Our New Home

Tory Miller, Executive Chef and Co-Owner

In October of 2003, I moved to Madison and walked up the stairs to the former location of L'Etoile restaurant. Coming from New York, I had most recently worked at Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan. I can remember walking into EMP for the first time, hearing about it as another of Danny Meyer's fantastic institutions from friends and reviews. The dining room was and is grand, in very sense of the word.

I was moving to Madison to get out of the city and to get closer to the ingredients and the cooking. I hadn't officially been hired by Chef Odessa, but we had an interview scheduled for the day after I arrived. I didn't know anything about Madison's dining scene or about Odessa, but friends assured me that she was great and her restaurant was amazing, an institution of the Midwest. 

Walking up those stairs, I didn't know what I was in store for . . . and it was not what I expected. Of course, it was the morning; the room had not yet been set up for service. The dark room was small, and smelled of smoke from the night before (yes, you could still smoke indoors then). 

From that day until last July, when we officially closed that location and moved into our new home at One South Pinckney, I kind of felt a nostalgia for the grand dining rooms of NYC. I did grow to love the old space though. I have so many great memories there; I cooked my favorite meal of my career when Michael Pollan was our guest. 

But flash forward to our new space. . . it's big, it's clean, it's bright, it's . . . grand.

The things I love about it haven't come easy. Traci Miller and Dianne Christensen spent countless hours and endured some of the most detailed meetings designing and the building our new home. The view from our windows, from either restaurant, are arguably the best in the city. But the happenings behind the scenes really make me happy. . . two amazing, bustling kitchens, 4 walk-in coolers, 2 bars making dope cocktails, an outdoor "Graze Garden". . . all coming together to make walking into work a dream come true. 

Just passing the first year anniversary of our move, I've been thinking a lot lately about my favorite things in the new space . . .

The plancha: aka the flat top. When we moved in, it was the first station I worked at Graze. It’s awesome to have a piece of equipment that’s always hot. I can test any new dish by just throwing it on the “flattie” and we’re good to go. I love sandwiches; everyone who knows me, knows this. I can throw any sandwich on there and it’s crunchy and delicious . . . immediately. I’m so happy we have it. With brunch as the most important meal of the day, we can make almost everything on our brunch menu on the flat top. 


It’s just awesome.

It’s also really nice to be able to have enough space to handle all the produce we have coming in. Our volume of eggs alone went from 4 cases a week to 11 cases a week with our move. But even with all the walk-ins we have now, space gets filled up quickly. As soon as you have some space, you need more.

I also love the automatic shades in the dining room. I hear the 2010 Space Odyssey song in my head every time I hit the button and watch them rise. 

The booths in Graze are great too. They are reminiscent of a pig pen, which I love. Speaking of Graze, I love our theme: Urban Farm. And paired with the country elements of the L’Etoile dining space, everything just comes together.

The number one thing I love about the L’Etoile dining space are the round booths, mostly because of the homage to the former back bar of the old space with the intimate banquette seating. When I was a kid, we had these round booths at our diner, and I used to dream about having round tables like that in my own restaurant. At the same time, they are the only tables that don’t have tablecloths. It’s a much more causal feel, which is great. They’re just about eating dinner with the ones you love, instead of the grandeur and elegance of fine dining.

Overall we’re still learning how to live and work in the spaces that have been built, and having a good time while doing it. 

Thanks for the past year everyone; here’s to the next.