Editor’s note: Below is the Thursday, May 21 edition of the Food & Culture newsletter. If you want to receive it in your email inbox every Thursday (it’s free!), subscribe at captimes.com/newsletters.
Come a lily, come a lilac* 🌸
By Lindsay Christians, food and culture editor
It’s May, and I’m in the weeds. My husband and I spent the weekend ripping out rampaging violets, cutting burdock off at the knees, uprooting what my mom calls “crap trees” (another friend calls them “volunteers”) and eliminating thistle and garlic mustard. (Yes, I know I can eat garlic mustard. No, I don’t want to right now.)
This is a time of transition. Sorrel, parsley, chives and sage returned and are flourishing next to annual starts of basil (genovese, purple and Thai), nasturtiums and calendula. Weather sways my cravings and my mood. One night I wanted 3-hour braised short ribs with lemon and garlic, courtesy of Alison Roman’s new cookbook, “Something from Nothing.” And after humid days in the dirt, I crave fresh lemonade and cubes of mango from the freezer.
Now that most of my plants are in, how to spend this lovely long weekend? On Saturday I’ll pack a picnic blanket and sunscreen and head to Vegan Sausage Fest. This has become one of my very favorite local food festivals, held this year at Breese Stevens Field. The lines can get long but the vibes, and the dishes, are excellent.
A bit further ahead, look to the LunART Festival, which celebrates women in music. Iva Ugrcic founded this event nine years ago to help women connect and support each other, and it’s become a real source of joy. (So, too, has the Latino Arts Fest, now part of a larger conferenceat Centro. See work from Issis Macias, one of the artists featured at that conference, in a new show opening at Imaginary Factory.)
“Much Ado About Nothing” at American Players Theatre, 2024.
And lest I forget: Congratulations, American Players Theatre! The classical repertory company announced this week that it won the 2026 Special Tony Award for Regional Theatre, making it the first Wisconsin theater company ever to do so. When I reached Brenda DeVita on the phone on Tuesday, the first thing we both did was scream. I’m so delighted for them!
Cheers, friends! — Lindsay
PS: Congratulations to Patrick O’Halloran on being named Madison Magazine’s Chef of the Year! He spent years at Lombardino’s making some of the city’s best Italian American food, and since 2020 he and his team at The Deliciouser have completely reinvented my spice cabinet.
*The song “Wick” from the musical “The Secret Garden” plays in my head every spring. “You clear away the dead parts/ so the tender buds can form/ loosen up the earth and let the roots get warm.”
What we’re reading
Weekly reading recommendations from Lindsay Christians and Beck Henreckson
The 2021 short story collection “Afterparties” was a posthumous debut from Anthony Veasna So, a promising Cambodian American writer who got a publishing deal while still in grad school at Stanford. The stories are set mostly around Stockton, where So grew up, and wrestle with where immigrant identity intersects with queerness. — Lindsay
The narrator of “The Hitch,” Rose, is the kind of childfree person I never want to be — holier-than-thou, unknowingly self-absorbed and convinced she knows better how to raise her 6-year-old nephew, Nathan, than his own parents. I’ve just started this one but I know from the blurb that things are about to go (darkly but humorously) sideways with Rose’s Newfoundland. I’m hooked. — Lindsay
I finally let the hype get to me and started “Yesteryear,” the tradwife novel taking the internet by storm. I read so many bad reviews that my expectations were particularly low, which might be why they’ve been wildly exceeded so far. I think I expected to find the author’s tone very preachy, but it’s not, at all — it’s almost uncomfortably nuanced. I’m thinking about it every minute I’m not reading it; I need to know how this influencer ended up (literally) pulled back into the 19th century! — Beck
Restaurant news
Wendigo in Stoughton has announced that it will close.
Wendigo, a new American restaurant in Stoughton, will close today (May 21) after 12 years on Main Street. Co-owner Cale Ryan told State Journal reporter Samara Kalk Derby that he’ll be investing instead in Famous Yeti’s Pizza, a commercial kitchen with 11 food entrepreneurs, and Heron Hall, an event space.
