Fresco Review

Fresco is located at the top of the Overture Center in downtown Madison. A group of us went there for Madison's Restaurant Week. (Folks that attended are also contributors to this blog, so it would be great if they contributed and heck, even contradicted me!)

Atmosphere - think modern. glass walls, interesting shapes for the bowls, clean lines, minimalist. This makes things pretty loud when the joint is hopping.

Food - most of us chose from the fixed price menu, but many were on their standard menu:

• the seared sashimi grade scallop was prepared well (and pretty delicious), but I felt the dish as a total lacked something - the polenta, sauce, bacon just weren't "there" for me.
• Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup with Micro Grilled Cheese - just okay. Not a soup I was going to tell anyone about and the grilled cheese was a nice crusty french bread with cheddar, but once again, not that special.
• Salmon - the salmon was well prepared (moist, flakey and delicious), but it was just salmon with mashed potatoes. Once again, nothing extraordinary.
• Sheep's Milk Ricotta Cheese Gnocchi - this was the standout dish of the night for me. It was small, but outstanding. The gnocchi were light and fluffy, the sauce creamy and rich.
• Cinnamon Creme Brule - I don't know that there are a lot of crappy creme brules out there in the world and this was no exception to that rule.
• Beignets - Unlike Creme Brule - beignets are easy to fuck up. But, these were delicious! I haven't been to New Orleans, but I have had beignets at a restaurant in Chicago that could stop my heart. These were heart stoppers too. all light fluffiness with deliciousness.

Service - fairly good, except that she dropped a knife on my friend's head. but the waitress tried to make that right and she was appropriately upset about it.

Overall - there are a lot of fancy restaurants in Madison that would get my money before Fresco.