The Capital Times from Madison, Wisconsin • O22

22 CAPTIMES.COM AuguST 12, 2020 BY TOM WHITCOMB SPECIAL TO THE CAP TIMES not an easy time to be a restaurant right now. A major part of the experi- ence, especially for a place like Roll Play, depends on close human interaction. Roll Play, 449 State serves an array of Asian street food and lets patrons rent board games from Roll massive library for $5 down. (Well, you could in the before times.) From beloved family favorites to complex friendship-enders, the entire lower level of Roll Play is devoted to gaming. At first, manager Soraya Lee wanted to play on, but many of those games include dozens of tiny pieces that would each need sanitizing.

For now, Roll Play is a board game cafe with no board games. Lee said that thankfully their food sales have been able to keep them afloat. After all, street food is already designed for takeout. two kinds of Lee said. have customers that mainly come in and play board games, and we have quite a large base of customers that come in purely for the Since opening in July of 2019, Roll Play (whose owner, Yushen Chen, also runs a Kung-Fu Tea franchise nearby) has boasted a menu that reads like an international tour, including dishes from China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Specials change daily, which Lee said helps keep things interest- ing. Sort of like a good game offering up twists and turns to engage players. If craving solace, consider the oyako don a dish of chicken, rice and scrambled eggs that the menu describes as I figured I could use a little comfort right now. The Japanese chewy egg and tender chicken mixed well with a sort-of-sticky rice, and was easy enough for even the most uncoordinated among us (read: me) to eat with chopsticks. Taiwainese-braised pork rice ($9.50) was also tasty, but quite a bit heavier thanks to the super rich sauce served with.

Heavy or not, that dis- suade you from orderin pork belly and still good. more of a lesson in portion control than anything else And if looking for just a quick bite, I recommend the taiyaki ($4.50) enough. These are fish-shaped Japanese pastries that Roll Play offers in both savory and sweet flavors. I tried one of each matcha cus- tard for sweet, ham and cheese for savory and give savory the edge. My only regret is not get- ting more of them.

Lee is happy with how relatively smoothly things have gone since the pandemic first began. She said Roll Play remains popular among international University of Wisconsin- Madison students, who come for a taste of something they may not be able to find away from home. Were things anywhere close to normal, I doubt that Roll Play would be a bustling place, filled with folks looking for a good meal and a game of Dixit, Munch- kin, or any of the 250 or so games available on their shelves. Unfortunately, the small space makes social distancing difficult, so for the time being the game is paused. looking forward to a day when Roll Play can fully reopen and play on.

been cooped up for too she said with a laugh. just want to BY LINDSAY CHRISTIANS About a week ago, we hosted our first dinner with friends since the start of the pandemic. My partner put on a mask to pour the wine. I made separate serving dishes. We pushed tables together in the backyard and sat at opposite ends, shouting across the expanse like Mi- chael Keaton and Kim Basinger in the For the menu, I went back to sum- mer favorites: grilled chicken legs in a marinade, smashed new potatoes, green beans with walnuts, and sweet corn.

We had over the fire and dark chocolate gelato with fresh berries. My friends brought their sweet dog and a bottle of aged rum. It was strange not to be able to hug, or even clink glasses for a toast. I had no real back-up plan if it rained. But the emotional rewards of seeing friends in person I overestimate this.

Whether dining alone or cautiously beginning to gather with friends, I hope you are feeling inspired by summer produce. Hanger steak with kimchi glaze and miso butter-grilled vegetables by Ravi Kapur in Food and Wine, July 2020 This recipe kept on giving. First my partner brushed this pineapple- brown sugar kimchi glaze on steak as it cooked. With the extra, I marinated chicken thighs for the following night. Miso butter, slathered on broccoli, summer squash and peppers, later made its way onto grilled sweet corn and into the rice cooker.

foodandwine.com/recipes/hanger- steak-kimchi-glaze-and-miso-butter- grilled-vegetables Peanut butter-miso cookies from Christopher Milk Street Magazine, July-August 2020 Shiro miso, like tahini, finds its way into savory dishes in my house, but marvelous for baking too. Mix up these soft, chewy cookies the day before you bake them. Rolling each dough ball in turbinado, a sugar with large golden crystals, adds crunchy texture. 177milk- street.com/recipes/peanut-butter-miso- cookies Mustardy green beans with anchovied walnuts from ing by Alison Roman This is maybe my new favorite way to prepare pole beans, whether green, purple or yellow. I used a whole grain mustard and two types of olive oil here: one for poaching the walnuts, the other for the white wine vinaigrette.

Fancy and beautiful tomato salad from Bon Appetit, August 2020 How about the name of this? I say no, especially when the farm is giving us gorgeous, multi-colored heirlooms. Creamy feta, lots of herbs, bloomed in oil, crunchy pita, garlic. This is everything good. bonappetit.com/recipe/fancy-and- beautiful-tomato-salad Roasted carrot and avocado salad with lime dressing from Hungry for by Chrissy Teigen Apparently carrots and avocado go together like tomatoes and mozzarella, because found infinite variations on this recipe. The sweetness of the carrots, tartness of the lime and crunch from toasted sunflower seeds have kept this in heavy rotation at my house.

peachyjeanblog.com/chrissy-teigens- roasted-carrot-avocado-salad Pork glass noodle salad from Hungry for Instead of bean thread noodles in this easy dinner, I used vermicelli rice noodles, which have become a pantry staple for us because they take all of five minutes to cook. I love the dressing on this, a Thai-inspired blend of lime, fish sauce, chilies and garlic, as well as the fresh tomatoes and herbs. eatncolor.com/pork-glass-noodle-salad Roasted ratatouille tart with goat cheese and mint from Fresh and Green by Susie Middleton Full disclosure: I make this every single summer, and I even blogged about it eight years ago when we all had blogs and 77 Square was a thing. I made it again this week with wheat flour in the dough, and still summer in tart form. finecooking.com/recipe/roasted-rata- touille-tart-with-goat-cheese-and-mint GET TAKEOUT CT KITCHEN Roll Play pauses the game, levels up the menu A distanced dinner party, nostalgic nachos RUTHIE HAUGE Soraya Lee drizzles two sauces over jian bing, a Chinese crepe, at Roll Play at 449 State St.

Roll Play 449 State St. Ste. 819-6268 rollplaymadison.com HOURS 12-8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday Closed Wednesday 12-8 p.m. Thursday-Friday.