I was born and raised on the north side of Madison. This means that I’ve always aligned myself with the “East Side” faction of the Great Madison Eastside/Westside fray.

The whole debate goes something like this: The East side is more blue collar, more unique, more at ease, more “real Madison”. The West side is full of more propserous newcomers who don’t understand and appreciate the uniqueness that can, at times, be Madison. I admit, I drive down the Beltline from East to West and Madison does indeed look more and more like anywhere USA the further west that you go. Maybe it has something to do with the cookie cutter condos and strip malls that have popped up.

Having said all of that, the one thing I truly envied the westside for is their selection of restaurants. Of course, I have mixed feelings about that too. In the past 2 or 3 years, it has gone too far. For every Louisiannes, there is a PF Changs. For every Ottos, there is a Macaroni Grill. The west side is becoming cookie cutter restaurant row now as well, with very few unique, locally owned restaurants.

The East side has some restaurants straddling East Towne Mall. All chains. No thanks. But there are also some locally owned jewels to be found. Rossario’s, Bunky’s, The Harmony Bar, Mariner’s, and other places that many West siders wouldn’t be caught dead in dot the landscape.

To this day I live on the “east side”, though, granted, in a suburb (The capital square is still just a 15 minute drive away!). And I wonder why on earth the East side can not support more upscale, eclectic restaurants like the pre-chain West side used to be good at.

All of that leads me to a point. Really.

We’ve recently found hope on the East side in a new restaurant that sprouted up seemingly out of the blue. Cloud 9 Grille, on the very far east side of Madison off of Cottage Grove road delivers a more upscale menu, a nice ambiance, and the most spectacular view of Madison that you’ll find anywhere.

Hovering over the city at the edge of the Interstate, Cloud 9 overlooks the city from above – way above. Out of the majestic windows of the second floor, the capital and lakes are in clear view. On a recent visit a comment was made that this would be the place to go to watch the fireworks in July. The server overheard and confirmed that there were already reservations in place for just that.

At first glance, this restaurant seems to have somewhat of a split personality. Here’s why.

On our first visit to the establishment, we stopped in for an after dinner drink having dined earlier at Mariners. We wanted to see if it would be worth a return visit for dinner. We found a hopping and fairly loud sports bar environment, with a good sized bar and seating both inside the bar and spread around the first floor. While sitting there sipping a drink, I remarked, “oh, there seems to be a second floor!”. We didn’t venture up there, however.

Having been somewhat assured that this would not be a wasted night out were we to dine there, we headed there on a weeknight for dinner. We were prepared for a semi-noisy, sportbar sort of dining experience. When posed with the question, “Would you like to dine upstairs?”, we said sure. We were very surprised to find a completely different ambiance upstairs – relaxing and quiet with that previously mentioned spectacular view.

And it took this long to get to the food portion of this review!

The food, on our first visit, was terrific. We had the pasta with sausage, and the roasted chicken, and both were very good. I judge restaurants by their chicken because it is SO easy to do restaurant chicken poorly. This chicken was done right – it was moist, tender and very flavorful. The pasta was equally as satisfying, with just the right tomato sauce supporting penne and plentiful and spicy Italian sausage. The wine selection, while not extensive, was reasonable and did the job.

We left the restaurant feeling like Madison’s East side had finally gotten the restaurant it deserved!

Our second visit was not quite so spectacular. Entrees ordered were the Pork Chop, a Kansas City Strip, a Tenderloin filet, and the chopped sirloin burger. The pork chop was very salty, but once you got used to that it was very good. Tender and moist, it was something that we would order again. The stip steak was good. Not wonderful, but good. Cooked slightly under the Medium Rare that was ordered, it had good flavor. The tenderloin filet was somewhat of a disappointment. While there was technically nothing wrong with it, expectations were higher than reality. The burger looked good. Very substantial, it had a large array of toppings.

What made the second dining visit less than stellar was the service. The waitress assigned to us simply didn’t seem to care that we were there for dinner. Our bread was brought in the middle of the meal, only after requested. The bottle of wine that was ordered was delivered to us as we were about two thirds of the way through the meal – and again, only after we asked where it was.

I can’t even put it down to a new, inexperienced server. I truly got the impression that if she were assigned to us in six months, the same uncaring, unenthusiastic attitude would be there.

But, I’m not going to allow a bad server to ruin what I view as a promising new restaurant. Cloud 9 Grille is a very welcome addition to the East side Madison dining scene!

In an effort to break out of the local pizza parlor mold, Picasso’s has hired a young professionally trained chef and has decided to experiment with a more upscale and inventive menu.

Their first foray into this unchartered territory took place last night at a 5 Course Dinner, complete with wine pairings. Seven of us made the trek last night, eager with anticipation and perhaps a bit dubious that they could pull it off.

To say that the new endeavor was a success is definitely an understatement! We were thrilled with the efforts that Picasso’s went to.

Stepping into the restaurant we were immediately hit with the familiar smells of the pizzas that they are more well-known for. We were shown to our table, which quietly stood out with it’s small vase of yellow flowers, a sign that the table was to be used for more than one of their excellent Mediterranean Pizzas.

We were greeted in stages by the owner, the chef, and the waitstaff. The menu was explained to us in detail. A cup of cream of asparagus soup kicked the meal off. The soup had a unique flavor, which was later identified by one of the members of our dining party as horseradish. This was paired with a nice Chardonnay.

An appetizer with scallops, served on a bed of baby spinach, with a mango chutney came next. The wine served was a Sauvignon Blanc.

Next up came an endive salad with an inventive truffle oil vinagrette which also had walnuts and stilton cheese. This salad was a rousing success all around. Upon questioning the chef, we found that the dressing included some raspberry vinegar and a touch of basalmic vinegar, with some dijon mustard thrown in.

Our main course consisted of medallions of tenderloin in a burgandy peppercorn sauce, with baby red potatoes and asparagus along side. The sauce was terrific, with a bit of a bite to it. This turned out to be a dash of tabasco sauce that the chef had thrown in. A Cabernet Sauvignon and a Pinot Noir were served with the main course.

The meal came to a perfect end with puff pastry dotted with Gorgonzola cheese served with pears poached in a port sauce. This was also served with a pour of Galway Pipe Tawny Port.

We were told by the owner of Picasso’s that this will become a monthly occurence. The chef mentioned that the next dinner will be an Italian food tour, and he’s looking forward to a local sausage and microbrew beer dinner as well.

Picasso’s did this just right. The food was excellent and inventive, but they did not try to stretch the atmosphere of the restaurant by trying to make the meal more formal than it could be. Thus, they ended up with an upscale, fun menu in a very comfortable setting that was unique while being as far from pretentious as it could be.

We’re looking forward to the next special dinner, and we are eagerly anticipating the new menu that will be introduced in the upcoming weeks.