The Coopers Tavern

I have been assisting my friend and co-worker, Jennifer, with a goal to spend the occasional lunch hour enjoying a meal and conversation rather sitting in the office in front of a computer.  Yesterday we were both able to gain a short reprieve from our workload and, being a gloriously perfect Spring day, we decided to have lunch at The Coopers Tavern at 20 West Mifflin Street in Madison, because of their sidewalk seating. 

Jennifer ordered a humbly named but artistically crafted Ham sandwich - locally raised Uphoff Farms ham, stout grained mustard, caramelized onions, gouda cheese and red pepper mayo on Stella's Bakery Spicy Cheesy Bread - with house-made chips.  She shared the chips with me and, in my opinion, they were the best homemade potato chips I have ever eaten, very crispy and light.

I, of course, went with the Grilled Cheese.  Coopers Tavern's version is made of cheddar, gouda, and gruyere on sourdough, and comes with a shot glass of roasted red pepper and tomato soup.  The cheese blend was perfectly melty and flavorful.  The bread was grilled to that ideal point that can only be achieved with sourdough - right between hard and chewy, so you really have to think about each bite and can, therefore, reap the most pleasure from it.  It was a faultless sandwich.  The accompanying soup was probably meant for dipping, but it was also good for sipping.  It tasted very fresh and zesty.

We achieved the goal with this lunch:  good food, good conversation, and on top of that, good weather.