Southern Wisconsin is blessed to have a number of great local bookstores. Arcadia Books is located in Spring Green, about an hour west of Madison proper, and in the same town as The American Player’s Theatre and near Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesen and The House on the Rock.
It’s a lovely book store that also boasts a café with a full menu select nights of the week. Chef Jackie Singleton sources her ingredients from the surrounding area, featuring local favorites like Hook’s Cheese, Potter’s Crackers, and Just Coffee. You can also order wine by the glass and a few local brews by the bottle.
Grab a glass of wine and wander around a bookstore? Don’t mind if I do.
For a small establishment, the selection is top-notch. I asked bookseller James Bohnen which of Jhumpa Lahiri’s works he would recommend as a starting point and he walked me immediately to the right shelf and said “Namesake, but really you can’t go wrong.”
There are books lining every section of shelf possible, well-organized and well-displayed. Scott found this gem and promptly added it to our stack to bring home with us.
We happened to come to Arcadia Books for a special occasion this time around: a three-course dinner inspired by author J. Ryan Stradal’s debut novel “Kitchens of the Great Midwest,” as well as to see Stradal himself speak about his book.
I reviewed “Kitchens of the Great Midwest” earlier this summer on the blog and told all of you to go read it. If you haven’t yet, you really need to soon. It’s a stunningly good story, and Stradal himself was an engaging speaker. You could tell that it was he who wrote this book. His talk was full of the same poignant lines that populate the novel, laced with a large amount of self-aware humor and a dash of sarcasm: the perfect combination to go with a specially prepared dinner inspired by the final dinner in the book.
Our first course was a superb salad, and I do not say that lightly: I kind of dislike salad. The greens were fresh and tender and the steak was top-notch. I didn’t snap a photo of the second course as I was too busy tucking in, but the rainbow trout was perfectly done and in a flavorful mushroom sauce.
And dessert: Pat Prager’s private recipe dessert bars served with affogato. Why had I never thought to pour espresso over my ice cream before?
The perfect ending.
Have you ever attended a themed dinner based on a book? If so, what did you think? If not, what book would you like to see turned into a dinner?