Isthmus Gallery: 2008-2014

Helping your kids stick with music lessons

Adam Powell on Thursday 04/03/2014

Some clever-clogs is playing Rachmaninoff on the piano at a party, and there it is again, that oft-heard adult lament of lost opportunity from a dejected onlooker: "I wish I could play. I wish my parents hadn't let me quit music lessons. I was just a kid -- how was I to know?" It's a reasonable complaint. >More

Playtime unplugged: Madison designers help reinvent the board game

Adam Powell on Thursday 12/19/2013

Once upon a wintry eve, before the advent of Netflix, DVDs, television and radio, families would gather around a piano to sing songs, or around a board game to pass the time. This was largely a function of not having a whole lot else to do. Before electricity, even reading a book was a bit challenging after sunset, and people mostly just ate dinner and went to bed after a bit of crocheting or cribbage. >More

Doesn't Madison's bike polo team deserve a real court?

Adam Powell on Thursday 08/22/2013

THWACK! In Minneapolis, a bicyclist in shockproof gear fighting through the North American Bike Polo Championship 2013 slams a polyvinyl chloride ball into the net with a customized fiberglass mallet, then skids to a halt. In Madison, bike polo players are riveted, watching the aspiring champions of this nascent sport on BikePoloTV. >More

Madison Vines: The new mini-video platform already has its stars

Adam Powell on Thursday 08/08/2013

What's a Vine? It's a six-second video that lives mostly in the world of mobile devices like iPhones. Download and open the free app, touch the screen to start recording a video " a cat stretching in a sunbeam, a friend dunking a basketball, a stupendous steel drummer " then publish with a push of a button. >More

West Madison's changing grocery landscape

Adam Powell on Wednesday 07/03/2013

When I was growing up on the near west side of Madison, summer days meant riding dirt bikes around in a pack to Hoyt Park, Quarry Park and Picnic Point. After a day of adventuring, we would be hot and thirsty. Time to hit the main grocery store of the area at the time, El Rancho on University and Farley.>More

An introduction to Madison billiards subculture

Adam Powell on Thursday 06/27/2013

Bars from Madison to Sydney have pool tables. But you don't see many 10-by-5-foot carom billiards tables, the kind with no pockets. And these days you mostly won't, unless you're obsessed with the antique game of three-cushion carom billiards, an intensely challenging pool-like game from a distant era. It turns out that some Madison residents are carrying the billiards torch. >More

Pork peaks in Madison restaurant culture

Adam Powell on Thursday 03/21/2013

Pork has become incredibly popular, both locally and nationally. At the center of this pork renaissance is the class of animals referred to as heritage pigs: larger, purebred hogs with a mass of bristles, many inches of back fat, and a distinct lineage. >More

Apple Apps from Madison: Meet eight local developers

Adam Powell on Thursday 02/14/2013, (1) Comment

Young men and women with Apple ear buds are packed into a room, intent on their work. Some are doing graphic design, some are writing code, some are writing marketing materials. Flannel, odd haircuts and freshly scrubbed faces abound. Ethernet cables spool into closely arranged desks stacked high with computer gear. A delivery guy is loading the break room table high with moo shu shrimp and mushroom egg foo yong. Is this San Francisco in 1998? No -- it's a gaming company on Madison's west side in 2012. What's going on here? >More

Fresh beats, wondrous tales, a mindblowing circus: A preview of the kids' 2012-13 arts season 

Adam Powell on Thursday 09/06/2012

The ancient performance arts of dance, music and theater face stiff competition from new digital unrealities -- Xbox, Netflix and the strobe of CGI. But our old traditions wield a primal, visceral punch; the sweat and immediacy of live performances provide a depth of experience that flat-screen pastimes cannot. Walk your kids away from the Wii and watch their synapses light up when they witness how good live entertainment with no digital effects can be. >More

Madison gets its own producer of the fermented honey drink: Bos Meadery

Adam Powell on Thursday 09/06/2012

With new Hobbit movies and the red-hot series Game of Thrones in the cultural consciousness, mead-swilling characters from medieval environs abound. So it is with admirable timing that Colleen Bos has just opened Madison's first facility dedicated solely to mead, combining her backgrounds as a homebrewer and medieval historian. Her Kickstarter project reached its goal in mid-August, and now a clean, professional meadery at 849 E. Washington Ave. is open for business. >More

The next frontier for online community?

