La Crosse & Viroqua
Some of the state’s most stunning topography surrounds these western Wisconsin hotspots, but that’s just a side dish to the entrée of seasonal, farm-focused cuisine.
A Soul of Farm to Table
Nine years ago, this unassuming much-more-than-a-café in downtown Viroqua opened its doors with an ambitious mission: to showcase the farms in surrounding Vernon County, an area known for organic agriculture but not for a booming restaurant scene. Driftless Café quickly became the darling of Wisco cuisine.
Owners Luke and Ruthie Zahm moved to rural Wisconsin from Madison, where Luke was a chef, because here he had access to the best, freshest ingredients. He also hoped to help the farmers and food artisans thrive. “We use ingredients from our neighbors and friends. Farmers eat at our restaurant. We live it every day,” she says. Because of the demands of Luke’s other job – host of the PBS show “Wisconsin Foodie” – the kitchen is overseen now by executive chef Mary Kastman and sous chef Trevor Davis.
I’ve had Driftless on my list of gotta-get-to’s for such a long time. And I found it to be charming and sincere, a place where they let the food do the talking. The dinner menu is printed fresh each day, its selections dependent on what farmers are bringing to their door. As such, you will see a very different menu in August. Chef Kastman gives her cooking a Mediterranean flair, seen on lunch menu items like the crisp-tender Istanbul fried walleye sandwich with pickled red onions, mint salad and sumac vinaigrette. For dinner, there was a knockout beef and pork kofta shish kebab with Nanking cherry and mulberry sauce and canoe-harvest wild rice pilaf. Another star was the duck breast, pan-roasted and served with potato succotash and currant gastrique.
Ruthie’s favorite time of year was a few months ago, when the first clean, crisp shoots of asparagus emerged. But apple season is almost here, and the restaurant will weave them into dishes of all types – sandwiches to sauces. Dining at Driftless brings both the thrill of the unexpected and a feeling that, even as a diner, you’re part of something bigger. Entrées $26-$38. 118 W. Court St., Viroqua, 608-637-7778