When it comes to making cash during the biggest event this city’s seen, Sensu is stocked and ready to serve loaded East Coast visitors. The deliveries have been rolling in, including cases of Grey Goose in an array of flavors, Patron, and Jack Daniel’s. You know, the usual.
Billing itself as an authentic Neapolitan-style pizzeria and restaurant, Coal Pizza Company (36 E. Washington St., 317-685-2625) has opened in the short-lived two-story Hue Dine space. The venture is backed by Jason Tipton of The Ripple Inn (929 E. Westfield Blvd., 317-252-2600) and Michael Keenan of Broad Ripple’s Za Pizzeria (801 Broad Ripple Ave., 317-602-3753). Its kitchen is run by Charles Mereday, managing partner and chef of The Ripple Inn and owner of Eagle Creek Pizza (5510 Lafayette Rd., 317-290-1122).
Those estimated 150,000 Super Bowl visitors will be in dire need of satiation—and hundreds of Indy-area restaurants are getting prepared. Chris Clifford, director of operations for St. Elmo Steakhouse (127 S. Illinois St., 317-635-0636) and Harry & Izzy’s (153 S. Illinois St., 317-635-9594; 4050 E. 82nd St., 317-915-8045) anticipates going through 600 pounds of shrimp and more than 80 pounds of horseradish during the event’s Thursday-to-Sunday crush. “Our supplier, McFarling Foods, will keep an extra 400 pounds [of shrimp] aside ‘just in case,’” says Clifford. Daily deliveries will arrive downtown between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.
I took a job at Playboy for the articles. No, I mean it. I remember first learning about Playboy’s groundbreaking writing in journalism classes at IU. Jack Kerouac, Roald Dahl, Norman Mailer, Shel Silverstein, and Indy’s own Kurt Vonnegut contributed pieces in the magazine’s heyday of the 1950s.
January 9th marks the first day of this winter’s early Devour Downtown (pushed up because of that little event you might have heard about … The Super Bowl), and we’re closely watching restaurants post their menus. Here is what to expect from a few of the 54 restaurants participating in the $30/three-course eating frenzy that runs through Jan 22.
In case you were wondering what the raised beds at 30th and Central were all about, we have the dirt. Maggie Goeglein, project manager for Fall Creek Gardens, tells us it’s the start of a new community garden. “The goal is to provide support to home and urban food production by practicing and teaching organic and sustainable methods of growing food, encouraging community garden space (virtual and physical), and by providing access to tools, supplies and information,” says Goeglein. They will start by growing basic garden veggies such as tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, and leafy greens such as lettuces, collards, kale, and spinach, along with herbs and edible or beneficial flowers. The group welcomes all who want to learn–about everything from how to plan a garden, to how to raise a flock of backyard chickens.
It is difficult to imagine a cozier retreat from the winter chill than Meridian Restaurant & Bar (5694 N. Meridian St., 317-466-1111), a charming log cabin built in the 1800s, with dark wood, a stone hearth, and windows overlooking Meridian-Kessler. To receive the most transcendent culinary experience, though, set the menu aside and allow chef Dan Dunville to choose the evening’s feast for you. As we did. After starters of meaty and succulent quail grilled and served with lemon Parmesan kale risotto, and roasted beets with tarragon, apples, and white pepper (with the perfect amount of acid) came the liquid goodness of Meridian’s smoky, warm corn soup. The puree of roasted corn, parsnips, and bacon is flecked with red pepper and drizzled with oil made from herbs de Provence. Entrees were the house’s go-to dry-rubbed pork tenderloin, with flavors of cumin, chorizo, and red chile, and scallops drizzled with lingonberry, apple, and balsamic sauces. We could not have picked a better and more satisfying rotation of plates ourselves.
When Garuda, the short-lived Indonesian restaurant around the corner from Taste Café and Marketplace closed last summer, we weren’t planning on the owners reopening its doors just a few months later. We were surprised to hear that original owner Peter Oomkes’ son, Helger Oomkes, recently reopened the spot as SoBro Cafe (653 E 52nd St., 317-920-8121).
