion Dip Pringles or some light, poofy Cheetos Puffs with their fine, moderately sharp cheese flavor.