Madison: Quivey's Grove Stone House

During our third day in Madison, I decided to ask and find out where the "locals" ate. I asked our friendly and gracious "Host", Ryan to recommend a place that served "Wisconsin" cuisine. His recommendation? Quivey's Grove, his favorite local restaurant. It really wasn't a hard sell, he started a sentence with, "they make a really good duck....", and the rest of the sentence was lost to time and space. In other words, I was sold! So, after a busy day, we headed off, GPS in tow, and set out to find Quivey's Grove. After a few lucky guesses on direction(gotta love that GPS), we saw the simple roadside sign, and headed up the drive, past the lovely manicured lawn, to our destination.

We had been told that Quivey's Grove consisted of two restaurants, the Stable Grill ("really, you won't be eating in the stable" he assured the tin horns from Cali-for-ni-ay - just in case we didn't know...), which serves up more casual fare(anyone for Morona Meatloaf, Pork Hanerloaf, or the very classic Friday Fish Fry?) along with beverages from Wisconsin Microbreweries such as Capital, Sprecher Brewing Company, and New Glarus.

We had been tempted, but decided on the more formal fare served in the beautiful Stone House.

This beautiful mansion was built in 1855, and except for the entrance, kitchen, and bathroom (whew...) has been kept in almost its original state. Each room in the mansion has a theme, such as the Valentine Room...there's also a (not-so) secret tunnel under the Stone House, more about that later.....

We were seated quite promptly, and our very pleasant Server, Anne provided us with menus. To quote, ""Preparing the wholesome food of our forebears requires sweet butter, fresh potatoes, and heavy cream." You gotta love this place!

I decided to start with the "King" James Strang Tarts ($6.50). To quote the menu, "commemorates the founder of a Mormon community on Beaver Island in 1847 where he declared himself king."

I thought these a bit low on flavor for such a rich concoction of cream, cheese, onions, and leeks. It was pretty heavy and I thought the cheese pastry crust to be too soft. Not quite fit for a king.......even a self declared king.

In anticipation for a pretty rich and heavy meal, I ordered the salad.

I'm not big on fruits on my salad, but in this case the salad was dressed with a lively vinaigrette, which did a fine job of balancing out the sweetness of the fruit.

About that time the muffins arrived:

You'll notice only 2 of the original 3 muffins in the photo. In the ultimate showdown of speed shooting versus grabbing reflex, the highly motivated "grabber" won. And with good reason. These Strawberry Muffins were outstanding. Served warm, the muffins were moist, without being too dense, and slightly crunchy on the outside.

It seemed that the meal was slowly gaining momentum. By this time I was really looking forward to my Duck Wilcox ($24.50 ):

The half roast duck with dried cherry and port wine sauce was served with some very pedestrian sauteed apples, and the wild rice, though nice and nutty was a bit on the soft side for my taste.

The duck was roasted to perfection, the skin crisp, with some nice caramelization. The duck was  almost fork tender, and very moist. The dried cherry and port sauce had nice balance, and I detected some additional spice(thyme??) that added to the flavor. I've had cherry and port wine sauced dishes twice before (both pork), and have found them to be either to much on the bitter side or too sweet. This was very nice. I'd have this dish again without hesitation.

Thanks for the recommendation Ryan!

Oh yes, the "tunnel". Well, good ol' Ryan decided to have a little fun at my expense. He told me that Quivey's Grove had a special tunnel that was built to hide and transport slaves from building to building during the Civil War.

So of course during dinner I had to ask our Server about it. She replied with a wry smile, "you've  been taken in....the tunnel was built in 1980, to connect the Stone House with the Stable". Hah, so dear old Ryan sucker'd me in pretty good! I did have a chance to check out the tunnel.

Looks like a nice setting for an Urban Legend, or at least a set for an upcoming horror flick.

In the end, I guess I had it coming......I shouldn't have mentioned that "Happy cows really come from California, don't they?" Just kidding! Really!

Quivey's Grove Stone House
6261 Nesbitt Rd.
Madison(actually Fitchburg, I've been told), WI 53719

Comments

[Reid]

Kirk,

That duck looks delicious. I love cherries, so that cherry and port sauce sounds quite interesting as well.

[RONW]

matter of factly, Kirk, I don't think duck taste well without the sause. Might be just me.

[ed (from Yuma)]

That duck looks divine. I still have memories of a duck breast in cherry sauce I ate in the 70s at a restaurant in Columbus that was connected with a cooking school. When done properly, it's a great combo.

[Kirk]

Hi Reid - The duck was very good, not too sweet.

Hi RONW - LOL! Well, if you mean that the sauce was integral part of the dish, you are correct.

Hi Ed - Oh yes, this was a nice combination of flavors.

[Wandering Chopsticks]

Hey Kirk,
It looks so quaint! I wish I had known about it when I spent a summer in Madison. Isn't it amazing all the diverse food options on State Street? First time I tried Tibetan food too! And did you try the Afghan restaurant?

[Kirk]

Hi WC - I've been told that Madison has the most restaurants per capita in the nation. I really enjoyed State Street.....

[Kathy]

Strawberry muffins?! I've yet to visit a restaurant where they start you off with sweet muffins, much less strawberry ones! I'm jealous:)

[Kirk]

Hi Kathy - The muffins weren't too sweet, and were really, really good. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but I really enjoyed these!