Cadre

Cadre is a new venture from Chef Evan Dannells, where Wisconsin vibes are playfully made to feel at home in classic French dishes. Diners will find on the appetizer menu moules frites (mussels in wine cream sauce) and whitefish terrine situated next to humble cheese curds— granted, they are made with chèvre. The dinner menu features such classically French, home-style dishes as beef bourguignon and a traditional Provençal fish stew called bouillabaisse that, as revealed in a recent Wisconsin State Journal article by Samara Kalk Derby, Dannells has been perfecting for the last 14 years.

In many ways, Cadre seems to be a long time coming for Dannells. He has been a fixture in Madison’s food scene for a while, with time spent at hot spots Merchant and Lucille as executive chef, eight years at Chef Tory Miller’s L’Etoile as a line chef and then sous chef, and more recently as a consultant for local meal kit service and farm-to-table deli Pasture and Plenty. It’s no wonder that the local food landscape of southern Wisconsin got under his skin. Although the phrase “locally sourced ingredients” has become somewhat of a truism in Madison’s culinary community—and it, too, pops up in Cadre’s narrative—we don’t take it for granted that it’s become an expectation for chefs to support local farmers and think seasonally, and we’re certainly not complaining.

Cadre is located at 2540 University Avenue, in what was formerly Oliver’s Public House.