[Madison, WI dining]

Thanks for the scoop on Cocoliquot, and your suggestions. In the end, we decided to try Cafe Porta Alba for Neapolitan-style pizza and antipasto. The food was enjoyable, especially the wood-fired pizza. A nice change from the Roman Candle, where we usually end up for pizza in Madison.

Yesterday I checked out Sucre, the new dessert bar/patisserie on the Capitol square. I was there early - before noon - so it was quiet, but they had a nice assortment of sweets in the case, including an opera torte, a chocolate bombe, and a few tartlets. I purchased a few things to bring home, including an opera torte and a hazelnut mousse dessert, which were both well done. I will definitely be back the next time I'm in town, hopefully I'll be able to visit in the evening.

Thanks for the help!

[Madison, WI dining]

Hey there -

I'm hoping that you can help me. I'm coming to town tomorrow, and was thinking about dining at Cocoliquot, but I just read in the Isthmus that it is closing soon. Here's the article:

http://www.thedailypage.com/eats/article.php?article=19752

Does anyone know about this? I read a lot of favorable reviews of it when it opened, have things changed drastically, or should I try it while I still have the chance?

Thanks!

[Tomato Varieties]

Wow, that's quite a list! No wonder you're having trouble narrowing it down. Last summer I had my first garden in Wisconsin and here's what we grew and liked:

-Pink brandywine: this one's my favorite. It's a big slicer, meaty and tasty.

-Orange amana: Another big tomato, this one orange (as the name suggests). This one was fine, another heavy producer, but this year we're going to try Kellogg's Breakfast.

-Yellow lillian: these were another hit. This was a heavy producer, with small tomatoes. Not as small as cherry tomatoes, maybe 3-4 oz. Perfect for cutting up for pasta salad.

-Bloody butcher: similar to yellow lillian, but red. These were also a nice compromise between cherry tomatoes (which are too much work for me) and the big beefsteak ones.

We also had a mortgage lifter and a black brandywine. The only one that I didn't like was the black brandy. It had pear-shaped fruit, and the top never seemed to ripen.

Hope this helps a bit. Good luck!