OK, I'll admit it. I'm not any good at predictions. About three months ago, I figured East Washington Avenue would be one big mud puddle at this point, John Kerry would win the election but not the popular vote and Paul Soglin would lead an attempted Halloween coup ending with Governor Doyle putting him in a sleeper hold in the Overture Center gravel pit. Some of my predictions have been a little more off than others.
Another prediction that didn't turn out the way I figured is that Ancora coffeehouse has abandoned its post beside its new neighbor, Avol's Books. When Canterbury (bless its bound soul) went to the great bookstore in the sky, it seemed like Ancora would provide some stability to the 300 block of West Gorham. Now Ancora is gone and Dancing Grounds Coffee Company, 315 W. Gorham St., has taken its place.
Dancing Grounds is in a unique position in that it's saddled next to a bookstore and just off State Street, offering the literary crowd that bit of quiet that's not available in the other half-dozen coffee shops up and down the street. Being set against several other similar shops forces it to assert its niche a little more aggressively than places like Espresso Royale. Where other coffee shops go for atmosphere, Dancing Grounds ends up with ambience.
Take the music, for instance. The airwaves don't carry WSUM or even Wisconsin Public Radio. Instead, it's instrumental pieces that somehow work for background sounds, even though at times you're hoping for a bit of dissonance or at least a vocal interruption.
If the music strikes you as funny, look at the d??cor. There are a lot of soft colors and wicker chairs. The tables are all kind of small, appropriate for two, and every pillow has no stray threads. There's an alcove with Buddha near a picture of a man wearing a John Deere hat. Collectively, Dancing Grounds comes together more as a display than as a dining area.
The d??cor as a distraction is actually a moot point, because the food is so good it makes you ignore the glass-topped tables and the fact that it has pillows in the first place. Take the coffee, for example. The house blend is consistently impressive, and it should be for the $1.30 you pay for it.
If you're looking for a drink that really represents the equilibrium of tastes, go for the peanut butter mocha. It's smooth and balanced, and the chocolate complements rather than undermines the peanut butter. It is full-bodied and satisfying, like most of the Dancing Grounds menu.
With the soups, a good bet is always the tomato basil bisque. Though it was a little thinner and not as creamy as I expected, its across-the-board subtlety made up for my expectations. The heat, texture, basil, tomatoes and even the onions offered a little less potency individually than I expected. It was in that blend of equal components that the soup came together as a gratifying part of a meal.
A turkey and Swiss wrap offers a substantial entr??e to follow the soup. Like the coffee and the bisque, all the ingredients are on the same level. Nothing overpowers anything else, making the wrap a solid offering. The food overall hits the spot, even though the atmosphere is a little off the mark.
There's a mystic formality to the place that comes out when you see a dreadlocked customer say \Pardon me"" to a bookworm who stumbles in from next door. Dancing Grounds acts like an uncluttered and unrushed sanctuary, but one that could use some graduate students arguing Nietzsche.
blschultz@wisc.edu.
