by Kristina Kuhaupt, Customer Experience Manager
As Owners, you have shared food experiences and meals together throughout the years by opening up your own homes to gather as well as through our Co-op cooking classes. That is one of many things that makes the Co-op special: this concept of community and gathering together to share a meal. As we turn 50, we want to honor this tradition in our Aubergine community space, where 50 Owners can gather together to enjoy some nostalgia, good company, and nourishing food highlighting local vendors. It will be a one-night experience where we will celebrate five decades of being in community with each other. If this piques your interest, please keep reading.
Join us for a seven-course harvest dinner with wine, featuring fresh ingredients from some of our local farmers and producers. Included on the menu: Rushing Waters rainbow trout, organic winter squash risotto with Wisconsin chèvre, apple tart with local fruit, and much more! There are only 50 seats available and tickets are $50. See the menu below (courses and ingredients are subject to change based on product availability). Please note the cancellation and waitlist policy on our registration form which will be strictly followed: https://tinyurl.com/50th-dinner.
Please remember to indicate your preference, either vegetarian or meat option, for the second course and the entreé on the registration form.
Chef Mike, our staff Co-op class instructor, is excited to celebrate with you for this historic night as he honors the food that brings us all together. “When ideas for commemorating Willy Street Co-op’s golden anniversary started kicking around the shop,” he said, “I immediately thought we should host a celebratory meal, specifically at our newest Co-op location, Aubergine. So I got to work on a menu for the occasion with the goals of highlighting autumnal produce and flavors, reflecting on foods and recipes that have been part of the Co-op throughout the years, and showcasing some of the many local producers that supply the Co-op. This menu evokes autumnal warmth and comfort in the face of the coming cold of winter, tips a hat to several Co-op kitchen favorites, and honors the vendors who are such a large part of what has set Willy Street Co-op apart from every other grocer in Madison since 1974.”
50th Anniversary
Farm-to-Table Dinner
October 25, 2024 • 6:30-9:00pm
Aubergine • 1226 Williamson St., Madison
Amuse Bouche
Pickled Market Vegetables, Pork Rillettes, Driftless Sheep’s Milk Cheese
Hidden Springs Creamery, Westby, WI
First Course
Brussels Sprouts Salad with Apple and Radish
Featuring Brussels sprouts from Thimmesch Family Farm, La Farge, WI
Soup
Mushroom Consomme
Featuring mushrooms from Vitruvian Farms, McFarland, WI
Second Course
Pan-Fried Rainbow Trout with Brown Butter
Featuring trout from Rushing Waters Fisheries, Palmyra, WI
Winter Squash Risotto with Wisconsin Chevre
Featuring squash from New Traditions Homestead, Hillsboro, WI
Entreé
Beef Short Ribs and Crispy Latke
Featuring beef from Wisconsin Meadows, Viroqua, WI
Chicken-Fried Tofu with Cheesy Polenta
Featuring polenta from Meadowlark Farm and Mill, Ridgeway, WI
Dessert
Rustic Apple and Pear Tart
Featuring cream and butter from Organic Valley Co-op, LaFarge, WI and Apples from Blue Roof Orchard, Belmont, WI
Cheese
Selection of Wisconsin Cheeses
Featuring Uplands Cheese, Dodgeville, WI, Hook’s Cheese, Mineral Point, WI, Roth Cheese, Monroe, WI
September is iconically Eat Local Month at our Co-op each year. If you are a long-time Co-op Owner, you may remember Willy Street Co-op having “3 levels” of local: 100% Local, Essentially Local, and Locally Prepared. Over the past year, we have simplified what local means at our stores, and that is products that are produced within a 150-mile radius of the State Capitol building or anywhere in Wisconsin. You will still see the same purple “L” on shelf tags to signify such products.
Thank you to all who shop locally. It not only keeps your money circulating in our local economy, but it helps support local makers, producers, and farmers so that they can continue with their life’s passion. Look for local vendors in our stores who will be sampling all the yummy foods we enjoy at our Co-op—together!
