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Another mediocre "fine dining" establishment in the suburbs (Middleton, WI).

Madison location

8390 Market Street
Middleton, WI 53562

608-831-3705(V), 608-831-3852(F)

Hours: Monday-Thursday 11am-10pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-11pm, Sunday 11am-9pm

Keywords: chain, steak, italian

Price: ~$25/person

April 4, 2006

written by Brian and Kathleen

Brian's parents originally tried to go here on a Monday night a few weeks ago, but the 30-45 minute wait drove them to find another option. This time, a reservation was made to celebrate Brian's birthday.

The entryway was dominated by dark furniture and impressive fixtures which were already beginning to look dingy after less than a year. It was clearly made to look awesome when it was first installed, with little concern for what it would like a few years later. We were greeted by a hostess and led to a table immediately.

Our path took us through the bar area (very loud) and then through what appeared to be a maze of head-height, thick, black walls that surrounded various tables and dinning areas, providing a nice sense of privacy for the diners. We were seated at a two-person booth with a table that was quite narrow, but uncomfortably long for a romantic dinner for two. The server greeted us promptly and we soon ordered an appetizer of sausage bread since we had no idea what that was.

We learned thereafter that it was biscotti-shaped slices of heavy, undercooked bread with a thin layer of traditional sausage calzone filling just under the crust. The small dish of marinara on the side was flavorful and tangy. There were four large slices of this heavy appetizer, so we would not recommend it for a group smaller than four.

Bread and salads came out next. While most restaurants would have had the waiter prepare a plate with olive oil and parmesean cheese, we were simply instructed that it "tasted good". The bread was foccaccia and also seemed undercooked, although nicely garlicky. The oil was even more potent with garlic flavor. The parmesan, on the other hand, was barely a step above what you get at the grocery store in the green plastic bottle; it certainly wasn't grated that day from a good chunk of parmesan. The house salad arrived in a communal bowl, already dressed in a lovely honey mustard vinaigrette, and accompanied by two chilled plates, which, as our waitress warned, slid across the smooth table because of water condensing from the cold plate. The salad was the only undeniably good thing we ate all evening.

Kathleen ordered the chevre-and-spinach-stuffed salmon with a side of asparagus and Brian, who had come for MEAT, ordered Filet Oscar with smashed potatoes. The filet was good, but certainly not great. The "Oscar" part of the Filet Oscar consisted of a crab cake, asparagus, and bernaise sauce; unfortunately the crab cake was wet and tasted noxiously fishy, and the berhaise sauce was bland, thin, and basically nonexistant. The asparagus and side of smashed potatoes were the best part of the dish. Kathleen's salmon was dry and boring and didn't meld with the stuffing. The stuffing itself, however, was pretty tasty, so she ate it by itself. And again, the side of asparagus was good.

Since we had birthday cake waiting for us at home, we passed on the desserts, most of which appeared to have entered the restaurant frozen anyway. The waitress presented them to us arranged on a tray, and had all the things you'd expect to see in an Italian restaurant: turtle cheesecake, berry cheesecake, creme brulee (which was nice and thin--lots of crust), chocolate and pistachio cannolis, tirimisu, Grand Marnier mousse, and chocolate cake.

For a restaurant that is clearly trying to be upscale and hip at the time same time, they just come off as mediocre and unimpressive. We might have expected this had we visited closer to when it first opened nearly a year ago, but it isn't acceptable now. The lesson learned from this trip: when going out for a special day or event, pick a place you already know to be good.

April 4, 2006