Fairchild — Restaurant in Madison

Update: After many delicious carry out orders over the past couple of years, we finally went back in person...

On the current snack menu, the pink moon oysters topped with nuoc cham were so fresh and bright. The english pea arancini and focaccia were fantastic as well. The snacks at Fairchild always seem like such good value since they are way more complex than "just" a snack, and are typically less then $10.

Our favorites are always the pastas and this time - like all the times - they were incredibly satisfying and deeply flavorful. We ordered a side of roasted mushrooms which, along with being delicious on their own, were perfect additions to my carbonara. The rotating agnolotti with radicchio and moody blue was delicious.

The service was great, cocktails were tasty and we can't say enough good things about Fairchild. We've probably eaten here 25+ times (mostly carryout) and can honestly say that it holds up as super tasty, well executed food every time. ...

Short version: We highly recommend Fairchild. Very tasty food done well. Excellent service. Great value for upscale fare. Many items hold up well as carry out.

Probably the best way to sum up how we feel about Fairchild is that we have ordered carry-out about 15 times since COVID began and have had consistently delicious and satisfying food. We love it. The quality is very high, to the point where we are often left excited by simple things done extremely well. Our take is that prices are very reasonable.

Pre-COVID, my wife and I dined here in-person one time. We had an excellent meal, great service and a wonderful all-around experience. The space has a warm feeling. Cocktails were tasty. We haven't eaten here in-person since then, but the restaurant has all necessary protocols in place and appears set up to exceed the minimum distancing requirements for indoor dining. Front of house is very professional and conscientious.

As far as our carry-out experiences since then, here are some accumulated thoughts:

Pastas are consistently well-made, very satisfying and packed with flavour. We get particularly excited when we see a new agnolotti on the menu. We have tried five or six versions that usually fit the season. There was a black truffle version in the fall that stands out. If you want a big, comforting bowl of pasta, try the pappardelle if you see it.

We've enjoyed many of the snacks and appetizers rotating through the menu. A white bean with kale pesto side was delicious and hearty...we ordered it a few times. Potato croquettes with black garlic and the arancini are predictably delicious. A simple "chicken wing" snack on the menu turned out to be amazing and we keep watching for it to come back. Even the smallest of dishes at Fairchild offer complexity, technique and lots of flavour. I think the only item on the menu that I have been less thrilled about was a goat cheese pastry item (the name escapes me) that was just a bit ordinary.

The current rotation of themed brunch menus is fun. Not being regular brunch people we didn't go out of our way to try the Mexican dishes, but the Japanese menu looked too good to miss and I am fond of okonomiyaki. I ended up ordering it four weekends in a row (enough said). We look forward to the next brunch menu.

I suppose it depends on what you order, how close you are and if you manage to time pickup right, but our experience is that Fairchild's carry-out travels really well. We live close by and have never had an issues. Perhaps consider sticking to the pastas if you have any concerns about when you might get down to eating?

So that's it. Sorry for the length of the review but it felt warranted. We are so grateful to have been able to eat here regularly and Fairchild has made it very easy for us to support our neighborhood restaurant. Even if you live farther away or are passing through, don't miss out...

I can't say enough good things about Fairchild. Top-notch cuisine, service, and beverages. And the staff are absolutely wonderful, many being alumni of other premier restaurants in Madison! Some observations, in no particular order.

Food: Itaru Nagano recently, and deservedly, won Madison Magazine's Chef of the Year award in 2022. This is a prestigious award in a field with very strong competition. My wife and I were big fans of his work from before he helped found Fairchild. The meals are absolutely top-notch, and are artfully arranged and presented. Fresh ingredients, and I'd say the handmade pastas (especially the Agnolotti) made by chef and co-founder Andrew Kroeger might be the best you can find in Madison right now. Fresh ingredients, and a pretty good dynamic where their menu rotates with some frequency, but also keeps some great standards around for longer periods. And I think the chefs deserve a lot of credit for interactions with guests. We often have one of our courses served by one of the chefs, which is a real honor and a nice personal touch.

