When Shish Cafe and then Palymyra closed, I found myself in a dark - very dark, Mediterranean food-less - place. I would try grape leaves here or there only to be turned off by texture, vinegar content or freshness. I still ate hummus, but I had lost my enthusiasm. I longed for babaganoush I could be excited about, a tabouli that wasn't an overdone cucumber fest, a fresh frickin pita.
And then something amazing happened. I threw a tub of Bunky's hummus in my cart while shopping for kombucha and hemp milk at the co-op (because if you are going to live in Madison, *live* in Madison). Dear God. What did they put in there??? I ate tub after tub after tub. I told everyone I knew. I learned that Bunky's was a real place and I could go to there.
So I went. And, for me - in that moment, everything changed. The sun shone a little brighter. The children smiled a little bigger. The birds chirped a little louder.
How adorable is the interior of this cozy place? How sweet are the people working there? How un-f-ing-believable are their grape leaves? How did Madison get away with keeping this secret from me for so long?
Bunky's saved me. Bunky's can save you too.