When Adam Benedetto took over the lease at 1602 Gilson St. in January, he says the “whole place was just white walls.” Three months later, Benedetto has transformed the former brewery space — which was once the location of Funk Factory Geuzeria and, more recently, Black Rose Blending — into Friends Applaud, a 28-seat cafe, restaurant and third space with deep Napoleon blue walls, mismatched wooden tables and eclectic artwork.
“Pretty much everything here is from ReStore,” says Benedetto, who did the renovation himself. Many items at Friends Applaud were tweaked or repurposed to fit the space or pulled from Benedetto’s personal collection, including a floor-to-ceiling image of an orange-tinged fall forest scene.
As an alum of Madison’s now-closed Restaurant Magnus and New York City’s Joseph Leonard and Jeffrey’s Grocery, Benedetto brings decades of industry experience to his new business in Madison’s Bay Creek neighborhood.
“The ultimate philosophy of this is, as long as you have really good food — which I do intend to have a quality series of dishes — I really think hospitality is about welcoming people to the space and having a nice time,” says Benedetto…