Graze is the kind of Madison restaurant that is so popular now -- the kind with locally sourced food and hipster waitstaff. But even though it only opened a few years ago, at One South Pinckney Street, Graze has an established lineage as the sister restaurant to Madison fixture,
L'Etoile, and the successor to the former Café Soliel.
My friend Cathy and I went to Graze for lunch today. We have both been there on several occasions but never together. I usually get their
Farmer John's sandwich with apple slices, provolone, and a delicious homemade mayo on a sourdough baguette, and Cathy's favorite is their Beet & Walnut Burger. This time, we mixed it up. She ordered the Smoked Tofu Eggroll Wrap with fries, and I ordered the Grilled Cheese, with mixed greens.
Graze's menu describes their grilled cheese as "
Hook's cheddar, tomato, and caramelized onions on pullman loaf with whole-grain mustard." ("Pullman loaf" is a fancy way to say "white bread.") The sandwich was well-balanced and pretty good overall. There was a sufficient amount of cheese but I would have preferred just a tad more. The tomatoes were very juicy and the onions were sweet and not overpowering. The bread was quite crispy and quite greasy, a little too greasy actually. A pretty good sandwich but honestly it didn't quite live up to its $10 price tag.
I would like to add that I really like Graze's mixed green salad. It is always so fresh, full of very thinly sliced vegetables and a lot of flavor. Their home brewed iced tea is also very good.
Cathy liked her Tofu Eggroll Wrap, but she thought it could have had more flavor. The fries were excellent though! They are homemade fries cut to just the right thickness and fried to perfection, served with garlic aioli.
