Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Majority of area restaurants sadly lacking quality soup, bread bowls

Ah, it would come soon enough. The last dose. Or perhaps it ought to be called the last shebang. Yes, this is the last shebang of a Savory Secrets column you will find in this fine piece of campus newspaper that we lovingly refer to as the Herald.

This last column should be remembered as the leftovers column. Not the same as drunk food you don’t end up eating. The column should come across like the drunk food that’s made its home in the fridge since January and has continued its fridge takeover ever since. I really don’t know what either of these situations are like.

Welcome to the column about everything food related I never wrote about. Reasonably, most people expect that all buffet items don’t mix. But that is never true. A few of those clumsy patrons end up mixing the tomatoes with the Jello with a simple tip of the spoon.

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So, never expect all buffet items to stay separate from each other. Why? Blame the messy people that cannot seem to move food from a warm tub to their plate using what must be the biggest serving spoons ever made.

Regardless, the column will derive its characteristics from the messy buffet. Everything offered. Nothing left separate. I should warn you, though. Serve food lightly off of this buffet.

Graduation for seniors isn’t too far away. Victory-lap runners included. Not like I know who any of them are. After the big Kohl Center hoopla, the good majority of us will leave Madison to see the rest of the country and/or the world. Leaving town, my best advice is to stay curious.

No matter where you are, I invite you to try new things. Meet someone new. Try a new restaurant. And don’t be afraid of how the food could taste. Usually, whether or not the food is good or not is not a measure of the experiment’s worth.

Any time we venture out to try something new, we learn. We learn what we like and usually take note of others’ feelings at the same time. The more experimented, the more diamonds in the rough I’ve found.

Most of us were taught not to judge a book by its cover. Yet, we do it all the time. In psychology, our judgment about things based on their looks is often utilized as simple, lazy shorthand to conserve brainpower for more complicated matters or journalism projects. Judging a restaurant or food establishment by its looks is an extension of this psychological phenomenon.

Every time I tell my own shorthand that it didn’t know what it was deducing and tried new food, I’ve been overwhelmingly pleased. Places that are usually referred to “holes in the walls” are usually the best ones to try. I am especially fond of good Indian restaurants with entrances in the back.

Oh yes. So, I didn’t get around to writing some food reviews. Yet, I offer these mini reviews in the hope that all lazy shorthands were tossed out the window a few minutes back.

With an abundance of cultural and distinctive food about town, the void of a soup place is very apparent. It is a shock that nobody has opened one on State Street. This soup place could serve all types of soup from all over the world and I guarantee that it would be good. Imagine a nice, hot cup (or bowl) of minestrone soup without garbanzo beans and a little extra spice. Mmm.

Maybe it could liken the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld. Though, if the soup were decent, we could all forgive this soup place because the soup would be so good and worth the verbal abuse. “One year, you come back!” And maybe a decent soup place will sprout up serving soup and nothing else. Right now, Einstein Bros. Bagels serves the best soup in town. This must change.

Until dining at Le Chardonnay on Johnson near State Street, French food was not a meal I was accustomed to. Right after trying the Brie Pate, it was quite obvious that Le Chardonnay is the best and most authentic French food restaurant in Madison.

After a few martinis and dinner, have some Sambuca liquor to cleanse the palette. Le Chardonnay is a place that can break the bank. Ask mom or dad to go so a few dollars can be spent at the bar.

Speaking of bars, one bar deserves a special mention in the category of college bars near campus. When the quality of a drink means more than the quantity of drinks consumed in an evening, the only bar to visit is The Blue Velvet Lounge on Gilman Street.

The Appletinis are quite good (so I hear) and Mojitos made with rum, lime, sugar, actual mind springs and soda water are worth a sample. Velvet bartenders use top-shelf liquor and the difference between this late-night destination and others is unparalleled.

Leaving Madison and its delights behind may be hard. It is easier to think about leaving when considering all of the possibilities of food enjoyment in other places. Again, stay curious and the fun in eating different foods will follow. Enjoy!

Tom McGrath is a fifth-year senior majoring in journalism and mass communications, among other things. He enjoys good food from around the world and will never give up the hooch, especially the Bell’s Oberon. Tom can be reached at [email protected].

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