Madison's Hottest Restaurant

We went to Madison for an overnight to celebrate Brian's birthday. We stayed at the Hilton just off the Square and had the nicest corner room facing Monona Terrace and Lake Monona. At night with Monona Terrace lit up it was beautiful. During the day the lake and Monona Bay were covered with ice fisherman! How cool! After soaking in the hot tub and swimming all afternoon, we went to Madison's new big thing, Samba for dinner. This place is on Gilman Street. Samba Brazilian Grill is housed in the historic Woman’s Club Building on Gilman Street. It was constructed by the Woman’s Club of Madison in 1907 and is a Local Historic Landmark. The current restoration project restored the building exterior while constructing a high-end restaurant in the upper levels with an espresso bar and lounge in the lower level. This place is certainly for carnivores but it also has a fantastic salad bar featuring fresh green salads, roasted vegetables, spanish cheeses, a variety of olives, breads, olive oils, chimichurri and many more condiments and more and more. I especially enjoyed the Chopped Chicken Salad with Roasted Fennel & Onion, Apples and Curry Dressing. The cheese was wonderful as well and they had these roasted little onions with balsamic vinegar that were little taste delights!


THEN THE MEATS!
Whole beef tenderloin-rubbed with garlic, sea salt and black pepper
Beef tenderloin-wrapped in bacon and grilled to perfection
Whole beef ribeye-slow roasted with sea salt and black pepper and garlic
Beef top sirloin-Samba specialty, marinated with garlic and red wine
Beef Flank Steak-marinated in balsamic, honey, chiles
Beef Skirt-marinated in balsamic, honey, chiles
Beef short ribs-grilled and served on the bone
Chicken breasts-wrapped in bacon and grilled to perfection
Chicken drums-with chile and herb rub (epazote, sage)
Jerk Pork-Too hot for me!
Pork Tenderloin-in chile and honey brine
Pork loin with parmesan
Argentenean, Chorizo and linguica sausages-an assortment of sausages
Pork Ribs-braised and fired pork ribs with paprika, brown sugar and rum
Leg of Lamb-with stone ground mustard, sherry vinegar, sea salt and black pepper Rack of Lamb-with fresh rosemary and chile
Duck drums
Duck Breasts-wrapped in Serrano Ham
The guys were suitably impressed and so was I!
I certainly hope to get to eat there again!

Finally picked up the Winter Issue of Interweave Knits and there are a couple of nice patterns in it.
Ropes and Picots Cardigan
Laura Grutzeck






















Fresco Herringbone Hat,
Pam Allen






















I also found a magazine called A Needle Pulling Thread That looks very nice. It had two very nice sock patterns in it as well as quilting, cross stitch, beading , embroidery and rug hooking! This is the second issue of this quarterly magazine I have seen and it is nice!

Talk to you soon with pictures of my own work for a change!
Lynda