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Gates & Brovi

Sunday, November 25th, 2012

The first time I entered Gates & Brovi, I felt this was the perfect restaurant for the neighborhood. The exposed brick keeps the charm of Monroe Street, and the overall design with its ample, natural lighting gives it a hip, urban feel.

The menu, limited to just a page, is full of creative items. The slow roasted beef ($8.95) with its horsey sauce and caramelized onions on an Italian hoagie, was a nice departure from typical, boring roast beef sandwiches. I had to remove most of the giardiniera, however, as I thought it took a little too much away from the focus of the beef.

Meanwhile, the Chile-chick pea tuna salad sandwich ($7.75) was full of flavor with the hard boiled egg, capers and pepperoncini on top, thus eliminating the need for mayonnaise that offers drowns these types of sandwiches. The torpedo roll also was perfectly toasted to add a subtle crunch.

Perhaps the least original item, though my favorite, was The G&B ($6, add $1.50 for bacon, $2.50 for a double). If you’re looking for a juicy burger, you found it right here. In fact, the bottom bun was clinging for dear life as it was falling apart in all the juices (that’s a good thing in my book). On the flip side, the cole slaw that came on the side was rather bland.

I also recommend trying the clam chowder ($2.75 cup, $4 bowl), served every day, as well as the calamari ($9), though the breading fell off most of the pieces. The rest of the menu contains items like whole Maine lobster, salads and even Blue Point oysters ($1 each during happy hour).

Gates & Brovi is open for lunch and dinner Tuesdays through Sundays. Parking can be a challenge, as you have to park on the street (there seems to be only a handful of spaces nearby) before 7 p.m., at which point you can park in the Mallatt Pharmacy parking lot.

See more photos of Gates & Brovi at our Flickr set.

Tags: American, near west
Posted in Restaurant and Bar Reviews | 1 Comment »

Ivory Room

Friday, November 2nd, 2012

Madison’s only piano bar, the Ivory Room, expanded into portions of the former Ian’s Pizza this summer. If you’ve ever been to the former incarnation, you know how tight the space was. Now, patrons have more elbow room as 1,000 square feet was added.

Even better, the single piano is now dueling pianos–like you find at Howl at the Moon or Pat O’Brien’s–on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Those are the only nights that have a $5 cover charge, though that’s waived if you show a dinner receipt from Capital Tap Haus or Buck & Badger, both of which share the same owner as Ivory Room.

I have to admit, I actually like the new Ivory Room, because it finally feels like a piano bar. Also, I’ve noticed the average age for patrons has gone down. Whereas the old Ivory Room was usually packed with people 40+, now it’s more 20s and 30s. A bartender told me it’s because of the later opening hours (8 p.m. vs. 4 p.m., for example).

Regarding the musicians, I was happy to see familiar faces in Josh Dupont and Michael Massey of Piano Fondue, as well as the husband-wife duo of Anthony and Leslie Cao, as regular performers. They do a great job of charging up the crowd.

One major strike is the fact that you have to pay $250 for any size group up to 20 to sit in the VIP area, which is on the same level as the pianos. So if you and four friends want to sit up there, you’re looking at $50 each, all for having slightly closer access to the pianos and a dedicated server. Puh-leeze. This is Madison, not Chicago or New York.

Ivory Room is open Tuesday-Saturday, with Sundays and Mondays reserved for private parties.

Tags: downtown
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Steepery Tea Bar

Saturday, October 27th, 2012

In my quest to drink less soda–I’ve eliminated about 60 oz. a week–I’ve been drinking more iced tea. However, it’s been disappointing drinking the tasteless iced tea served at most restaurants.

Well for fans of tea–either iced, hot or bubble–we have a new place to quench our thirst: Steepery Tea Bar, which opened on State Street last month. I was invited to tour the store to see how the tea was made and sample some drinks.

The owner told me her goal is to become the next Starbucks. With five other stores (all in Minnesota) and a great product, I think they have a shot.

Any drink can be customized, including by sweetness level. As another example, you can add one of nine flavors of bubbles (called pearls and jellies here) to any drink for 50 cents. The texture of the bubbles is absolutely perfect, as Steepery staff make the pearls every two hours. I recommend adding either the passion fruit or the lychee to a glass of iced tea ($3.30).

On the hot side, I thought the individual tea press (see photo) was a clever approach to serving tea. You’ll have to make the difficult decision of choosing among the more than 50 kinds of fair-trade & organic looseleaf teas and tisanes, but be comforted in knowing there’s no bad choice. A cup is $2.30 and a pot is $3.25.

I did ask about the “bar” in the name, and the owner told me the space (formerly the Taste of Tibet) was unfortunately too small to have a bar set up, like in the other locations. Steepery also sells light fare, all locally sourced.