All this talk makes me believe I must have gone on an off day (or maybe the delicious sounding and looking housemade bread and pickles aren't offered during the $9 executive lunch special - which would make some sense, seeing as a $9 full, not half, sandwich lunch in these parts is a great deal in and of itself, and giving the bread-n-pickles away is a lot to ask on top of that...I digress).

But...based on a lunchtime visit in November, my mileage varied, a lot in fact. My cauliflower soup wasn't that bad, but it was really bland, tasting of nothing - no smoke, no veg. And, as (lack of) icing on the cake, it didn't come with that pickled red onion-looking garnish I spied in another poster's photo. The sandwich - purported to be arugula, brie, and spiced apples, was 98% brie. Strangely, the only arugula I saw appeared to be minced - not a single leaf in sight. I found a couple extremely thin, certainly un-spiced pieces of apple. But, for all intents and purposes, I had a grilled brie sandwich. Not a bad one, certainly, but not what it claimed to be nor particularly what I wanted.

Not a bad lunch, to be sure, but not anything that has since inspired a return visit. But, reading these posts and looking at the pictures that look better than my memory, I'll likely give them another try.

In the last year I have eaten all of the sandwiches available in the executive lunch and found the brie and sliced apple and the pear and fontina not worth a second shot. My favorite is the Guiness Stout Cheddar with a layer of finely chopped braised short rib meat. The Markethouse Classic made with a mix of white and yellow Carr Valley cheddar is what a toasted cheese sandwich should be. The tomato and bacon was OK but not up to the other two, but then I am not overly fond of buttercase cheese.

Bread but not pickles were offered with the Executive lunch up until July or August. The last two lunches my wife and I had there did not offer bread.

Visited Markethouse last Friday night. We spent the afternoon at the Children’s Museum and were going to head out for a burger or something simple but the concierge said that Markethouse had a kids menu and was kid friendly so we decided to stay warm and just go eat there. I am very glad we did. The food was excellent. Started off with a sweet potato bread, which was really good. Nice and moist and just a hint of sweetness. The house made pickles were great. Sweet and tangy. I liked how thick the cukes were cut.

We had the butternut squash soup, which our 2 year old loved. I liked the tart cranberries that were swirled in. Kind of a surprising contrast. For entrees I had the trout and my wife had the heirloom squash risotto. Both were very good. The trout was perfectly cooked and the brown butter cider sauce really worked well with it. The mushrooms on the risotto really stole the show. I am working on a full review for eatwisconsin.com.

I had my best meal in recent memory last night at MarketHouse. Chef Walton was doing a 5-course root vegetable dinner with drink pairings for just $45 (tax and tip included) and due to the rain, a lot of people had canceled. There were only 5 people there last night, myself, three friends and a very sweet older woman, and I felt like we were having our own private dinner party. I learned so much last night and it was so fun talking to the chef at such a personal level.

Each dish was just outstanding...


Root Vegetable Soup / MarketHouse by TrackBelle, on Flickr


Beet and Raspberry Cream Soda / Markethouse by TrackBelle, on Flickr


Duck Confit Salad / MarketHouse by TrackBelle, on Flickr


Cedar Springs Lamb Chop / MarketHouse by TrackBelle, on Flickr

The lamb was not part of the menu, but when my friend mentioned that lamb was her favorite meat, Chef Walton had the kitchen prepare a plate for us to share.


North Atlantic Swordfish / MarketHouse by TrackBelle, on Flickr


Gunthorp Farms Rabbit / MarketHouse by TrackBelle, on Flickr


Chocolate Sweet Potato Espresso Martini / MarketHouse by TrackBelle, on Flickr


Nichols Farm Sweet Potato Tart / MarketHouse by TrackBelle, on Flickr


I'm now munching on a vegetarian pot pie that I brought home and reheated for breakfast and it is absolutely heavenly as well!