Adam Powell on Thursday 07/12/2012

When Salon Media Group broke the news in late June that employees of ur-online community the WELL had been terminated and that assets were up for sale, a cadre of early Net adopters bristled, then rallied. Founded in 1985 by Larry Brilliant and Stewart Brand, the WELL is among the first and richest online communities. >More

What makes a good olive oil?

Adam Powell on Thursday 07/22/2010

What is extra virgin olive oil? It comes from virgin oil production where olives are not treated with chemicals, has no more than 0.8% acidity, and is not recommended for cooking. High temperatures distort the subtle taste qualities of extra virgin olive oil, so if you are sautéing vegetables for a marinara, you should use something less expensive, like plain old virgin olive oil. >More

Milky way

Adam Powell on Thursday 05/20/2010

When you're from Wisconsin, it's easy to take milk for granted. It's part of the landscape. Goes well with chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter sandwiches and blindingly hot Salvadoran peppers. In the grocery store, most of us grab a carton of our regular, whether whole, 2%, 1% or skim, and beyond that we probably don't have much of a handle on how different milks actually taste. >More

Fitchburg's Thai Noodles offers worthy cheap eats

Adam Powell on Friday 02/19/2010

Thai cuisine is among the world's most exciting: It's colorful, dynamic, ebullient, in-your-face. It's a cuisine that doesn't shy away from intense flavors like chili paste and fermented fish sauce. Eating Thai is about trying centuries-old flavors of galanga, kaffir lime leaves and cilantro. >More

Madison New Year's feasts to ring out 2009

Adam Powell on Thursday 12/24/2009

Sure, you can go to the local tavern in boots and flannel to drink beer, eat peanuts, and sing "Auld Lang Syne" with your pals. But if you'd rather deck out in spectacular evening wear for New Year's Eve, many of Madison's finest restaurants are putting on ritzy dinners to anchor your evening and provide a stage to show off that finery. >More

Hüsnü's daughters bring premium Turkish olive oil to Madison

Adam Powell on Tuesday 12/22/2009 12:00 pm

The clan of Hüsnü Atis is deeply interwoven into the fabric of the Madison community. The name probably sounds familiar to any Madison resident on the strength of Hüsnü's restaurant: this State Street institution opened in 1979 and has served Turkish, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean food to a receptive Madison since. >More

Jovian Taphaus tries to integrate beer hall and fine dining

Adam Powell on Friday 10/16/2009

The Jovian Taphaus tries to mash sports bar, beer hall and upscale restaurant into one entity and succeed as a community watering hole for the Grandview Commons neighborhood. Plus, the place needs to whisk away memories of its predecessor, Cloud 9 Grille, which flamed out last March. It's a tall order. >More

Ha Long Bay Bistro serves Viet, Thai and Lao cuisines

Adam Powell on Friday 08/07/2009, (3) Comments

Bright neon green curtains enhance the comfortable new space for Ha Long Bay Bistro, previously occupied by Bab's French Quarter Kitchen. Bamboo pagoda lamps, rice paddy hats and nautical and floral images create a pleasing visual flow. Tiny bamboo plants in faux-jade baby elephant planters rest on each table. Cuisine is derived from Vietnamese, Thai and Laotian recipes. >More

Tagging along with Tory Miller

Adam Powell on Friday 07/24/2009

"The most important thing is the relationships." It's 6:45 on a sunny Saturday morning, and I'm walking around the Capitol Square discussing how fresh food from Wisconsin farms gets to Tory Miller's kitchen -- and finally to your plate. >More

Wine with your meal?

