The Driftless Cafe

“WE HAVE ONE GROUP of flyfishermen who come in on opening day, every year,” says Ruthie Zahm. “When they walk in we literally clap, because we know it’s starting again.”

Ruthie and her husband—James Beard Award-nominated chef Luke Zahm—own and operate The Driftless Cafe in the heart of the Midwest’s remote Driftless Area. The Zahms could have opened their farm-to-table restaurant in Madison or Milwaukee or Chicago. But, to prepare the food they envisioned—like salmon croquette with pickled red onions and chipotle hollandaise—their tables needed to be much closer to the farms. So they opened a high-end culinary experience in Viroqua, Wisconsin, population 4,300. The Zahms knew that