Nattspil: Difference between revisions
Rename to the business's own spelling; explain the two spellings; add the 2004 State Journal preview, column, review and late-night feature |
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''' | '''Nattspil''' (written '''Natt Spil''' by the newspapers; see [[#Name|Name]] below) is a late-night restaurant and bar at 211 King St., downtown, called "Madison's favorite Chinese Norwegian pizza disco" by The Capital Times. It is a late-night stop for three cup chicken and thin-crust pizzas<ref name="ct-2020-08-12-pO17">Christians, L. (2020, August 12). "Patio pleasures." ''The Capital Times''. p. O17. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/675459135/ 675459135].</ref>. | ||
==Name== | |||
The name is Norwegian for "night play", and it has been written two ways since before the bar opened. The Wisconsin State Journal's March 2004 preview, written while Chris Berge and a group of artists were still renovating the former Little Village Café and Duniya space, called it "Nattspil"<ref name="wsj-2004-03-09-p24">Balousek, M. (2004, March 9). "Madison-area restaurant scene: Kitchen doors are swinging." ''Wisconsin State Journal''. p. 24. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/396646458/ 396646458].</ref>; the paper's May 2004 column and review wrote "Natt Spil"<ref name="wsj-2004-05-06-p74">Sensenbrenner, L. (2004, May 6). "Natt Spil a place to dine, play." ''Wisconsin State Journal''. p. 74. Newspapers.com images [https://www.newspapers.com/image/407691419/ 407691419], [https://www.newspapers.com/image/407691432/ 407691432].</ref><ref name="wsj-2004-05-16-p60">Martell, C. (2004, May 16). "Restaurant review: Natt Spil — Renovating restaurateur hits his stride off the Square." ''Wisconsin State Journal''. p. 60. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/407675774/ 407675774].</ref>, as did its September 2004 late-night-dining feature<ref name="wsj-2004-09-19-p71">Martell, C. (2004, September 19). "Late-night dining feature (Sunday Dining)." ''Wisconsin State Journal''. p. 71. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/406784846/ 406784846].</ref> and most later Capital Times and State Journal stories. The Daily Cardinal wrote "Nattspil"<ref name="dc-2004-10-28-nattspil">Sacia, J. (2004, October 28). [https://madison.com/daily-cardinal/news/article_8265f2ae-b860-57ed-8d9a-fc5f44eaf754.html "Play in the dark at Nattspil."] ''The Daily Cardinal''.</ref> and the Badger Herald "Natt Spil"<ref name="bh-2004-12-03-natt-spil">Webb, M. (2004, December 3). [https://badgerherald.com/artsetc/2004/12/03/natt-spil-top-choice/ "Natt Spil top choice for great drink deals."] ''The Badger Herald''.</ref>. | |||
The owners never settled it. The letters carved into the stone above the wood-fired oven read "Natt Spil"; the corporation is Natt Spiel, Inc.; the Facebook page and the restaurant's own website say "Nattspil"<ref name="ct-2018-05-30-pO28">(2018, May 30). Natt Spil brunch feature: ownership, the name, and 14 years on King Street. ''The Capital Times''. p. O28. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/508043548/ 508043548].</ref><ref name="nattspil-com-2026-10-23">[https://nattspil.com/ "Nattspil Restaurant (home page)."] ''nattspil.com''. Retrieved October 22, 2026.</ref>. General manager Matthew Stebbins told The Capital Times in 2018 that once the name "got put in stone, it wasn't going anywhere", and that having more than one spelling for their own restaurant "fits perfectly with what this place is all about"<ref name="ct-2018-05-30-pO28" />. | |||
This wiki uses "Nattspil", the spelling the business uses for itself. Quotations and citation titles keep whatever spelling their source used, which is why "Natt Spil" appears throughout the notes below. | |||
==History== | ==History== | ||
