'Madison Chefs' author looks at the people behind the city's thriving restaurant scene

Madison is an essential player in Wisconsin’s food culture. Home to the nation’s largest producer-only weekly farm market, it is also a launchpad and destination for chefs with a deep connection to local food.

Delving into the stories behind that food, Lindsay Christians began working on a series of chef profiles in 2017, long before a pandemic shifted the restaurant landscape indefinitely. Christians, the food editor and an arts writer at the Capital Times, spent her vacations and spare time over the past few years taking a closer look at chefs making their mark on Madison. This is not a cookbook, though there are recipes. Christians explores the intricate and essential connections between foods, farms and people that drive Madison’s food scene.

“Madison Chefs: Stories of Food, Farms, and People,” published by the University of Wisconsin Press, highlights nine chefs and their role in reimagining local dining: Gilbert Altschul (Grampa’s Pizzeria, Gib’s and Porter Coffee), Patrick DePula (Salvatore’s Tomato Pies), Dan Fox (Heritage Tavern), Francesca Hong and Matt Morris (Morris Ramen), Jonny Hunter (Underground Food Collective), Tami Lax (Harvest and The Old Fashioned), Francesco Mangano (Osteria Papavero), and Tory Miller (Deja Food Restaurant Group, L’Etoile and Graze).

Happy accidents

I became a food writer by accident. I became a journalist on purpose. I wanted to be a theater critic. I got my master's in theater at UW-Madison. I started at the Cap Times in 2008 as an arts writer, still am, and as happened around the country, things contracted. I started writing about food in 2009 …

I did not intend to write this book. I did a panel in spring of 2017 with several food writers, including Melissa Clark at New York Times and Raphael Kadushin, the head of UW Press (at the time). He said ‘I have this book in mind, a series of profiles on Madison chefs. Would you be interested?’

Why she loves Madison

I came here for graduate school. I am from Ohio. I like to say people don’t appreciate Madison until they move away and come back. The place I’m from, the Toledo area, the area is bigger than Madison but we didn’t have anywhere near the culinary diversity and innovation. …

There is something special about Madison, which is connected to the Dane County Farmers Market, which is still the largest farmers market in the country as far as I know. We have the Capitol and the UW campus, and people who are interested in eating well. What Terese Allen referred to as "rooted cosmopolitanism"; it informs how we live and eat here.

Choosing the chefs

I had to make the decision in 2017, not knowing what the food scene would be like in a few years. … I wanted to talk to people who were doing something new and taking risks, and at one point everyone in the book failed at something.

Homage to Odessa

Odessa (Piper) has not been an active chef and restaurant owner in Madison for 15 years. She is still an active part of this food culture. It was wonderful to move around the farmers market with her, to see the relationships. Then Tory Miller was there, making his market breakfast. People were asking for his autograph after seeing him on television (Iron Chef Showdown). It felt like a literal passing of the torch.

Odessa still has a presence, does events with Taliesin and L’Etoile. She has a strong connection and influence on the area, but I wanted to talk with her as a framing device, then move on, because frankly she isn’t where Madison is now. I wanted to give this respect, but then move the narrative forward.

The Madison movement

People do move back to Madison from Chicago because the cost of living is a little different here, so you’ll see that. You also see folks like Justin Carlisle, who has Ardent and Red Light Ramen (in Milwaukee). He trained at Madison College and cooked with several of the folks in the book, including Francesca and Matt, and Shinji Muramoto. He ran the kitchen at Harvest. There are chefs who came out of some of these Madison kitchens and went on to open more and different things. Not only are the cities more connected than we think about, but also our urban centers in Wisconsin are more connected to the rural places …

A lot of the people who live in Madison come from these smaller towns and have a lot of love for them. They bring that influence not only in the decor but in the food they serve.

Plan ahead

If you’re coming to Madison from Milwaukee, maybe visit some of the restaurants in the book. The majority are open, not all of them, so call ahead. If you want to expand, try Ahan, Jamie Hoang’s spot. She’s doing really interesting southeast Asian inspired food. Her aunt runs Ha Long Bay. … Itaro Nagano’s restaurant, Fairchild, 2611 Monroe St., Madison, it’s a gorgeous restaurant. He worked for Tory (Miller) for years. There are roots and paths forward.

Food and the future

Staffing issues were hard before the pandemic. They’ve been exacerbated. … We’re seeing more restaurants closing earlier. Late night is all but gone in Madison, weekends included. … We should be chill and respectful as diners.

We have Pasture and Plenty Makeshop, this place where you see a lot of small entrepreneurs building up their business. Patrick O’Halloran from Lombardino’s is doing spices. Sean Pharr, long listed for James Beard, he owns Mint Mark. He opened Muskellounge, 4102 Monona Drive, Madison, an ode to Wisconsin taverns.

You’re seeing a lot of that. These things seem so tied to this place, like Settle Down Tavern, by Brian Bartels, Ryan Huber and Sam Parker. … They have Settle Down, Oz By Oz, and they’re opening a supper club on the near north side called Cranberry.

Upcoming book event

There is an event over Zoom with Mystery to Me on Feb. 2 with Francesca Hong, mysterytomebooks.com.

We have so many photos, 150 in the book and hundreds that did not make it into the book. I started an Instagram: madisonchefsbook.

Table Chat features interviews with Wisconsinites, or Wisconsin natives, who work in restaurants or support the restaurant industry; or visiting chefs. To suggest individuals to profile, email psullivan@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Author of 'Madison Chefs' looks at city's thriving restaurant scene