I don't remember the last time I wrote a review, but today I have to. My fiancé and I have recently moved from NYC to Madison, and in many ways this took some adjusting.. Last night he decided to take me out to Graft. The moment we walked in, the ambiance reminded us of the beautiful creativity you would see each time you'd walk into a 5 star NY restaurant... Without the cramped setting and crabby service. Speaking of service... In no other restaurant have we ever been given such special treatment! From being cheerfully greeted by the hostess, to the jovial and highly knowledgable waiter, to the owner who frequently made his rounds to make sure each of his patrons were taken care of, to the chef who personally came to our table to chat with us and, as a bonus, bring us complimentary dishes on the menu simply to gain our input on his craft....
Let's just say this doesn't happen everyday, and that this restaurant was just having a good service day. Even if we remove service from the experience, the food itself is enough for us to keep coming back and bring our out of town guests to show off Madison. We were able to try almost half the menu thanks to our talented and confident chef, Philip.
Brussel sprouts: Perfectly roasted with a hint of sweetness
Warm radish: this was one Phillip brought out as I would have never thought to order radish... And it ended up becoming my favorite fall/winter salad. I really can't describe it to do it justice... You just have to take a leap and order this one!
Pappardelle with shiitake mushrooms: this fresh pasta melted in our mouths, with the mushrooms giving just the right amount of texture and bursting with flavor that we ended up ordering another.
Chèvre: you can never really go wrong with goat cheese, but we never had the combination of goat cheese with honeycomb before until now. Amazing.
Mac and cheese: this was the first bite I had at this restaurant and will not be my last. If you are craving comfort food, this will deliver!
My fiancé also had the red snapper and tunatartare. He raved about the red snapper, and normally tuna isn't his dish... But in his words, he was impressed. Every dish seemed to have the perfect blend of taste, texture, and aesthetics so creative that it leaves you with a sense of wonderment with each bite. Not entirely sure why some have complained about the price.. For this type of food it would normally be double than what they charged.
We had absolutely no room for dessert after all this, but we look forward to coming back soon!