Was so looking forward to this concept in Madison after wonderful experiences at similar styles eateries in New York, Chicago and Milwaukee...Sadly Graft was more of a Shaft! The decor, while cooly hip and chic relates in no way to anything remotely cuisine driven- well maybe the cobblestone floors and wood...the slick curved tile wall at the entrance reminds me of a Spa on a cruise ship and let's not even talk about the wasted anti chamber of sinks outside of the ill placed bathrooms and the ridiculous high gloss stripe painting...that said lets move on to the food. Uninspired fare, tiny portions served on cramped plates made it impossible to "share"-under seasoned, the same pasty beige cream sauce used on two different dishes one with added mustard and completely obliterated what might have been a decent pheasant dish- no creativity in plating and not a nod to the fact that it's summer and the freshest ingredients abound- maybe some of them could find their way onto a plate??? Fennel served three ways? Mushy (braised) seared (lacking any Caramelization) and the green fronds don't really count as a preparation. Oddly portioned for four to share- really? 3 pieces of fried chèvre? Up your servings to accommodate the number of diners-our (stepford) waitress pushed the amazing bread plate for $3 to "sop up the delicious sauces with" however there wasn't any sauce to be had on the plates! Tuna tartare was a tasteless chop of flesh and what I hoped would be jalapeños but instead turned out to be cucumber chunks- the same coarse chop was used for the smoked trout rielette- maybe a trip to a culinary dictionary to look up what tartare and rielette mean would help- we didn't bother with the steak tartare as we're afraid it would be more of the same. When we inquired about bottles of wine as the list only featured wines by the glass we were told to simply multiply the cost of the glass by 5 to know the price!!! Are you kidding me? You boast a sommelier and don't list your wine bottle prices- apparently he carries around a calculator to do the math with! Never mind the fact that for most, wine by the bottle is usually priced better than by the glass. The dessert bragging "our chef was Emeril La Gasse's pastry chef" was another let down-a tasteless almond cake- not a drop of almond extract or an almond in sight, a ridiculously tart lemon "pot au creme" and an equally off blueberry granola mash left us wondering if he had been fired by Emerill- BAMM! Laughable double espresso served in a coffee mug- GET the RIGHT sized glasses and plates!! A Frangelico after dinner drink was grandly produced in a stemmed red burgundy glass-me thinks you all are in your 20's and a bit wet behind the ears. The true test was that after the meal not one photo of your culinary offerings graced our food porn laden telephones- we really wanted you to take your place next to the amazing grilled calamari and fresh ricotta bruschetta we had at "Girl and the Goat" in Chicago last week or the grilled octopus and rice noodle with cashews milwaukee's "Odd Duck" produced or the chicken liver manicotti from NYC's "Prune" ...go visit some chefs and restaurants that do it right before next months rent is due and you're wondering why you wasted all that prime real estate for amateur naive home cooks trying to compete for the next master chef title!