Editor’s note: Below is the Thursday, March 26 edition of the Food & Culture newsletter. Our restaurant review feature this week is about 1033 Omakase and special event dinners, and it’s exclusive to the newsletter. If you want to receive it in your email inbox every Thursday (it’s free!), subscribe at captimes.com/newsletters.
When ‘good’ art doesn’t matter
By Lindsay Christians, food and culture editor
Madison loves a hand-lettered sign. Twenty-two years ago, a few dozen protesters and counter-protesters picketed the Bartell Theatre during a Lenten production of “Corpus Christi,” a provocative drama that reimagines Jesus as a gay man in 1950s Texas.
“It makes us uncomfortable to think of the stories of faith in modern day situations because we realize how imperfect we all are,” said StageQ’s Thomas McClurg in a 2004 Cap Times story headlined “Gay Jesus’ director speaks out.” (Oof. Different times.)
Actors rehearse a scene from “Corpus Christi” by Terrence McNally at the Bartell Theatre in Madison.
Ilana Bar-av
Reviews of the play were mixed. But it meant something to the actors, and, amusingly, those self-righteous protests brought even more people out to see it. As the show returns to the stage, one theater artist quoted Oscar Wilde: “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”
Whether art is “good” can be beside the point if it sparks curiosity. A new documentary about The Shaggs, screening at the Wisconsin Film Festival, insists that the 1960s rock trio meant to have out-of-tune instruments and out-of-step drums. “I can think of no better praise for a song than one that challenges you to reframe how you think about art,” director Ken Kwapis told writer Matt Ambrosio.
As we head into a weekend full of Dueling Violins (Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Friday night) and Endurance Improv, I’ve been inspired to bake. I’m calling the bitter, gummy lemon cherry polenta cake from last weekend a lesson in how to deal gracefully with failure, and I’m happy the dark chocolate rye shortbread cookies turned out better.
Finally, for the Sports Fans™: Congratulations, UW women’s hockey! And to all who celebrate the Madness of March, I wish you bracket success. (Go Green!)
Cheers! — Lindsay
What we’re reading
Weekly reading recommendations from Lindsay Christians and Beck Henreckson
HARPER
Catherine Newman writes with the kind of effortless, knowing humor I gravitate toward in comedians, people on Instagram and my own friends. I’ve been reading her novels out of order — “We All Want Impossible Things,” her first full-length work of adult fiction, came out in 2022, and it’s about a mid-divorce 45-year-old woman whose dearest childhood friend is dying of cancer. (I know, but it’s wonderful.) Another plus: Newman writes about food like someone who truly loves it. — Lindsay
When my favorite novelists write non-fiction, I rush to it. I know the writing will be masterful, and I’ll probably care (at least by the end) about whatever they have to say. In “My Story as told by Water” (click for the full title), David James Duncan blends autobiography, nature writing, activism and contemplative reflections on existence. This book is making me a little bit depressed (as he describes the state of the environment 25 years ago, I physically cringe imagining what he’d say now) but it is utterly beautiful. — Beck
Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream
PHOTO BY MICHELLE STOCKER
Restaurant news
A new location of Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, a Madison sweet spot since 1962, will open in Hilldale Shopping Center on April 1. The company is celebrating with free ice cream all day, while supplies last.
A second location of The Original Steaks and Hoagies franchise has opened on Madison’s west side at 723 N. High Point Road. The classic Philadelphia sandwich is thinly shaved beef, cooked with browned onions and served with hot and sweet peppers and “whizz” (Cheez Whiz). Try cheesesteak variations with chicken and cauliflower. Swap in blue cheese, provolone or American cheese for whiz, or try a hoagie, the Philadelphian term for a sub sandwich (cold cuts, provolone, vinaigrette) or hero (either hot or cold).
JustVeggiez, James Bloodsaw’s vegan spot at 540 State St., will be home to Alice & Bernice Kitchen starting March 28. Advertising for the grand opening on Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., promises “famous wings,” loaded chicken sandwiches (bacon, coleslaw, pineapple) and “signature sauces.” Starters and sides include gluten-free cheese curds, roasted potatoes, quinoa salad and sweet potato fries. Many dishes are listed as gluten-free, and there’s a smothered turkey leg among the entrees.
Lisa Kudrow arrives at the premiere of the third season of “The Comeback.”
Chris Pizzello
Recent obsessions
Watching: Inspired by a New Yorker profile of star Lisa Kudrow, I’m jumping into season three of the incisive show-biz comedy “The Comeback.” Kudrow plays Valerie Cherish, an actor so desperate for attention that she agrees to a series of terrible jobs. Twenty years after the show first ran, Valerie is now a podcaster who sees a multi-camera sitcom written by AI as her last shot at relevance.
Eating: Persian-ish crispy rice from Samin Nosrat’s “Good Things,” also known as tahdig. I parboiled rice, mixed some of it with labneh, and let that crisp to a deep brown on the bottom of my skillet while the rest steamed on top. There was no way I was going to be able to flip it for a pretty presentation, but as Samin says, “do what every Persian grandmother has done since the beginning of time: Scoop out the rice, chip out the tahdig in pieces and pretend you meant to do it this way.”
Listening to: I’m not a Mumford & Sons apologist but I keep coming back to “Prizefighter,” the group’s latest album. I like the folk vibes, the Gracie Abrams collab — it has baking-on-a-Sunday-afternoon energy. — Lindsay
Drinking: I am newly obsessed with the Southside at Imaginary Factory, made with flash-frozen mint. My first Cocktail of Spring!
Each one of 14 courses plated by Chef Worawit “Ray” Boonyapituksakul at 1033 Omakase is a perfect bite. Read about this restaurant in this week’s Table for Two restaurant review feature, a newsletter exclusive.
LINDSAY CHRISTIANS
A bubble of smoke bursts at 1033 Omakase.
LINDSAY CHRISTIANS