'''Opening (2004).''' The State Journal previewed the bar on March 9, 2004 as one of the places "on the way in": a King Street bar that would serve fresh brick-oven bread, with a large brick oven as its centrepiece and a "mechanical vs. organic" theme by the artists renovating the room; Berge, up a ladder plastering that Monday, said "We're going to be a bar with superlative food"<ref name="wsj-2004-03-09-p24" />. By early May it had been open "about a month", with no sign on the trim maroon-and-oxblood brick building, the name carved into a small stone of the oven, a sculpture of wheels and gears on one wall, a DJ booth on the other, a menu that had grown from four $7 dishes, and two pizzas: chorizo with yellow sun-dried tomato and mozzarella, and smoked tomato with spinach, provolone and pesto. It took cash only, had no telephone and no set hours beyond "open by 4:30 p.m. to very late"<ref name="wsj-2004-05-06-p74" />. Chris Martell's review that month called it "primarily bar", with a short international wine list, specialty cocktails and food "surpassing all expectations for bar food in quality and creativity, but not price"; the $7 chorizo and sun-dried tomato pizza "succeeds magnificently", its crust "paper thin, crisp and golden"<ref name="wsj-2004-05-16-p60" />. By September the paper's late-night guide described "inventive pizzas, salads, fish and meat" cooked in the brick oven until 1 a.m. daily, with chef David Oliver at the woodburning oven behind the bar<ref name="wsj-2004-09-19-p71" />. | |||
'''Later years.''' | |||
Natt Spil celebrated its tenth anniversary on March 23, 2014, so it opened in March 2004; the Roman Candle's founders met at its opening "a year ago" in February 2005<ref name="mc-2005-02-17-roman-candle-coming">Kalk Derby, S. (2005, February 17). [https://madison.com/entertainment/article_7cb894ae-a630-500b-ad72-cf14fb21bea3.html "New pizzeria to light up Willy St."] ''madison.com''.</ref>. At the end of 2009 it still had no sign, no phone and no website, took cash only, and served "gourmet wood-fired pizzas" alongside dim sum; the head chef was David Oliver, and the bread came from the Weary Traveler<ref name="mc-2009-12-24-lets-eat-natt-spil">Yeoh, T. R. (2009, December 24). [https://madison.com/life-entertainment/local/food-drink/reviews/article_d822fba5-49b0-5aae-9ef9-4767d5cb0d10.html "Let's Eat for $7.70: Natt Spil's generous sandwiches worth seeking out."] ''madison.com''.</ref>. Co-owner Prentice Berge "often gets up at 2 a.m. to make the pizza dough"<ref name="mc-2014-03-17-natt-spil-10th">Kalk Derby, S. (2014, March 17). [https://madison.com/lifestyles/food_and_cooking/article_17ee6a51-55b9-588b-b8f7-f0d6e3d9c2b8.html "Restaurant News: Natt Spil celebrates its 10th anniversary Sunday."] ''madison.com''.</ref>. In 2011 the Capital Times listed it with "No phone number": on Monday nights a 10-inch wood-fired pizza and a pitcher of beer cost $16, and there were five house pies, among them the Nattspil Sausage<ref name="ct-2011-04-07-p14">(2011, April 7). Today's Special: Natt Spil, 211 King St., "No phone number"; Monday pizza and pitcher $16. ''The Capital Times''. p. 14. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/522525121/ 522525121].</ref>. | Natt Spil celebrated its tenth anniversary on March 23, 2014, so it opened in March 2004; the Roman Candle's founders met at its opening "a year ago" in February 2005<ref name="mc-2005-02-17-roman-candle-coming">Kalk Derby, S. (2005, February 17). [https://madison.com/entertainment/article_7cb894ae-a630-500b-ad72-cf14fb21bea3.html "New pizzeria to light up Willy St."] ''madison.com''.</ref>. At the end of 2009 it still had no sign, no phone and no website, took cash only, and served "gourmet wood-fired pizzas" alongside dim sum; the head chef was David Oliver, and the bread came from the Weary Traveler<ref name="mc-2009-12-24-lets-eat-natt-spil">Yeoh, T. R. (2009, December 24). [https://madison.com/life-entertainment/local/food-drink/reviews/article_d822fba5-49b0-5aae-9ef9-4767d5cb0d10.html "Let's Eat for $7.70: Natt Spil's generous sandwiches worth seeking out."] ''madison.com''.</ref>. Co-owner Prentice Berge "often gets up at 2 a.m. to make the pizza dough"<ref name="mc-2014-03-17-natt-spil-10th">Kalk Derby, S. (2014, March 17). [https://madison.com/lifestyles/food_and_cooking/article_17ee6a51-55b9-588b-b8f7-f0d6e3d9c2b8.html "Restaurant News: Natt Spil celebrates its 10th anniversary Sunday."] ''madison.com''.</ref>. In 2011 the Capital Times listed it with "No phone number": on Monday nights a 10-inch wood-fired pizza and a pitcher of beer cost $16, and there were five house pies, among them the Nattspil Sausage<ref name="ct-2011-04-07-p14">(2011, April 7). Today's Special: Natt Spil, 211 King St., "No phone number"; Monday pizza and pitcher $16. ''The Capital Times''. p. 14. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/522525121/ 522525121].</ref>. | ||
