Just a random Thursday when we decided to go on a random date. Not to celebrate anything special, just us two, having dinner and trying out new cuisine in Madison.

Lallande is owned by a family that started their FnB business with a bakery next door to the restaurant. Their uniqueness comes from their collaboration with local farms, bringing the best of Madison's seasons to Lallande's tables, which also means their menu would change quite fequently depends on the season. Lallande also got their bread next door (which they also owned), so it's freshly made every day and, of course, delicious.

The first dish we choose to start is Cervelle de Canut- Lyon’s famously mischievous fresh cheese, which, literally translated as “silk weaver’s brain", is whipped with herbs, garlic, shallots, and olive oil, and of course, to pair with the fresh cheese, nothing would be more perfect than a baguette. The cheese was creamy, fatty, and fragrant from all the herbs that were mixed together. A great starting point for someone new to French cuisine.

This is a famous French dish that always makes me curious. Escargots - Snails cooked in garlic, parsley & butter, and baguettes were also served with the dish. As someone come from a culture that eats snails and clams as a regular meal, escargots, in my opinion, didn’t have much flavor, and didn’t have much texture. It was small, soft, and melted in my mouth, but the flavor came from the garlic, parsley, and butter that cooked the snails in. The butter was exceptionally delicious; I could eat it every day, simply dip my baguettes in it.

Another famous dish from France is Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée, slow-caramelized onions simmered in white wine and rich beef stock, finished with toasted baguette and a blanket of melted Gruyère, gratinéed until golden and bubbling. I’ve tried to make this dish before; it was simple yet took a lot of time to complete. The onions need to be caramelized slowly with low heat so as not to burn the onions. Cooked onions bring out their natural sweetness, and the blanket of melted Gruyère also adds a chewy and fatty texture to the dish.

Move into the main dish, Lapin à la Moutarde - Rabbit braised in white wine, dijon mustard & cream. Served with the house baguette. It was a big portion; we think they served half the rabbit. It was soft but not mushy, but also slightly chewy. The baguette comes perfectly when it needs to be dipped in the white wine, Dijon mustard & cream mixture.

I was too full at this point, but this dish surprised me with every ingredients to all the flavors. Magret de Canard à l’Orange - Medium-rare magret duck breast with our house orange marmalade sauce, garlicky spinach, and fresh orange supremes. Duck breast is quite fatty and best pan-seared to achieve that crispy skin texture. The most common sauce that I have seen so far is some sort of berry reduction, which balances out the rich meat. However, this is the first time I had orange marmalade sauce; it was tangy, yet sweet and savory. The sauce alone made me want to keep eating the dish, no matter how full I was.

Trio de Betteraves Rôties - It’s a type of dish that I get to try different types of beets and learn more about them. Red beets are more well-known to most people. Golden beets are kinda similar in taste to red beets, which is sweet and earthy flavor, but milder. Chioggia beets are heirloom Italian beets, which are also known as “candy cane” beets, because they are sweeter than red beets. The natural sweetness of the beets was naturally preserved by the simple cooking technique, which is roasted until tender, and served with honeyed lemon crème fraîche, toasted hazelnuts, a balsamic glaze, and fresh dill and mint.

Out of all six dishes that we ordered, there were four dishes that were served with their house-made bread, and their portions were quite big, so we were too full by the time we reached dessert. So for dessert, we ordered Îles Flottantes - meringue “islands” floating in a pool of custard. Garnished with toasted almonds and house caramel. It was like eating a cloud made out of sugar. It was sweet, light as air, and creamy. It was a little too sweet for our taste, yet surprising since it was so light.

Lallande is a small restaurant, so they tried to fit as many tables as they could, so that make the walking spaces quite small. Overall, we would definitely come back for the food and the friendly staff. The location itself was a big plus for us, too, since it was close to our apartment, and it was not too hard to find parking, but parking in the neighborhood could be quite dark.

Location: 1859 Monroe St, Madison, WI 53711