Primer Coffee Co. is now open inside Hotel Indigo, 901 E. Washington Ave. Primer roasts coffee in-house on a Bellwether roaster, and the shop’s social media has been teasing a Dubai chocolate iced latte (how is that not … a mocha?). Primer is doing matcha lattes, London Fog tea lattes and nitro cold brew on tap. The cafe is open daily in the mornings (until 10/10:30 a.m.) only.
M&J Jamaican Kitch’n has had a brick-and-mortar location open since February at 4692 Cottage Grove Road, but the grand opening is May 30. The menu includes jerk chicken, curry goat, rice and beans, mac and cheese and fried plantains.
The owner of the Spring Green General Store, a casual cafe and gift shop at 137 S. Albany St. in Spring Green, is looking for a buyer after more than three decades of business. The store serves sandwiches, wraps, salads, soups and weekend breakfast.
It sounds like CAVA, a “Mediterranean-inspired” fast casual chain that’s been expanding into the upper Midwest, has a location planned for the Hilldale Shopping Center. A Hilldale rep said she’d pass on our request to confirm this for sure — details (perhaps!) to come.
Recent obsessions
Listening to: My husband says Kacey Musgraves’ new album, “Middle of Nowhere,” reminds him of Joni Mitchell. I agree, especially on strummed, introspective tracks like “Hell On Me.” “Back on the Wagon” (“he’s caused so much pain/but this time he’s changed”) has the pedal steel guitar sound of George Strait; “Uncertain, Texas,” a duet with Willie Nelson, has a cumbia beat. I’ve got this album on repeat, and tickets to see her in September.
Watching: The final season of the comedy “Hacks” on HBO opens with a truce (finally!) between impulsive, idealistic young writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) and imperious stand-up comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart). This show is so funny and smart, and the creators’ stance on AI is refreshing. As Deborah says, “Art is only art because of the humanity behind it.”
Drinking: I made a rich raspberry syrup (2 parts demerara/1 part water) specifically to make a Clover Club cocktail with Death’s Door gin, fresh lemon and egg white. But I discovered while planting my herb garden and garden-box annuals that it’s also fantastic in a homemade raspberry lemonade.
The Brighton Beach bagel sandwich at Gotham Bagels.
Eating: The Brighton Beach ($14.75) at Gotham Bagels — smoked salmon, caper cream cheese, red onion and cress for crunch on an everything bagel — has been my favorite farmers’ market breakfast for close to two decades. I treated myself before my Saturday shop, and it still makes me dream of New York. — Lindsay
The Coopers Tavern’s entrant in Burger Week is the Wisconsin Wellington Burger is topped with prosciutto, mushroom, onion jam and rosemary aioli.
Burgers for Two
Most weeks in this space, we run a mini-restaurant review (Table for Two) or highlight our favorite budget-friendly fare in a series called $20 Dining. Both are newsletter exclusives (sign up here). This week we’re sharing where to go for the last few days of Burger Week 2026!
By Beck Henreckson
It’s become a tradition; every May, my friend Ray and I meet up at The Coopers Tavern for burgers and beer to celebrate Madison Burger Week. Coopers has been participating in Burger Week since the Cap Times began hosting it in 2022. The first time, I chose it as the spot to try because their burger sounded particularly good, but at this point I trust that whatever they enter into the competition won’t disappoint.
This year, their Wisconsin Wellington Burger is topped with prosciutto, mushroom, onion jam and a rosemary aioli — I can’t wait to see how it stacks up!
Burger Week ends soon, but you still can cast a vote for your favorite burger today and Friday. There are 21 vying for your attention this year, and I think it’s a particularly good showing. If you want something creative and unusual, take your pick — toppings range from fried pickles and strawberry salsa to an entire chopped up bratwurst. As usual, Licari’s Bar & Grill (a two-time champion) has a towering creation you might need to approach with a knife and fork.
If you’re more of a purist, I’d recommend Hank’s Burgers & Fish Fry and Union Corners Tavern for straightforward, well-executed smash burgers. Those spots will have their burgers on the menu after this week ends, but if you want them taking home the trophy, act fast!
A few more I wish I had time to try: the Kimchi Crunch Burger from Bassett Street Brunch Club; the Ouisco Dip from Graze (I need to taste that ramp dijonnaise); and the Matterhorn Burger from Quivey’s Grove, drowning in melty Raclette. Take a look at the whole lineup and cast your votes.
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