Madison Chefs: Stories of Food, Farms, and People [Hardcover]

Why do Salvatore’s tomato pies have the sauce on the top? Where did chef Tami Lax learn to identify mushrooms in the woods? How did Morris develop its signature ramen?
 
Farm-to-table is a cliché, but its roots among the farmers and chefs of south-central Wisconsin are deep, vibrant, and resilient. From brats and burgers to bibimbap, Madison’s food scene looks substantially different than it did just a decade ago. Though the city has always been ahead of the locavore movement, a restaurant boom in the 2010s radically changed the dining landscape. Even when individual eateries close or chefs move on, their ideas, connections, and creativity have lasting power. Much larger cities have been unable to match the culinary variety, innovation, and depth of talent found in Wisconsin’s state capital.
 
Lindsay Christians’s in-depth look at nine creative, intense, and dedicated chefs captures the reason why Madison’s food culture remains a gem in America’s Upper Midwest. This beautifully illustrated book will leave you salivating—or making reservations.Why do Salvatore’s tomato pies have the sauce on the top? Where did chef Tami Lax learn to identify mushrooms in the woods? How did Morris develop its signature ramen? Lindsay Christians’s in-depth look at nine creative, intense, and dedicated chefs captures the reason why Madison’s dining culture remains a gem in America’s Upper Midwest.“The career path of these remarkable humans reads like a wildly creative menu planning session. The recipes, tested by Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW), are seriously awesome. Christians discovers what makes them prevail through feast and famine. Madison is a class act for supporting their restaurants. This book makes me hungry.”—Odessa Piper, founder of L’Etoile“Captures the reason why Madison's food culture remains a gem in America's UppelóO