Hodge Podge

Verona sits about twenty minutes south-west of downtown Madison and has grown quickly on the back of Epic Systems, the healthcare software company whose campus dominates the town. That growth has brought the kind of independent food and drink that suburbs of its size usually lack, and Hodge Podge — on Keenan Court, off the main road through town — is part of it: a café and bar working across the day rather than a dinner-only room.

It earns a place here on the strength of a properly constructed seasonal alcohol-free list. The Snowy Reminiscence is the build Madison Eats Food Tours singles out in its guide to the metro's must-try non-alcoholic beverages: cranberries against elderflower tonic and citrus, which is a genuinely dry drink. Elderflower tonic is the interesting choice in that combination — tonic brings quinine bitterness that fruit alone cannot, and it is the difference between a drink that reads as adult and one that reads as juice. That the list is seasonal rather than fixed suggests the same kitchen discipline the food side runs on, and means the specific drink named here will rotate through the year.

The reason to record a Verona venue at all is geographic honesty. Madison's non-alcoholic depth is heavily concentrated on the isthmus and the near east side — the Capitol Square holds five entries in this guide within a five-minute walk, and Schenk-Atwood and Marquette hold several more. If you live or work in the south-western suburbs, that is a thirty-minute round trip for a drink. Hodge Podge, along with Sober Social's bottle shop over in Middleton, is what the western side of Dane County has, and it is worth knowing about. Check current hours before travelling; they are not published in a form we can verify.