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Food

‘The Sweetest Comeback in the History of Ever’

Americans may love a winner, but that definition also includes, I think, those who bounce back from adversity. Twinkies are back, in stores across the country, at a list price of $2.98 for a box of ten. (If they seem smaller, and have an even longer shelf life, the new owners insist it’s the result…

Restaurant Review: Randy’s Restaurant and Fun Hunter’s Brewery

View Larger Map Randy’s Restaurant and Fun Hunter’s Brewery – Randy’s to anyone who has been in Whitewater longer than twenty-four hours – is a big, traditional American-cuisine restaurant on Whitewater’s eastside. First, what one sees: Everything about Randy’s is big – the dining room (with anterooms), the tables and chairs, the building, even the…

Restaurant Review: Cozumel

View Larger Map Whitewater has more than one Mexican restaurant, and when there are at least two, there’s bound to be a question of which is authentic, genuine, somehow true to Mexican cuisine, etc. It’s not the only question, though: a necessary, preliminary question is whether the restaurant serves enjoyable fare. Ask that initial question,…

Restaurant Review: The SweetSpot

View Larger Map Located along Whitewater Street, near the Cravath lakefront, is Whitewater’s principal coffee shop: The SweetSpot at 226 West Whitewater. There are other places in town for coffee, and until recently there were even more, but The SweetSpot now occupies a preeminent place. So what shall one simply say about this much-touted coffee…

Restaurant Review: Karina’s Mexican Restaurant

View Larger Map Karina’s Mexican Restaurant sits on the corner of Main Street in downtown Whitewater. As one sees from the street view above, patrons enter on Main, with seating to both the left and right of the entrance. It’s a large space, and for the occasions when I visited (lunch, dinner), larger than the…

Restaurant Review: Tokyo

View Larger Map Tokyo is a family-run, Japanese-cuisine restaurant, of modest size, and a relaxed atmosphere. It’s situated on a prominent corner in downtown Whitewater, along Main Street. That first sentence establishes the perspective from which one should consider Tokyo: it’s a small, family-run Japanese restaurant. It’s a pleasant surprise, and happily recommended. Across America,…

Restaurant Review: Whitewater’s Lakefront Pub

Whitewater, Wisconsin is a college town with a plentiful selection of bars, but a suitable pub with good food, a wide selection of beers, and a congenial atmosphere is always hard to find. Those in, or visiting, Whitewater would find that experience at the Lakefront Pub, named for its location along Cravath Lake in downtown…

A Model Ordinance

These last few months, beginning in September, Whitewater’s Planning Commission has heard, and subsequently considered, a proposal for an urban (backyard) chicken ordinance. The proposal is not mine; I have been a mere observer of this effort. One may write about a topic, but only after months of careful observation, as in this case. I…

The Game of Thrones Food Trucks

The Institute of Justice, the nation’s leading libertarian public interest law firm, asks a question about Chicago that would be as fitting of other cities’ regulators: Should the city of Chicago be in the business of protecting a few politically connected restaurateurs from competition? That is the question to be answered by a major lawsuit…

Thanksgiving, Two Days Out

Two days’ time until Thanksgiving, but perhaps you’ve not had the time (or a spouse who made the time you might have) to make arrangements. All is not lost; on the contrary, Rachel Stearns and the foodies at Bon Appetit have your back. Stearns asks, Do You Know Where Your Turkey Is? — It’s a…

Whitewater’s ‘Transient Merchant’ Ordinance is Only Half That

Whitewater has a Transient Merchant Ordinance, at Chapter 5.28, et seq., of her Municipal Code, but the ordinance’s title is only half right. It’s not merely an ordinance that restricts food trucks’ sales, but also and necessarily consumers’ purchases. It’s part Transient Merchant Ordinance and part Consumer Restriction Ordinance. Each and every time a city…