 |  | | Jan. 7, 2025
I'm not one to make a New Year's resolution related to food and diet, unless it involves cooking at home more or trying new dishes. The usual resolutions — eat healthier, exercise more, lose weight — seem to be going out of fashion as we gain a better understanding of living sustainable and healthy lifestyles all year long, at all different sizes.
But what doesn't seem to be going away is how we're embracing Dry January (dropping alcoholic drinks for the entire first month of the year), even in Wisconsin. The ongoing shift in drinking culture is real, particularly among members of Gen Z (according to Forbes, Time and Gallup). Here in the Madison area, we got our first NA bottle shop and NA festival in 2024. (N/A Day will return to The Bur Oak on Jan. 18.) In our January print issue, Jess Miller reports on the state of Madison's craft beer industry, where some brewers have seized on a historic drop in beer sales to include NA beverages in their production portfolios.
Even local businesses that are in the business of selling alcohol and alcoholic beverages seem to be widening their arms to people who make the choice to participate in Dry January or go sober altogether. Earlier this week, Mount Horeb-based cidery Brix Cider posted a note on Instagram recognizing and welcoming customers who have chosen to dump alcohol. Like owners Matt and Marie Raboin, we'll also say, "Cheers to whatever is in your cup," whether it's an NA Old Fashioned, a local IPA or a simple sparkling water.
Emma Waldinger is associate editor at Madison Magazine and an award-winning food writer. She curates this biweekly newsletter for Madison Magazine. Reach her at ewaldinger@madisonmagazine.com. | |  | | Dishes, dining and food experiences that I'm fixating on | | | 🥔 I'm tucking in to January with potato soup. Last week it was a bowl of gamjaguk, or Korean potato soup, with leeks and shallots from Joanne Lee Molinaro's "The Korean Vegan Cookbook." This week, I'm making a slightly spicy, blended kale and potato soup from FairShare CSA Coalition's "From Asparagus to Zucchini" cookbook.
🦆 Ladybird returned last weekend, if only for a brief flight. The once popular, and often waitlisted, dinner party series put on at Casetta Kitchen and Counter by its now-owners Seanna Whalen and Nick Larke sold out three nights of tickets to the prix fixe dinner, which featured a menu of duck, handmade bread, salad and bavarois cake. I went on Friday and felt nostalgia for one of the first Madison Magazine stories I ever wrote — covering Ladybird in its prime.
| | | | | |  | | | Despite lagging pandemic recovery and a drinking culture in flux, local craft brewers are trying to keep the barrel rolling for our proud beer tradition. | | | | | | Taigu brings an abundance of homestyle Chinese noodles to Madison with a new sit-down location on Old Middleton Road. | | | | | | Food Editor Emma Waldinger and Editor-in-Chief Andrea Behling take a look back at Madison's most memorable food stories of the year. | | | | | | Bars, restaurants and tasting rooms across Madison are getting in the spirit (non-alcoholic, of course) of Dry January. | | | | |  |  | | A curated selection of food-related events in the next two weeks | | | | | |  | The Williamson Street restaurant, known for its Latin American cuisine, opened in 2021 amid the uncertainties of COVID-19 and closed recently due to financial strain. | | | | Co-owners announce the restaurant that began as a 24-hour breakfast spot in 2014 will close its doors for good in May so they can pursue a dream in a different industry. | | | | |  | | |     | | |
