Heritage Tavern
Cheese Plate – Alemar Camembert, Satrori Extra Aged Goat Cheese, Hooks Paradise Blue Cheese, Poppyseed Crackers, Fruit Bread, Figs, Mustard, Pickled Radishes
Berries, Chocolate, and Cream – Chocolate Cake, Macerated Mixed Berries, Vanilla Cream, Strawberry Ice Cream, Roasted Almond
Caramel Profiteroles – Wisconsin Maple Ice Cream, Chantilly Cream, Cardamaro Caramel, Toasted Pecan
Unabashedly willing to dine in excess when visiting a new city it was only as I was setting my GPS back to the hotel after dinner at A Pig in a Fur Coat that I noted the late hours of Heritage Tavern, a quick reroute leading me past the illuminated capital to the understated front door just ten minutes later. Old-school in ambiance with locally sourced ingredients and craft cocktails at its core it was with options for bar seating that overlooks an open kitchen versus a more subdued dining room that I was presented on entry and eventually opting for the latter as the bar was still bustling my next sixty minutes was an utterly delightful experience, the service matching Chef Fox’s whimsical yet refined restaurant. Having already partaken in several meals that day with more planned for the next it was with eyes focused largely on dessert that I approached the ever changing menu and although tempted mightily by several styles of pork and local produce I (for once) showed some restraint, the Wisconsin cheese plate and a duo of desserts arriving with excellent pacing and presentations on par. Obviously leaning towards bold flavors with bloomy Camembert, briny goat cheese, and a particularly punchy blue suffice it to say that I’d have liked the cheeses served with larger portions of accoutrements given the $18 tariff, but with each option save for overly-dry fruit bread proving reference standard this is a small quibble – the following $13-$14 desserts each excessively portioned and so rich that either could have easily been shared…though, at least in the case of the caramel-topped maple profiteroles resting in a pool of silky Chantilly, certainly not by me.
RECOMMENDED: Profiteroles, potentially the best I’ve ever had, and a virtual lock for my year-end “best of.”
AVOID: Ordering the cheeses with just water to drink was partially my fault, though a limited amount of accoutrements did not help – either some wine or a few more figs, jams, or pickles would have gone a long way to tempering the aggressive flavor profile between bites.
TIP: Featuring several “family style” dishes, including pigs from Chef Fox’s own farm plus a $25 sundae, Heritage Tavern is the sort of place for which it is best to gather a group – even the small plates menu is far too diverse for one person to properly experience on his or her own.
