A Guide to Gluten-free Dining
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.
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.
If you have spent any time at all with an East Coast expat, you’ve probably been apprised of the embarrassing state of pizza in Indianapolis—our dearth of pizzaioli dusted in doppio zero flour, dough spiked with mineral-rich water, and slices that fold neatly down the middle. But when a place like downtown’s Coal Pizza Company comes along, cooking its pies in a 900-degree oven in the big-shouldered tradition of America’s first pizzerias, redemption is served by the slice.
Call him a caterer. Call him a chef. Just don’t call Brad Gates a man without big ideas. He may be working in one of his smallest kitchens yet, in a corner of City Market, but Gates is putting his highly refined palate to work on catering, to-go lunches, and one of Indy’s best cheese cases, stocked with up to 40 selections.
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.
June 11th marks the first day of this summer’s Chow Down Midtown, and we’re closely watching restaurants (slowly) post their menus. Here is what to expect from a few of the 30-plus restaurants participating in the $30/three-course eating frenzy that runs through June 24th.
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 tangy, crumbly lemon bars from Duos Kitchen (2960 N. Meridian St., 317-508-8614). Morels, lightly breaded and fried to perfection at Salt Creek Golf Retreat’s booth during last weekend’s Taste of Brown County event. King Wok’s (4915 W. 38th St., 317-297-3636) Goi Ga s
