Lunch in a Stable

Quivy's Grove is home to two places to eat - the main house is the fine dining establishment - and out back there's the Stable to gather for drinks and sandwiches.

Built in 1855, it was a working stable until 1979 and became a restaurant in 1980.  Now it's the Stable Tap.

The four lane Highway 18 flows by beyond the fencing where horses would have pastured once upon a time.

Now it was our turn to graze.

We were led to the second floor of the stable - stairs built with wood from salvaged barns that date back to the 1850s and 60s.  The twenty inch thick stone walls and hand-hewn beams create an authentic atmosphere.

The menu items are named for local communities. I had the Cross Plains Chicken for lunch.  The fried pickle spear appetizers didn't have a town name attached, but were good all by themselves.

The home and stable was built by John Mann, who had moved to Madison in the 1840s and started a successful livery business in town, but as an early example of urban flight he moved south to Fitchburg to build the mansion and stable as his new home.

There were four owners after Mann until the current owners bought and turned the place into Quivy's Grove in honor of a former area innkeeper.

The stable and home are on the National Register of Historic Places.  The history is palpable and a great part of the experience as the place strives for authenticity in appearance and ambiance.

The service and food added to the charm of the place.  It felt like the Ingalls family might find their way up the steps for a very rare dinner out, maybe taking a table near Festus and Matt Dillon who walked in a earlier.

The chicken was crispy on the outside, a tender and juicy chicken breast under the golden glow.  Those are smashed potatoes just north of the chicken - also very good.

The restaurants of Quivy's Grove haven't moved and are surrounded by beautiful grounds with lovely gardens and space where guests can walk amongst the flowers.  There is even a spot for a large tent to host private parties (one was set up when we visited).

There are a lot of great, unique, and charming restaurants in and around Madison - each with their own special qualities.  This one would have felt right, out in Pierre, South Dakota where we lived more than twenty years ago.

It fits into the Madison landscape too, a different part of area history on display and a look back into the early days of statehood.

I reckon the hired hands and those traveling by horseback or by carriage would have found today's lunch fare good in any century.