After nearly two weeks on the road (Madison, St. Louis, Memphis, New Orleans, Houston, Oklahoma City, Kansas City and home again) I’m a bit bewildered, forgive me. I can’t find my ipod, my other glove, a single clean pillow case or two socks that match, and it took a while to locate the second cat. My email box is also jammed, and I literally don’t know what the hell has gone on around here since the fifth of January. The weirdest part? Minneapolis seems all shiny, new and cosmopolitan. I guess truck stops, barbeque houses and taco trucks will do that to a girl. But oh, did I eat. I realize this is a Twin Cities magazine and you want to know about Twin Cities eats. But you have to go away sometimes, right? So until my email gets unstuck and I can get two socks on at a time, I’m going to give you one top pick from each city I ate my way through. They’ll be short and sweet, I promise, and as soon as someone tells me what's going on around here, I’ll tell you. When I know, you’ll know...

When You're in Madison
When you’re in Madison, and you want to feel in the know, glamorous and well fed, you should go to the Greenbush Bar. In the basement of what appears to be some other kind of building entirely (a school, a government building, a VFW—it’s actually the Italian Workmen’s Club) you’ll find yourself immersed inside  the kind of place where you could envision bumping into Nicky Two Times.



Entirely illuminated by strings of multicolored Christmas lights, a very low drop ceiling, and nothing but Dino and Frankie on the sound system, it’s one of those places that simply transports. The menu reads like a no-nonsense pizzeria with hearty southern Italian style pastas and sandwiches, but everything is handmade, from the bread to the pasta, and all the meat is sourced from local farms (a theme that becomes much less common the more southerly you get inside this US).

A Bolognese was perfectly balanced and tender without being haughty—just the kind of homestyle cooking you want on a blustery Wisconsin day. A simple bowl of mussles in white wine were chubby, sea water fresh and satisfying. They do a very considerable business, and service was efficient but busy. Since there isn't a window in sight this is also the kind of place perfectly suited for serious drinking. Have another martini and watch the pretty lights go all blurry like. A great way to spend a snowy Wednesday night, I'm telling you.

When you’re in Madison, check out the Greenbush Bar.