Katie Dawson

St. Elmo Steak House will be serving up wine on a silver platter. The popular downtown eatery is teaming up with Silver Oak Cellars to bring 200 guests an RSVP only event to celebrate the winery’s Tower Tour.  The July 12, social event will include Silver Oak wine and St. Elmo’s appetizers. The hearty hors d’oeuvres will include TKTK. “Everyone’s going to be fed really well,” Director of Marketing Bryn Jones said. The tickets are going for $125 a pop but money seems like no issue for the 50 or so guests that have already purchased their tickets. St. Elmo’s put out a mass email and Jones said “almost immediately” they sold 25 percent of their tickets.  The party’s theme will be silver. “Everything is going to be that color,” Jones said. Guests that attend the shindig are expected to wear “cocktail savvy attire.” Nothing to businessy, St. Elmo’s wants their guests to be the “sexy, fun, party type,” according to Jones. To RSVP to the event, send an email to jandrews@stelmos.com.

Earlier this year, Mayor Greg Ballard announced a plan to add a new Marsh supermarket, apartment complex, and parking garage at the downtown corner of Michigan Street, Senate Avenue, and Indiana Avenue. Though construction has yet to begin, the opening date is estimated sometime in the fall of 2013. 

The summer season is upon us, which means kitchens are getting creative with the southern classic side dish that dunks crisp slices of green tomatoes in batter for deep frying and mayonnaise dunking. Here are some Indy restaurants that are putting their own interesting spin on fried green tomatoes.

Wheat averse? No need to go without a great meal. Here, a roundup of restaurants around the city that offer either a dedicated gluten-free menu or menu items that can be ordered without the gluten.

What better way to reward ourselves for taking on a leg of Indy’s 16-mile Monon Rail Trail than by chowing down at one of the restaurants along the way? Here are some of our favorites.

Chef Daniel Orr of FARMbloomington is taking his successful restaurant concept to Columbus, hoping to open this time next year. Like its Bloomington counterpart, FARMbrew (4501 S. Lindsey St., Columbus) will focus on local ingredients, but there will also be a “global influence,” says FARM’s general manager Harry Shafer. The family-friendly environment will have separate entities for food and brew. Food will include burgers, naan bread pizzas, gourmet hotdogs, and global street food. Brews will range from local craft beers to ethnic specials to seasonal brews. 

This New York sub chain is making its way to Indy. On June 6, DiBella’s Old Fashioned Submarines opens a location in Traders Point (5650 W. 86th St.). A second will open in early fall near IUPUI (910 W. 10th St.). Billed as a higher end, fast-casual sub shop—think more Panera, less Subway—it assembles sandwiches such as the Godfather sub (with salami, capicola, and spicy ham) and the Dagwood (with turkey, ham, and corned beef). The medium sandwiches will put you back $7. But during Wednesday’s grand opening, the first wave of 25 diners through the door will get a year’s worth of free subs. 

King David Dogs (135 N. Pennsylvania St., 317-632-3647), Indy’s original all-beef quarter-pound hot dog spot, is now serving breakfast from 7:30 to 11 a.m. Nothing costs more than $4, and menu items include breakfast sandwiches, pancakes, breakfast burritos, Intelligentsia coffee, and the Top Dog–biscuits topped with gravy made from King David hot dogs.

Yats lovers, rejoice: The Cajun/Creole mini-chain has opened its fifth location, up north at 12545 Old Meridian Street in Carmel. The new place offers the same etouffee goodness that gave Joe Vuskovich’s delightful 10-year-old eatery a cult-like following. The 1,400-square-foot location, while in a fancier part of town, will still allow customers to order New Orleans cooking from a chalkboard menu and savor the delicious bread slathered in melted butter. Even though the food will be the same, Vuskovich says they are experimenting with some new items to serve at all five locations. “We’re trying to rebrand ourselves as more New Orleans inspired,” he says, “instead of just Cajun or Creole.”

The famous family-owned Frank & Mary’s Restaurant & Tavern (21 E. Main U.S. 136, Pittsboro) is under new ownership. Sean and Kelly McBride and Joe and Mimi Boarini bought the catfish-serving establishment in March. McBride says that while the new team plans to add a Cajun/Creole twist to the menu, they’re still “continuing the catfish tradition.” The new menu will focus on whole foods and made-to-order dinners. Along with the updated food, Frank and Mary’s is also getting an updated interior. Renovations are still a work in progress, but the large main dining room, bar area, and kitchen are getting a new look after the restaurant goes smoke-free on Thursday.

John Harrison has a job everybody wants. This fourth-generation ice cream lover is the official taste tester for Edy’s ice cream. “It was destiny, I guess,” Harrison says. “This line of work got into me.” His family has been in the ice cream business—making, developing, or tasting ice cream—since 1880, all the way back to Harrison’s great-grandfather. Harrison alone has been tasting and developing ice cream flavors for more than 30 years. The most famous flavor he’s developed: Cookies and Cream. Harrison is traveling the country now to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Cookies and Cream.

The building has been in the Topolgus family since 1947 and is part of the Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures. David Tallent of Bloomington’s Restaurant Tallent will serve as consulting executive chef and will help develop the menu, hire staff, and oversee the food.

Lola, a new Filipino venture has started cooking up fried rice and lumpias, an eggroll look-a-like, for the Indy community. The business is located in Noblesville but currently only delivers on the weekends. The 60-year-old owner, Honey Cuttill, a Philippine native, says she  makes everything herself by hand. 

We talked with Brian Alvey, co-owner of the upcoming Carrelli, an Italian eatery, bar, and wine garden that will open (if everything goes as planned) next month along Virginia Avenue in Fountain Square. Here’s what he had to say about his Italian heritage, his competitors, and plans for an interesting menu concept. 

The highly anticipated (and controversial) Kilroy’s Bar n’ Grill in Broad Ripple is nearly ready to open. General manager Mike Augustinos says the construction is on schedule, and he hopes to open on June 1, after the madness of the Indianapolis 500. The renovated building, a former Cardinal Fitness, is approximately 7,000 square feet and can hold 300 to 500 Long Island Iced Tea sippers. In addition, the new hangout will feature what is being hailed as the largest outdoor patio in Broad Ripple.