cream of the crop

IN A TINY TOWN OUTSIDE MADISON, WISCONSIN, A CENTURY-OLD CREAMERY HAS BEEN REVIVED AS A BOUTIQUE HOTEL AND CULINARY DESTINATION. FOR VISITORS TO PAOLI, SEVEN ACRE DAIRY COMPANY ANCHORS A SWEET WEEKEND GETAWAY. FOR SMALL DAIRY PRODUCERS, IT'S RESHAPING THE FUTURE.

- JULIA SAYERS GOKHALE

after 20 minutes on dark backroads, Paoli, Wisconsin, emerges out of the darkness like a shining star-literally.

Holiday lights guide the way to Seven Acre Dairy Company. It's quiet as I drag my suitcase up to the front, but then a trolley bell dings. The doors burst open and a rush of people stream out, laughing, hugging, wishing each other Merry Christmas. I squeeze past them into the lobby to find Mrs. Claus reading stories to a gaggle of wide-eyed children. A little boy spots Santa across the room, chases him down and grabs his hand: "Will you come sit with us?"

A weekend full of festivities has just kicked off at Seven Acre, a former dairy factory that's now a boutique hotel, eatery and microdairy. After checking in, I snag a table in the restaurant for the prix fixe holiday menu. I'm finishing up a brownie topped with the dairy's own peppermint soft serve when co-owner Nic Mink sinks into a chair across from me. "Oof," he says, "That was a lot." Seven Acre has seen nearly 400 people through the door tonight-and it's only Wednesday. Over the weekend, they're expecting several thousand for their inaugural Christkindlmarket (December 13-15 this year), no small undertaking for a place less than a year old.