nostrano

A new type of restaurant just hit Madison. One that boasts utter transparency between the kitchen, the bar, and the customers. A restaurant that features the best of local ingredients and drinks. One that even sells its kitchen and bar ingredients in the restaurant. Intrigued yet? Because I definitely am. I had been waiting months to try Merchant, the craft cocktail lounge, restaurant, and urban grocery now open in downtown Madison.

I'll admit that I haven’t been cooking at home much recently. In the past, I blamed this sad occurrence on my busy school or work schedule; I can’t say the same this time. The culprit, you ask? Several new restaurants have popped up in Madison over the past month -- and each of them is boasting a (mostly) locally-sourced menu. Believe me, if you tasted the food, you wouldn’t be cooking at home either! 

I strongly encourage Madison visitors -- in town for this weekend’s Wisconsin Cheese Festival, our last outdoors Dane County Farmer’s Market, or REAP’s Pie Palooza, maybe? -- to visit two of my favorite new restaurants: Graze and Nostrano.

Graze