The Daily Cardinal found it in October 2004 — no sign, bicycles out front — "opened last March by prominent Madison restaurateurs Prentice and Christopher Berge" of the Weary Traveler, Restaurant Magnus and Blue Marlin, with a large stone oven as the centrepiece, 15 tables with tree-stump stools, paper lanterns and a screen-printed photograph of an opium-smoking Taiwanese woman; pizzas from $6.50 for the smoked tomato with wilted spinach and arugula, the kitchen open until 1 a.m., DJs nightly after 10, and no credit cards or telephone<ref name="dc-2004-10-28-nattspil" | The Daily Cardinal found it in October 2004 — no sign, bicycles out front — "opened last March by prominent Madison restaurateurs Prentice and Christopher Berge" of the Weary Traveler, Restaurant Magnus and Blue Marlin, with a large stone oven as the centrepiece, 15 tables with tree-stump stools, paper lanterns and a screen-printed photograph of an opium-smoking Taiwanese woman; pizzas from $6.50 for the smoked tomato with wilted spinach and arugula, the kitchen open until 1 a.m., DJs nightly after 10, and no credit cards or telephone<ref name="dc-2004-10-28-nattspil" />. The Badger Herald that December counted three pizzas on the menu, the tomato, spinach and arugula the standout<ref name="bh-2004-12-03-natt-spil" />. | ||
By a 2018 brunch feature the cash-only bar had been open 14 years next to the downtown Great Dane. It was co-owned by general manager Matthew Stebbins, chef David Oliver and the brothers Prentice and Christopher Berge. | By a 2018 brunch feature the cash-only bar had been open 14 years next to the downtown Great Dane. It was co-owned by general manager Matthew Stebbins, chef David Oliver and the brothers Prentice and Christopher Berge. The 2018 feature also noted the restaurant's two spellings<ref name="ct-2018-05-30-pO28" />. In 2018 Stebbins and Allysa Sweeney bought the Brothers Three bar<ref name="ct-2018-11-07-pO23">(2018, November 7). Brothers Three sold to Matt Stebbins and Allysa Sweeney; Natt Spil and Lucille connections. ''The Capital Times''. p. O23. Newspapers.com image [https://www.newspapers.com/image/508042842/ 508042842].</ref>. | ||
In August 2020 Natt Spil expanded into space on the east side of its building. The formerly cash-only restaurant began taking credit cards and orders online and by phone, and stayed open until 11 p.m. every day<ref name="ct-2020-08-12-pO17" />. During the pandemic it tried an online soup-and-sandwich brand for two months<ref name="mc-2021-05-06-online-brands">Kalk Derby, S. (2021, May 6). [https://madison.com/entertainment/dining/article_e53ed79d-6040-5bdb-9a73-d771b720ff3a.html "Online brands help the bottom line for some Madison-area restaurants."] ''madison.com''.</ref>; its co-owner then was Prentice Berge<ref name="mc-2021-05-06-online-brands" />. | In August 2020 Natt Spil expanded into space on the east side of its building. The formerly cash-only restaurant began taking credit cards and orders online and by phone, and stayed open until 11 p.m. every day<ref name="ct-2020-08-12-pO17" />. During the pandemic it tried an online soup-and-sandwich brand for two months<ref name="mc-2021-05-06-online-brands">Kalk Derby, S. (2021, May 6). [https://madison.com/entertainment/dining/article_e53ed79d-6040-5bdb-9a73-d771b720ff3a.html "Online brands help the bottom line for some Madison-area restaurants."] ''madison.com''.</ref>; its co-owner then was Prentice Berge<ref name="mc-2021-05-06-online-brands" />. | ||
Revision as of 15:32, 23 October 2026
Nattspil (written Natt Spil by the newspapers; see Name below) is a late-night restaurant and bar at 211 King St., downtown, called "Madison's favorite Chinese Norwegian pizza disco" by The Capital Times. It is a late-night stop for three cup chicken and thin-crust pizzas[1].
