Meal You’ll Remember: Horseradish Kitchen + Market

Photo by Whitney Meza

Originally published in Fox Cities Magazine JULY 1, 2021 BY AMELIA COMPTON WOLFF

Horseradish got its start in 2015 as a stationary food truck before transforming into its current brick and mortar location on Water Street. The historic building was completely renovated, with new cast iron pipes and bead board as nods to its history. Work by local artists adorns the walls. An affirming message – “This Must Be the Place” – is spelled out in black and white penny tiles to greet guests as they walk through the door. 

The hip little sandwich shop would fit right in among the eclectic eateries of Madison’s State Street, yet its home is decidedly Princeton. 

“When people ask ‘why Princeton?’ I say ‘why not?,’” says owner Matt Trotter, whose family has a long history in town. “I think that’s the fun of it, the unexpected surprise.” 

The original inspiration behind Horseradish’s concept was the bread sourced from a neighboring business, Renard’s European Bakeshop. “We wouldn’t be here without Renard’s,” Trotter says. “I love their bread and artisan approach.” Besides good bread, Trotter wanted the menu to highlight fresh, light and clean ingredients, sourced locally whenever possible. 

One of the restaurant’s signatures is the Midwest Beat which is essentially a beet and goat cheese salad reinvented as a sandwich. It starts with pistachio-studded goat cheese layered with shaved beets, pistachio pesto and fresh greens in between two slices of Renard’s ciabatta bread. 

Another cult favorite carried over from the food truck are the Korean nachos which were born out of a spur of the moment improvisation. “One summer we ran out of bread on the truck and all we had were chips,” Trotter remembers. The sandwich ingredients, which include kimchi, shredded pork, jalapeno crema and sriracha, were piled onto chips instead and they never looked back. 

Horseradish is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Monday, as well as 6 to 9 p.m. on Sunday (June through August) for the live music series Sunday Sessions featuring performances on the restaurant’s patio overlooking the Fox River.