What can you get for $10 at Merchant?
The massing of new upscale food dispensaries around the Capitol Square feels odd given the unemployment rate, but Madison can be resourceful when finding money for good food. The dollars are certainly flowing to the new Underground Kitchen and Nostrano, and now here’s fancy grocery/restaurant/craft drinks bar Merchant (121 S. Pinckney St., 608-259-9799). The A.V. Club is always up for cherry-picking tasty treats, even with only $10 in hand.
From the grocery
With the goal of being what he calls a “transparent restaurant,” owner Joshua Berkson stocks one wall of the interior with ingredients from Merchant’s menus. The shelves contain wine, champagne, coffee, Harney & Sons tea, and deli ingredients like $8 tins of high-quality Ortiz bonito tuna.
From the restaurant
Merchant’s menu emphasizes quality ingredients over everything else, including portion sizes, but has plenty of inexpensive plates. Guests for brunch look to be nicely set up with steel cut oats, Greek yogurt with honey and pistachios, croissants with preserves, or thick cut bacon, each below $10. Smoked beef tongue and lentil stew, maple soup with carrots and roasted almonds, and two-year aged cheddar fused into lavender honey-soaked bread—a thrilling taste and texture contrast—also make the price cutoff. “Toasts” (think tapas) are $3 each: ricotta with pine nuts, truffled beans with prosciutto, and pecorino (an Italian ewe’s cheese) with anchovy-pepper relish. Spinach and egg with pancetta salad, a cured beef with fennel and mozzarella pressed sandwich, and line-caught tuna with green olive are all on the late night menu and less than $10.
From the bar
At $9 the house specialty craft drinks are pushing it price-wise, but feel like an occasion. The Sazerac—a pre-Civil War drink that strains Demerara sugar, Creole apothecary Peychaud’s bitters, and lemon essence into Old Overholt rye—is somber, smoky, and complex with a subtle finish. The Last Pale Light In The West cocktail is made from bourbon and bitters, incandescent with a dose of spiced cider and lemon juice. Glasses of Thomas Handy American rye for $5 are less nuanced but more expedient.