Adam Powell on Friday 04/17/2009

There are real differences between wines, but there are no absolute standards. Once you realize this, wine tasting becomes a lot more fun. For once, it really is all about you! >More

Ironworks Cafe shines at breakfast and lunch at Goodman

Adam Powell on Friday 04/10/2009

The Goodman Community Center's new Ironworks Café -- a gorgeously retrofitted space well suited to breakfast or lunch lounging -- is an asset to the Schenk-Atwood neighborhood. >More

Bucatini Trattoria: Basta pasta in Middleton

Adam Powell on Friday 02/20/2009

In a college town, serving spaghetti and meatballs to carousing students is a solid business plan. It doesn't have to be high art. Nonetheless, I was hopeful that Enzo Amodeo's new Bucatini Trattoria in Middleton might be a step up from the plate-o'-bland-pasta approach. >More

Oliva is a new bright spot in west-side dining

Adam Powell on Friday 01/16/2009

When the nomadic, horse-riding Seljuq Turks migrated from their ancestral homeland of Central Asia and crossed the Volga into the Black Sea steppes circa 1300 A.D., they brought a highly distinctive philosophy towards food with them: In austerity is great beauty. The Turks have long employed a deep restraint in their arts, a design esthetic that cuts through the opulence of Western Europe like a scythe through a hunk of warm ökelek. >More

Vindaloo, my darling: Flavor of India

Adam Powell on Friday 12/19/2008

Flavor of India is the third Indian restaurant in Wisconsin by brothers / co-owners / chefs Devinder Singh Badwal and Sital Singh and the second in Madison, following their Taste of India on Monroe Street. This latest entry gives Madisonians an opportunity to study the nuances of north Indian cuisine (though major regional styles are all represented on the dinner menu). >More

Kushi Bar completes the Muramoto triumvirate in Madison

Adam Powell on Friday 11/14/2008

Chef Shinji Muramoto has revamped his original stomping grounds on King Street -- the new Kushi Bar Muramoto inhabits the same narrow space that housed the original Sushi Muramoto. (If you're keeping track, that restaurant has moved down the block to the space that formerly hosted Cocoliquot.) >More

Doug's Soul Food Cafe serves heavenly country-fried Southern comfort

Adam Powell on Friday 10/10/2008

When my mother was a little girl, her Alabama-bred mother used to cook up "a mess o' greens" on tough days. The recipe consisted of a slab of bacon, collard greens and turnip greens, all stewed up into a mass of nutritious and heavy gruel. >More

Arty kids

Adam Powell on Friday 08/01/2008

Madison is justly famous for its bicycle paths, lakes and world-class university. If you ask parents why they love the city, chances are they will name the school system as a reason. But one aspect of Madison that is frequently, and unjustly, overlooked is the wealth of artistic opportunities for children of all ages. >More

Madison Senior Scenester Potluck reflects on a bygone musical era

Adam Powell on Monday 07/14/2008 11:18 am, (1) Comment

The mindset on State Street in the early '80s among a certain subculture was one of violent underground dissent against Reagan's America and an embrace of the DIY culture of 'zines, homemade flyer art and punk rock. Sunday, the Senior Scenesters Potluck at Tenney Park brought many of the members of that social scene together again. It was Bill Feeny's brainstorm. Feeny played with Appliances SFB, one of the better-know Madison acts of the early '80s. >More

Dine with the kids at Bean Sprouts Cafe in Middleton

Adam Powell on Friday 07/04/2008

Bean Sprouts cafe in Middleton Hills is one of the successes of that community-based architectural gambit. Bean Sprouts caters to parents and grandparents with a cafe that's specifically designed for young children but makes all ages feel at home. >More

Spectacular salads

Adam Powell on Tuesday 04/22/2008

The art of the salad is underappreciated. All too often, salads are just the quiet supplement to steak or fish or pasta. In Wisconsin, a lingering supper club mentality that views fish or steak as the "real food" means that the salad norm is a wedge of iceberg lettuce with a glob of dressing and a black olive. Salad is reduced to a condiment. But although we live in Wisconsin, we also live in Madison - historically, friend to the vegan, the vegetarian and the slow-food movement. The greens at the Farmers' Market on the Square come from a large network of independent and often organic farms, and the best restaurants harvest these and return them to us in excellent salads. Madison's top salads prove to be delightfully rich - and surprisingly sophisticated. >More