late installments, part 2: april 28

i had't had a real vacation since july when jon, chris, sarah and i went to jon's friends' cabin for a few days. and since i'd been REALLY missing my sanity, and jon had been really missing my sanity, too, so we jumped at the chance to go camping with our friends liz and john at the end of april. we went west to wyalusing where the mississippi and wisconsin rivers come together just for an overnight on friday, but it was so worth it. if you're reading this and need a vacation, go to wyalusing. now.

john had a gig saturday night, so we all grudgingly packed up our tents and settled in for the not quite 2 hour ride home that afternoon. since liz and john were driving, jon and i napped on and off in the backseat, leaving us with not nearly enough energy to make dinner, but with just enough to wisely make saturday night our date night.

as you may have guessed, jon's been doing all the planning lately. this is because i've been too stressed out lately to take on the planning, so my date nights become the ones where i cry because i'm too stressed out and planning has pushed me over the edge. my loving fiance has graciously taken it upon himself to brainstorm ideas and ease the burden for the time being. he's so great. but i digress ...

anyway, since it was up to him, he chose casa de lara.

i NEVER would have chosen casa de lara.

this is because i once went with an old boyfriend to the one on state street and vowed i would never return - not because of the memories of the boy (though i'm sure that doesn't help casa de lara's case), but because of the memories of the lighting. all i see when i think of that place is nasty florescent pink lighting, sleezy men dressed like miami vice's don johnson, and old, tired mexican food that appears to have been sitting under a heat lamp for over 24 hours.

to be fair, the only thing that rings absolutely true of the place is the florescent pink lighting, but florescent pink lighting equates with all those things i listed above, and, therefore, warmly invites those images into my memory. so why would i want to go back?

because i love jon.

"you just need to try it again," he'd been saying for the past few months. so i agreed finally.

"but only to the one on fish hatchery," i stubbornly insisted. "i am NOT going to the one on state street."

so we went to the one on fish hatch. because jon loves me.

i admit it. casa de lara is not all awful. in fact, it was pretty good. the night was just chilly enough where we chose not to sit outside on the patio (though they've got great outdoor seating). they've got about 3 different "rooms" plus the outside seating, so there's plenty of room for lots of people. the lighting and the decorations are pretty dang colorful, and much classier than the horrid, 80s themed state street branch. the chips & salsa keep coming, and that's always a plus. our meals were pleasantly large, but not memorable. i suppose it is what it is, but i wouldn't consider this any adobo grill.

i can't remember what i got to eat, but i did love my margarita. they do that well, i confess. so even if the food isn't memorable, that doesn't mean it wasn't tasty. i found myself enjoying my time there so much, i nominated it as a contender for our rehearsal dinner after we finished our meal. i suppose i'll have to go back casa de lara and consider it again.

wow, i never thought i'd hear myself say that.

i love restaurants with good lighting.

sunday afternoon, in between hours at the job, i snuck into borders for some quick reading and snagged a copy of madison magazine, whose cover suggested an oodle of cheap eat options inside its pages.

i suppose madison magazine's readers make substantially more than i do.

still, the mag managed to highlight a few spots i figured i'd keep in my pocket for a cold winter's day. with a list of 6 or 7 taquerias in madison featuring $1.50 tacos, testing out a new place was an obvious no brainer. so come monday, jon and i went out on gammon past the beltline to visit el cabrito for lunch. it's kind of a clean hole in the wall, sitting at the end of a mini-strip mall, next to a laundromat, which is next to a supermercado. i had potato tacos, i think, which were surprisingly yummy, but jon was less than thrilled about his el pastor and steak tacos. the long and short is that it's not exciting, but it's a lot of food and it's decent. it's not necessarily cheap (i think our meals were about $15 total) and i'd be just as happy to visit chipotle.

but again, this isn't part of the real date night. so let's move ahead to the evening.

at about 6:30, jon picked me up to head up to cafe porta alba (yet another feature in madison magazine's cheap eats issue), on butler street up near the capitol. i immediately recognized it as the old espresso royale, though the waitress shared that it had been through numerous different hands since those days - a few more coffee shops, a pizza spot, and finally cafe porta alba. the decor was just what i wanted. relaxed, warm, totally unpretentious, and simple. the warm track lighting on the ceiling, the large wood-fired pizza oven in the back of the dining room, and the size of the room all contributed to a feeling of intimacy. it reminded me of my favorite spots in chicago - it may be a little out of the way, but once you're there, the vibe is quite obviously this: stay and linger and enjoy.

i ordered the margherita pizza, which was excellently light on the sauce, just the right amount of cheese, but a little too stingy on the basil. jon ordered the margherita con salame, which arrived with perfectly sliced large circles of salame on nearly each slice of his pie. i devoured the entire thing.

before we left, i asked for a cappuccino which came with a few tablespoons of coffee grounds at the bottom (ugh), but i couldn't mention anything, because the waitress was so nice and friendly, i just didn't care. i drank as much as i could anyway. jon had an espresso which was - thankfully - fully ground and drinkable.

afterwards, we walked a few blocks over to cafe montmartre for half-price wine night and selected a bottle of pinot noir. i love cafe montmartre but it always makes me feel a little self-conscious, like i'm suddenly exposed in the view of all the trendy, hippie-ish, 20-somethings in madison, caught wearing my grey wool sweater from gap's 1998 fashion line. i shake my head at myself, throw back the last sips of wine, and pour myself a fuller glass. i really like montmartre, but i HAVE to remember to get in the zone before i go, otherwise, my emotions begin to run high, and pretty soon jon is left with a silently crying mess of a fiancee.

maybe it was just the wine.

overall? cafe porta alba is DEFINITELY a place to visit again. i'd be a regular there if i could.
and cafe montmartre is always a good bet - just make sure you call forth your inner hipster before you enter the doors.