As we've rolled out products into the American TV stores this summer, I've had to go to Madison a couple more times for meetings and trainings along the way. Earlier this summer, I met my colleague, John Bevier, in Madison for another training session for one of the American stores there. The night before the training, we went out to dinner with Gary Lahmers, the head of American TV's audio department. Gary did a great job in suggesting the Tornado Steak House the last time we had dinner with him. This time, he suggested a unique restaurant in downtown Madison - a Scandinavian restaurant by the name of Restaurant Magnus. (see map).
Owned by the Berge brothers - Finn and Christopher; and Laura Jones, Restaurant Magnus is run by head chef, Nick Johnson. Restaurant Magnus had recently undergone a stunning transition. For years, the restaurant was known as a wonderful place to get South American food - tapas style. On June 1st, the restaurant became a Scandinavian restaurant with recipes culled from the Berge brother's upbringing just west of Madison. While it rankled many of the locals that loved the small plates of food, the new menu was a bold and forward nod to the heritage of the Berge's.
Gary and John were already seated in the very elegant, yet inviting, dining area when I rolled in. There's a large parking garage just to the west of the restaurant, but I was able to park on the street. Gary hasn't lived in Madison all that long, but one thing that he has already fallen in love with is one of my favorite breweries in the world - the Capital Brewery in nearby Middleton. He said, "This is some of the best beer I've ever had!" I told him that I'd been drinking Capital beers for nearly 20 years and I thought that it was the best a long time ago. I still think their Special Pilsner is difficult to beat. The only problem is that they had the Capital Wisconsin Amber and not the Special Pilsner. We took the Amber.
Gary is also a big fan of Aquavit, the strong Scandinavian liquor that is made out of potatoes. He ordered three small flute glasses of chilled Aquavit. I've had Aquavit before, but it had been years and years. I forgot what it tasted like. But Gary insisted, so I went along with him. While I can't say that it's my favorite, it was pretty smooth. I declined Gary's offer to have a third one with him after we slugged back the first two before dinner.
We looked through the menus and came up with some appetizers to try. We decided to get four things to try - raw Pacific oysters on the half-shell - a dozen that we'd share. We also got a Jarslberg cheese tart, something called a smoked gouda cheese parfait, and brined steak tartare with pumpernickel and truffle mustard. John said, "Jesus, I may not order any dinner tonight!"
And the appetizers were very good. I especially liked the steak tartare with the pumpernickel and truffle mustard. And for getting oysters in the middle of the upper Midwest, I'd have to say the oysters on the half shell were pretty damn tasty.
Even though Restaurant Magnus has a very extensive wine list, we decided to pass on wine for the evening. We focused more on the good Capital Amber beers that we were drinking. Plus after a couple of Aquavit's, John was starting to feel the alcohol coming on. He told me the next morning, "I'm glad we didn't have any wine because I'd be a bowl of Jello right now."
For dinner, all three of us weren't very adventurous. We all went with the same thing - the Cardamom grilled beef tenderloin with a blackberry mustard, truffle-cauliflower puree and spinach. I got mine rare, Gary and John ordered theirs medium rare. Gary gave me a look when I said I wanted mine rare and he said, "Oh, a European is in our midst!"
Since we'd gotten a shitload of appetizers, we passed on getting a dinner salad. We spent much of the time before we'd gotten our main entree in casual conversation. Gary had just bought a new house in Madison and was anxious to get his family moved out there from the East Coast. After living in Boston for a number of years, I asked how he liked Madison. He said, "It's small." Now, I have to put things in perspective. Madison is about the size of the Quad Cities, but has a lot more to offer. It's one of the more progressive cities - not only in the Midwest, but nationally. I suppose Madison is rather small for a guy who lived in Boston for years and years. I think of it as "the big city."
Our main entrees came out and we dug in. Mine was rare, all right. But it was damn good. Both John and Gary proclaimed their steaks as wonderful, as well. The tenderloin sat on the bed of the blackberry mustard, truffle-cauliflower puree and fresh spinach leaves. The presentation was excellent, the food as the same.
We ended up our meal by splitting a piece of blueberry cheesecake topped with a blueberry compote and a cherry coulis sauce. I had a couple bites and it was very good. It was all I could do to not order another piece for us.
We finished off the evening with each of us getting a Macallan 15 year Scotch. It was a great topper to a wonderful meal. One thing about it, Gary likes to party. He's an interesting and fun guy to be around.
Restaurant Magnus was a very pleasant surprise, to say the least. For a restaurant to make a complete and utter 180 degree change from South American cuisine to a Norwegian-based menu that relies upon locally grown food for its menu, that may be suicide for some. But Restaurant Magnus was able to pull it off. I'm sure they'll get the same kudos for this menu as they did for their last one.
(Update - Citing a downturn in the economy, Chris Berge closed Restaurant Magnus in December of 2010. Patronage at the restaurant had been slipping and Berge determined that he needed to serve 1200 diners in a week to break even. He was getting about 700 a week toward the end. Berge, who is an avid bicyclist, had planned to replace Restaurant Magnus with a "bike friendly" restaurant, but those plans were deep-sixed not long after the restaurant closed.)
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