Terry Kirts

Almost as soon as he installed himself in the kitchen in late August, Carlos Salazar was coining new dinner dishes that, while adding sophistication and breadth to Rook’s already funky menu, furthered Ed Rudisell’s goal of making Asian street-food standards worthy of a night on the town.

Updates include leveling the well-worn floor and restoring the roof, which features a terrace overlooking the town’s Lincoln Park.

Restaurateur Ian Hall quickly found a following for his fresh take on locally inspired cuisine when he opened this Southern Indiana standout in a strip mall in 2011.

When Bluffton native Tiercell William Schwartz returned to his hometown after a decade-long stint in New York, he longed for a place to get a drink and a big-city meal. So he opened his own restaurant with an urban vibe in 2010.

No more than two dozen seats, some with chunky, custom-made chairs, populate the snug dining room of Casey and Sylvia Petro’s burger joint in the heart of Chesterton.

Chef-owner Matt Burns got a good lesson in regional sourcing at Westfield’s The Local Eatery & Pub—and helped head up the kitchen at nearby Vera Mae’s Bistro with wife Jessica—before the pair teamed on this ambitious but amiable spot for “French soul food.”

Enterprising restaurateurs have revitalized Lafayette Square’s once-closed storefronts, making it our most international culinary destination.

Reviving a century-old storefront that used to be a pharmacy in the 1950s, as well as the Black Curtain Dinner Theatre, Craig and Kait Mariutto have sparked some life in a part of town without a bona fide sit-down restaurant in decades.

Take a front-row seat to some of the best kitchen acts in town.

Given the string of restaurant concepts that have failed to make a go of it at 36 E. Washington St. in the last few years, we were eager to see what 36 East Irish Pub & Grill might do to have more staying power in the downtown dining scene.

A slightly edited menu makes finding the best dishes easier. Familiar Chinese takeout fare is serviceable, but it’s the namesake Vietnamese soup that’s the real treasure here now.

Sunday marked yet another Dig IN festival in White River State Park.

Szechwan Garden offers a daily taste of dim sum, the midday snacks popular from Shanghai to Brooklyn.

Brandon Canfield’s scaled-down creations highlighting the farm’s cheeses and whey-fed pork might not be as daring as dishes he wielded at his previous locations, but his skill at making a restrained palette of ingredients shine is evident.

Peek behind the counter at this annual institution, and you’ll see that the Dairy Bar is more than merely an ice cream stand or a sandwich grill. It’s a well-oiled operation.