Service: Also top-notch. The staff are very kind, fun to talk to, and check in on you frequently. Extremely knowledgeable and articulate about everthing on the menu. They've been very understanding of our need to eat outdoors during the pandemic. I've enjoyed the dynamic that you often have a primary person who greets you, takes orders, etc... but everyone else (including the mixologists and chefs) are also watching out for you and asking if you need anything. You always feel like you're being looked out for by everyone, not just one person.

Drinks: Again, also top-notch. Really, some of my favorite options in Madison. Like the meals, the cocktails also incorporate a lot of fresh ingredients, and they are absolutely beautifully presented visually. Wine selection has been good, and we get good recommendations for pairings. While I haven't done this, yet, Fairchild is at the top of my list for evenings that I might just want to meet friends for some drinks to catch up at a neighborhood bar. Fairchild really would be just as outstanding as a cocktail bar, even if it was not a restaurant. Matt (the mixologist, and who I hear soon-to-be certified sommelier) does a great job of rotating the menu with new and interesting options. While these drinks are somewhat labor-intensive, he's also great to talk to when bringing something to the table and is unhurried in telling you more about what he's making if you have questions.

Ambience: It's a smaller, cozier space in a bona fide neighborhood. It's a space that manages to be both attractive and unpretentious. Location is also a plus. Parking is so much easier than if you were going downtown, and it's nice to be able to enjoy such great quality in more of a neighborhood environment. They have a small number of tables with outdoor seating, which my wife and I have greatly enjoyed.

Please consider them for a special occasion, or when you are looking for a fine dining option. It's a bit expensive, but they absolutely deliver on the quality of meal and the overall experience. Fairchild opened at a difficult time, just before the pandemic. I encourage everyone who also loves Madison's restaurant scene to check them out. They're in the Pantheon of restaurants in a top-tier restaurant scene like Madison's, and I hope the coming years help reveal that to more and...

Wow... Madison has joined the big leagues! Easily the "best" restaurant in Madison now. I will get to what I mean by "best" in a moment. We went for my wife's birthday. I made the reservation after reading about the James Beard award. I was skeptical that anything in Madison could play with the likes of Michelin star food in Chicago. However, I am happy to report that my skepticism was ill founded. If I had to summarize the entire experience in one word it would be "finesse." Many so-called fancy restaurants hide behind incredibly luxurious ingredients. However, if you are a chef and you serve a grain finished USDA prime fillet and it is anything BUT amazing you need to find a new job. No, what the chefs at Fairchild do is far more impressive. We had the mushroom tempura to start, my wife had the roasted trout with salmon and I had the capellini with smoked shrimp and we shared the side of bok choy.

To begin with the service was beyond exceptional. I do not mean that they came to the table every 3 seconds to refill our water. What I mean was that our waitress was the consummate professional. She knew the food inside and out. She anticipated our needs rather than us asking for anything. I simply can't praise the service enough.

On to the food. A bit of a warning here. The menu is intimidating. I consider myself a fairly diehard foodie and even I had trouble imagining what dishes would be like. You just have to sit back and trust that they know what they are doing....because they do. My biggest concern for this restaurant is that they do not have any truly "safe" option on the menu if you bring your (uncle/grandpa) and he is a good 'ol boy from Wisconsin. While the entrées were excellent the dish that cemented my good opinion was the bok choy. What a humble green and yet this was without a shadow of a doubt the best vegetable I have had in as long as I can remember. It was served with a warm Thai vinaigrette and it was balanced and savory and a true star. If you can take a simple head of bok choy and serve that a la carte and completely rock my world that is when you know you are dealing with a serious chef.

Neither of us drink but we had two exceptional mocktails that again showed finesse and real thought.

Were there any negatives? I guess if I had to be super picky it would be the atmosphere. I think I understand the vibe they are going for but honestly food like that deserves to be in a much more special setting. The chairs were rather hard and uncomfortable but again this is just nitpicking.

Overall, Fairchild has taken the crown of best in Madison and we will be...