Sun King Wee Mac dark chocolate truffles at The Best Chocolate in Town (880 Massachusetts Ave., 317-294-2378). Those cute chocolate-covered almonds that look exactly like olives. Available at Simply Sweet Shoppe (30 N. Rangeline Rd., Carmel, 317-818-9866). Cheesy Potato C
1. The rich, creamy housemade peanut butter-and-chocolate cheesecake on a graham-cracker crust at McCormick & Schmick’s (110 N. Illinois St., 317-631-9500).
2. A comforting antidote to crisp evenings, the rich and lovely Scallopine in Marsala at Broad Ripple stalwart Ambrosia (915 E. Westfield Blvd., 317-255-3096). The menu describes it simply: sauteed veal cutlets, mushrooms, and Marsala wine sauce—but its comforting Old Country portions go beyond words.
3. Flan cake with a well-caramelized flan layer, a cake layer, and a cheese layer at Mama Irma (1058 Virginia Ave., 317-423-2421)—especially since Mama Irma herself sits down at the table to let you know just how much love she’s added to the dishes.
4. The spicy, salty crunch of falafel folded inside warm pita at Ali Baba Cafe & Hookah Bar (50 N. Illinois St., 317-297-7153).
5. The decadent jumble of sliced bananas, toffee drizzles, custard, and vanilla-bean ice cream inside a graham-cracker crust that adds up to one Banoffee Pie at Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant (3815 E. 96th St., 317-574-9463).
Indy’s restaurant community suffered a tragic loss over the weekend. On Saturday, Ross Faris, owner of vegetable-stand-to-the-chefs Your Neighbor’s Garden, died from injuries suffered in a bicycle accident. IM had featured Faris many times in its pages, including this excerpt from the June 2008 feature on local farmers, Farm Hands:
Fifteen years after retiring from Eli Lilly Credit Union, Ross Faris is a natural fit for farmers markets—on both the agricultural and business fronts. In the late ’80s, he helped restaurateur Peter George—owner of Peter’s Restaurant and a driving force in Indy’s fine-dining scene at the time—organize Indy’s first farmers market in decades. The market, on the sidewalk in front of George’s north-side restaurant, helped spur the markets in Broad Ripple and downtown. These days, Faris uses his talents to expand his own family business, peddling his homegrown vegetables at five area farmers markets and providing a long list of local restaurants with produce from various local growers. His roster of clients includes some of the city’s best places to eat—places that know a superior tomato when they see one. Elements, L’Explorateur, Harry & Izzy’s, St. Elmo, Goose the Market, and H2O Sushi all use his produce in their dishes. Chef Regina Mehallick of R Bistro looks for asparagus from Your Neighbor’s Garden as the first sign of the growing season. “It heralds spring,” she says of the spears she serves with pancetta, local free-range egg salad, and rhubarb dressing.
The food-styled Crazy Roll topped with shredded spicy crab and served with a carved-lemon head at Ichiban Sushi Bar & Sammy’s Asian Cuisine (8265 US 31 South, 317-883-1888). Almost too cute to eat. A dense, assertively sweet wedge of chocolate chip pie from Sisters’ Place (215 Terrace Ave., 317-631-0441)—more resembling a chocolate bar
Based on what we know about Madonna’s eating habits (no dairy, nothing processed, and easy on the spices) the Material Girl probably won’t be swinging by Virginia Kay’s Doughnuts on her way to (fingers crossed!) perform in the Super Bowl halftime show at Lucas Oil Stadium a few months from now. Gracious hosts that we are, IM assembled this quick Madonna-friendly guide to culinary Indy. What did we miss?
Indianapolis has no shortage of terrific wine shops, from the downtown Kahn’s Fine Wine & Spirits (25 N. Pennsylvania St., 632-9463), with its basement tasting bar, to the informative social hub of Mass Ave Wine Shoppe (878 Massachusetts Ave., 972-7966). But what wine geek worth his leather-bound tasting journal wouldn’t prefer to uncork his purchase on the spot and share it with anybody within pouring distance? (And then, who thought a rambling three-story house in Old Town Greenwood would step into the breach?)
1. Fin & Shellfish Stew in a spicy Pernod broth at The Oceanaire Seafood Room (30 S. Meridian St., 317-955-2277).
2. The banana-and-Nutella crepe at Petite Chou (823 W. Westfield Blvd., 317-259-0765).
3. Eddie Merlot’s (3645 E. 96th St., 317-846-8303) Trio of Medallions—a mini steak flight of four-ounce filets. One has a bubbled crown of bacon and Gorgonzola, the second an elaborate Oscar treatment, and the third a mild peppercorn sauce.
4. The Vietnamese beef bun at the recently expanded Egg Roll #1 (4576 S. Emerson Ave., 317-787-2225). A deep bowl of cold vermicelli noodles is layered with fresh greens, veggies, sprouts, and strips of caramelized meat topped with crushed peanuts and the most delicate fried egg roll hacked into bite-sized pieces. Addictive.
5. Extra chunky potato soup at Kitley Inn (825 S. Kitley Ave., 317-357-3160).
The Red Velvet cupcake from Parcha Sweets (2101 Broad Ripple Ave., 317-254-2000). The One-Eyed Jack at The Libertine Liquor Bar (38 E. Washington St., 317-631-3333). A familiar crusty egg-in-the-hole taken up a notch with the addition of garlic confit and fig jam. Mate’s Mozzarella at
If Sensu (225 S. Meridian St., 317-536-0036), and The Libertine Liquor Bar (38 E. Washington St., 317-631-3333) taught us anything about downtown’s eating-and-drinking habits, it was that we are nowhere near our saturation point for attractive spots to comfortably sip cocktails and people-watch. Brothers Binh and Steven Phan, co-owners of Mass Ave’s teeny lucky-red Bu Da Lounge (429 Massachusetts Ave., 317-602-3643) are tapping into the game. By Nov. 11, they hope to be in their new 5,000-square-foot space on East Market Street.