Name
The name is Norwegian for "night play", and it has been written two ways since before the bar opened. The Wisconsin State Journal's March 2004 preview, written while Chris Berge and a group of artists were still renovating the former Little Village Café and Duniya space, called it "Nattspil"[2]; the paper's May 2004 column and review wrote "Natt Spil"[3][4], as did its September 2004 late-night-dining feature[5] and most later Capital Times and State Journal stories. The Daily Cardinal wrote "Nattspil"[6] and the Badger Herald "Natt Spil"[7].
The owners never settled it. The letters carved into the stone above the wood-fired oven read "Natt Spil"; the corporation is Natt Spiel, Inc.; the Facebook page and the restaurant's own website say "Nattspil"[8][9]. General manager Matthew Stebbins told The Capital Times in 2018 that once the name "got put in stone, it wasn't going anywhere", and that having more than one spelling for their own restaurant "fits perfectly with what this place is all about"[8].
This wiki uses "Nattspil", the spelling the business uses for itself. Quotations and citation titles keep whatever spelling their source used, which is why "Natt Spil" appears throughout the notes below.
History
Opening (2004). The State Journal previewed the bar on March 9, 2004 as one of the places "on the way in": a King Street bar that would serve fresh brick-oven bread, with a large brick oven as its centrepiece and a "mechanical vs. organic" theme by the artists renovating the room; Berge, up a ladder plastering that Monday, said "We're going to be a bar with superlative food"[2]. By early May it had been open "about a month", with no sign on the trim maroon-and-oxblood brick building, the name carved into a small stone of the oven, a sculpture of wheels and gears on one wall, a DJ booth on the other, a menu that had grown from four $7 dishes, and two pizzas: chorizo with yellow sun-dried tomato and mozzarella, and smoked tomato with spinach, provolone and pesto. It took cash only, had no telephone and no set hours beyond "open by 4:30 p.m. to very late"[3]. Chris Martell's review that month called it "primarily bar", with a short international wine list, specialty cocktails and food "surpassing all expectations for bar food in quality and creativity, but not price"; the $7 chorizo and sun-dried tomato pizza "succeeds magnificently", its crust "paper thin, crisp and golden"[4]. By September the paper's late-night guide described "inventive pizzas, salads, fish and meat" cooked in the brick oven until 1 a.m. daily, with chef David Oliver at the woodburning oven behind the bar[5].
Later years. Natt Spil celebrated its tenth anniversary on March 23, 2014, so it opened in March 2004; the Roman Candle's founders met at its opening "a year ago" in February 2005[10]. At the end of 2009 it still had no sign, no phone and no website, took cash only, and served "gourmet wood-fired pizzas" alongside dim sum; the head chef was David Oliver, and the bread came from the Weary Traveler[11]. Co-owner Prentice Berge "often gets up at 2 a.m. to make the pizza dough"[12]. In 2011 the Capital Times listed it with "No phone number": on Monday nights a 10-inch wood-fired pizza and a pitcher of beer cost $16, and there were five house pies, among them the Nattspil Sausage[13].
The Daily Cardinal found it in October 2004 — no sign, bicycles out front — "opened last March by prominent Madison restaurateurs Prentice and Christopher Berge" of the Weary Traveler, Restaurant Magnus and Blue Marlin, with a large stone oven as the centrepiece, 15 tables with tree-stump stools, paper lanterns and a screen-printed photograph of an opium-smoking Taiwanese woman; pizzas from $6.50 for the smoked tomato with wilted spinach and arugula, the kitchen open until 1 a.m., DJs nightly after 10, and no credit cards or telephone[6]. The Badger Herald that December counted three pizzas on the menu, the tomato, spinach and arugula the standout[7].
By a 2018 brunch feature the cash-only bar had been open 14 years next to the downtown Great Dane. It was co-owned by general manager Matthew Stebbins, chef David Oliver and the brothers Prentice and Christopher Berge. The 2018 feature also noted the restaurant's two spellings[8]. In 2018 Stebbins and Allysa Sweeney bought the Brothers Three bar[14].
In August 2020 Natt Spil expanded into space on the east side of its building. The formerly cash-only restaurant began taking credit cards and orders online and by phone, and stayed open until 11 p.m. every day[1]. During the pandemic it tried an online soup-and-sandwich brand for two months[15]; its co-owner then was Prentice Berge[15].
Trivia
- The artist Stefan Matioc drew the doodles on Natt Spil's pizza boxes before his murals went up around Madison[16].
Locations
- 211 King St. (March 2004 to present)[12].
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Christians, L. (2020, August 12). "Patio pleasures." The Capital Times. p. O17. Newspapers.com image 675459135.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Balousek, M. (2004, March 9). "Madison-area restaurant scene: Kitchen doors are swinging." Wisconsin State Journal. p. 24. Newspapers.com image 396646458.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sensenbrenner, L. (2004, May 6). "Natt Spil a place to dine, play." Wisconsin State Journal. p. 74. Newspapers.com images 407691419, 407691432.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Martell, C. (2004, May 16). "Restaurant review: Natt Spil — Renovating restaurateur hits his stride off the Square." Wisconsin State Journal. p. 60. Newspapers.com image 407675774.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Martell, C. (2004, September 19). "Late-night dining feature (Sunday Dining)." Wisconsin State Journal. p. 71. Newspapers.com image 406784846.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sacia, J. (2004, October 28). "Play in the dark at Nattspil." The Daily Cardinal.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Webb, M. (2004, December 3). "Natt Spil top choice for great drink deals." The Badger Herald.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 (2018, May 30). Natt Spil brunch feature: ownership, the name, and 14 years on King Street. The Capital Times. p. O28. Newspapers.com image 508043548.
- ↑ "Nattspil Restaurant (home page)." nattspil.com. Retrieved October 22, 2026.
- ↑ Kalk Derby, S. (2005, February 17). "New pizzeria to light up Willy St." madison.com.
- ↑ Yeoh, T. R. (2009, December 24). "Let's Eat for $7.70: Natt Spil's generous sandwiches worth seeking out." madison.com.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Kalk Derby, S. (2014, March 17). "Restaurant News: Natt Spil celebrates its 10th anniversary Sunday." madison.com.
- ↑ (2011, April 7). Today's Special: Natt Spil, 211 King St., "No phone number"; Monday pizza and pitcher $16. The Capital Times. p. 14. Newspapers.com image 522525121.
- ↑ (2018, November 7). Brothers Three sold to Matt Stebbins and Allysa Sweeney; Natt Spil and Lucille connections. The Capital Times. p. O23. Newspapers.com image 508042842.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Kalk Derby, S. (2021, May 6). "Online brands help the bottom line for some Madison-area restaurants." madison.com.
- ↑ (2018, November 7). Artist Stefan Matioc profile: from Natt Spil pizza boxes to murals. The Capital Times. p. O31. Newspapers.com image 508042827.
