Remember when Madison had a sudden influx of frozen-yogurt shops? The common theme was that they were all self-serve. The Madison-area, specifically Verona, now has a self-serve wine bar called Toot & Kate’s.
Here’s how it works: you fill a card with money, then insert the card into a machine. You can select from eight whites and eight reds (the Rioja was my favorite), and each pour size (2.5, 5 and 7 oz.) has a different price, ranging from $2.50-$12.
Toot & Kate’s is owned by Toot (real name: Megan), her sister Kate and Kate’s husband, Ryan. Here’s my excerpted interview with Kate:
EatDrinkMadison: You, your husband and Megan live outside Milwaukee, right? How did you pick Verona for your location?
Kate: Ryan and I actually live in Waukesha. My sister, Megan, lives in Verona. We spend quite a bit of time in Verona with her and truly felt there was a void or white space in the bar scene for something like this. A rapidly growing community, combined with an enormous company like Epic–we felt really strongly about taking a chance on this idea in Verona.
EatDrinkMadison: The space previously housed a salon. How difficult was it to a) envision the layout and b) convert it to a bar?
Kate: It sure was a salon! A nail salon, actually. There was a LOT of work to be done, but fortunately, with where the plumbing had been previously hooked up, it allowed for us to have a starting point for where we should build our bar. Once we had that solidified, we tried to maximize our space, working our way out from the bar. My sister and I have very similar taste in décor and vibe, so the fun part was really executing our vision. Ryan has had a lot of experience in bar ownership in the past, so he really led the charge with ensuring the flow was all making sense and plumbing/electrical was being set up in the appropriate places.
EatDrinkMadison: Tell me about the wine dispensers. Why did you choose this self-serve concept?
Kate: There are a couple of places in Milwaukee that have the self-serve wine dispensers. One of which, Ruby Tap in Wauwatosa, was where Megan hosted my bridal shower in 2013. It was brand new at that point, and we absolutely fell in love with the idea. We truly feel (the concept) is a great way for those who know and love wine to explore all different kinds, without being too committed thanks to our different pour sizes.
EatDrinkMadison: Were the machines hard to install?
Kate: While the machines are manufactured in Italy, we worked with a regional company who helped install and train us on the equipment. We did experience a few hiccups here and there with getting our wine system and POS system to communicate with each other, but our issues were relatively minor and quick to fix.
EatDrinkMadison: How often will you change the selections?
Kate: Since we currently only have 16 selections on tap, our plan is to bring in new wine selections monthly. We’ll also be sure to keep a healthy balance of wine types, so we’re never too heavy on any one kind.
EatDrinkMadison: Do you plan to add more machines?
Kate: We would love to add another 1-2 machines. The initial feedback and response has been better than we could have ever anticipated, so if traffic continues to be strong, we’ll definitely look to add more dispensers down the road.
EatDrinkMadison: How often will you have live music, and what kinds of music?
Kate: Ideally, we’d like to have live music one night a week, or bi-weekly. We’re still very much getting into the swing of things and trying to determine what nights would work best. We’d love to keep it fresh and different all the time.
EatDrinkMadison: You have a full liquor license. Is offering spirits on the horizon?
Kate: We’re still gathering customer feedback on the spirits piece. We do not want to stray too far from our wheelhouse and would like for our brand to be your neighborhood wine bar. We’ve thrown around the idea of craft cocktails–a more limited, specialty drink menu. We’ve really received a mixed bag of feedback, so we’ll take our time and do what we feel would be best for our customers, at the end of the day.
EatDrinkMadison: What are your plans, if any, for serving food?
Kate: We actually do serve cheese and chocolate currently. We will likely also include a tasting plate, which will include different cheeses and chocolates to pair back to specific wines. We’re also discussing options to work with local restaurants for food delivery/take-out options, as well as allowing customers to bring their own food in.
Right in the heart of campus, just a block off State Street, sits a restaurant with a gorgeous view of the city, an outdoor rooftop sitting area and appealing cocktail menu. It’s The Madison Blind, located inside the Graduate Hotel, and it’s easy to miss.
I tried two of the four items from the Small Plates section. The roasted butternut squash puree ($7) is livened by the sweetness of the pieces of maple bacon walnut brittle and bits of apple swimming about. But it seems for every hit, there’s a miss, and in this round it’s the crispy chicken ($12), which was bland chicken in a thin and non-crispy breading. It was simply dying for either crispier breading or some honey mustard sauce to make it palatable.
There is no shortage of ramen noodles in Madison these days. The latest entry in this craze is 
Japanese curry isn’t heavy on the spices, and Ramen Station follows that style exactly. You may choose from beef, chicken kastu or pork kastu ($12.95) as well as vegetable ($9.95). The beef was tasty but chewy. At least the carrots, onions and potatoes were super soft.
