Crispy flatbreads at Severin Bar (40 W. Jackson Place, 317-396-3623). Roasted peppadew peppers and whipped goat cheese at Bru Burger Bar (410 Massachusetts Ave., 317-635-4278), with a slightly sweet balsamic reduction. The chocolate lava cake from Fleming’s (8487 Union Chapel Rd., 317-466-0175). The rich Belgian cake is extra decadent when dipped in Chantilly cream.
Some people say you can read the quality of a restaurant in the way it cooks a steak ordered medium-rare. Others use the poached egg, or the quality of the table bread, the pluckiness of the staff, the cleanliness of the washrooms. I’ve decided that such merits lie beneath the melted Gruyere of French onion soup.
Count us among the downtown office workers who have latched on to Neal Brown’s lunch delivery system, The Brown Bag. The team behind Libertine Liquor Bar and Pizzology created the concept, inspired by the bustling dabbawallas of Mumbai. Former Libertine chef de cuisine Erin Till prepares the Tuesday-Friday midday meals in the Libertine kitchen, sending out a daily rotating menu of portable lunches. The meals arrive with several surprise courses tucked into the sectioned tin pails, each day’s options including something for omnivores and vegetarians. Wednesday’s heady Thai Red Curry can be made with chicken or tofu, for example, and Friday’s popular pork carnitas tacos can be switched out for roasted sweet potato tacos with cabbage pickle. “You get the same caliber of ingredients as at the Libertine,” says Till. “You are getting all local meats and veggies—high-end stuff. And we try to pack them as full as possible.” Two bicycle couriers deftly cover the delivery area, which spans from White River Parkway to the west, College Avenue to the east, 11th Street to the north, and Prospect Street to the south. They even return after lunch to retrieve the pails.
Stephanie Topolgus, managing and creative director of the luxurious road-trip–worthy Topo’s 403 (403 N. Walnut St., Bloomington, 812-340-7453) tells us that the restaurant debuted a new winter menu last week. New offerings include chickpea and pumpkin fritters, Gunthorp Farms Greek-style chicken wings, fritto misto, a traditional Moussaka, pan-roasted Red Snapper, and skewered sea scallops. Vegetarians can tuck into a new briama featuring roasted and grilled vegetables.
Two years ago, chef Joseph Hewett opened Indigo Duck, a down-home French-style bistro just off the courthouse square in Franklin. The Charleston, South Carolina, transplant who honed his skills in Indianapolis at Oakleys Bistro chatted with us about his grandmother’s cooking, small-town life, and the addictive qualities of pimiento cheese.
On the other end of the phone line, the server stammered and asked if I could hold for a moment. And then, speaking loudly over the din of background noise … “We might be able to get you a table at 7:15, but it will probably be closer to 7:30 or 7:45.” Or, she said, I could eat at the bar—if I could find a place to sit.
The papa rellena at Mama Irma Restaurant (1058 Virginia Ave., 317-423-2421), a puffy zeppelin of mashed potatos stuffed with onions and meat. A cooling sour relish of slivered red onions shares the plate. The flamboyant lobster tempura roll at Tomo Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi
