Dining

Starting next week at Spencer Farm (7177 E. 161st St., Noblesville, 317-776-1560), strawberry lovers can taste summer’s favorite tender-fleshed crimson treat in their ripe, juicy glory. Guests can roam the patches and fill a flat or head to the cashier and purchase them already picked. When Kyle Spencer founded the farm in 1982, he was just a young farmer renting 10 acres for u-pick strawberries. Thirty years later, Spencer and his family run a 45-acre farm—adding already picked strawberries and fresh baked goods (pies, hand-dipped ice cream, and fudge) to the lineup. It’s not just about the strawberries, it’s about what the experience brings to a family. “We have many regulars who came as children and are now bringing their own children,” says Spencer.

By the look of the hordes of people piling into last week’s grand opening of Poccadio Grill (1045 Broad Ripple Ave., 252-5911), the new Moroccan quick-eats spot in Broad Ripple, you would have thought they were offering free flights to Marrakesh. Nope. But owner Anass Sentissi (also chef/owner of Saffron Cafe) did offer free bocadillos (sandwiches) to the first 1,000 guests. Lucky insiders received soft, crusty baguettes stuffed with a variety of heavily spiced accouterments.

Cooler: Tundra 50 by YETI (512-394-9384, yeticooler.com)  1. Creamy yet firm Fleur de la Terre cheese from Traders Point Creamery (9101 Moore Rd., Zionsville, 733-1700)  2. Handmade chips from the Amazing Potato Chip Company (City Market, 222 E. Market St., 916-2447)  3. Half Cycle IPA from Flat 12 Bierwerks (414 N. Dorman St., 635-2337) packs enough […]

In our weekly e-newsletter this past Tuesday, we noted that Kelties in Westfield has closed. That is not the case, though the owner intends to close in September if she does not sell the restaurant. This news means that diners who relish high-quality comfort food should make their way post haste to Westfield.

Gunthorp says Indianapolis is taking the sustainable trend to new levels. “It’s going gangbusters,” he says. Chicago’s Rick Bayless is his biggest customer, but Chris Eley from Smoking Goose is a close second.

For three month this winter and spring, we followed father-and-son team Tom and Ed Battista as they faced the joys and tribulations of opening their new restaurant, Bluebeard, in Fletcher Place (at 653 Virginia Ave). It is a venture, however rewarding, not for the faint of heart. In IM’s May 2012 “Made from Scratch” feature,

Looking for a 5-star margarita for your Cinco de Mayo sipping this Saturday? We’re not talking newfangled margaritas with fresh-squeezed guava juice or tequila aged for 20 years. We’re talking margaritas as big as your head, served up in giant bowls that could house a whole school of fish, rimmed with salt and big wedges of lime. For a margarita you can spend the whole night drinking—or split with the whole table—try one of these 5 big pours:

1. Mexican food lovers on the Westside know that Wednesday night is margarita pitcher night at Puerto Vallarta Mexican Restaurant and Cantina (5510 Lafayette Rd., 317-280-0676), but you can get one any night, and this one might just contend for the largest in town.

2. Served in a curvy tall glass that probably holds as much as the big glass bowls at other Mexican joints, the margarita at Los Chilaquiles (3712 Lafayette Rd., 317-293-1111) is definitely a looker, with plenty of chunks of lime. Some interesting dishes you don’t always find elsewhere, including great sopas, huevos rancheros, and the name sake chilaquiles, served with plenty of

sour cream and queso fresco.

3. If you operate nearly a dozen (currently 11 and counting) restaurants in a single metro area, you have to be doing something right, and the margarita at El Rodeo is definitely the right size and a perfect quencher when you’re digging into a super spicy plate of shrimp diabla!

4. With several bright and cheery locations sprinkled around Central Indiana, as well as on the west and south sides of Indianapolis, El Meson Mexican Restaurant and Cantina may have one of the largest selections of combo platters in town—and salt-rimmed and frozen margaritas that won’t leave you wanting.

5. If you want some of Indy’s most authentic and beloved Mexican cuisine to go along with your margarita, stop in at El Sol de Tala (2444 E. Washington St., 317-636-1250), where the margaritas are some of the biggest around and almost as good as that guacamole the regulars rave about. Now in its 33rd year in business.

Bonus—Specials:

Get started early on some tasty and plentiful Cinco de Mayo specials at Adobo Grill (110 E. Washington St., 317-822-9990). Shrimp crepes, pan-seared Ahi tuna with a mango salad, and a chocolate sponge cake in the shape of a pyramid stuffed with plum mousse may just prove that May 5 is as much for dining as it is for tying one on.

Cinco de Mayo isn’t just one day at On the Border, which has been unveiling daily drink and dinner specials (including free meals for kids) for the 30 days leading up to the holiday.

Considering the electric lime and Pepto-Bismol pink walls, mounted taxidermy, indoor bocce ball court, and Mister Rogers and Merle Haggard portraits, we have a feeling the owners of at the soon-to-open The Tin Roof (36 S. Pennsylvania St., 317-224-0785) won’t be taking much of anything too seriously.

If you’re a salmon fan, you’ve probably recently seen the name Skuna Bay Salmon on a number of menus. We’ve seen it at The Oceanaire (30 S. Meridian St., 317-955-2277), The Local Eatery and Pub (14655 N. Gray Rd, Westfield, 317-218-3786), Kona Jack’s (9419 N. Meridian St., 317-843-1609), Harry & Izzy’s (153 S. Illinois St. 317-635-9594), and Goose the Market (2503 N. Delaware St., 317-924-4944).

Pot stickers stuffed with sweet-potato puree, corn, and ginger, and served with a fiery kimchee and sweet miso butter sauce at Mesh (725 Massachusetts Ave., 317-955-9600). It debuted last weekend as a special, but we’re told that a similar dish should stick around for a while. The peppery wild boar with wild mushrooms from

Keystone at the Crossing continues to fill in in the gaps along its new restaurant row. You could chart a course with points of culinary interest along the way: Seasons 52, First Watch, Late Harvest Kitchen, the north-side Harry & Izzy’s outpost, and the recently opened Brewstone Beer Company, in the former Music Mill location. On June 7, diners will have one more place to refuel, post The Container Store. That’s when Ocean Prime, an Ohio-based “modern American supper club,” opens its ninth location at 8555 N. River Road, on the eastern edge of The Fashion Mall.

When asked about the Indiana scene, Gunthorp says Indianapolis is taking the sustainable trend to new levels. “It’s going gangbusters,” he says. Chicago’s Rick Bayless is his biggest customer, but Chris Eley from Smoking Goose is a close second.

Indy’s largest brewer, Sun King, appears to have conquered another frontier. At the taps at Victory Field, you can no longer order a Razz-Wheat or Victory Amber, both produced by Oaken Barrel in Greenwood. In their place is Victory Lager, a site-specific brew from Sun King.

With all of the crowds clogging breakfast and brunch places around town, we were excited that First Watch, the Florida-based “daytime cafe” with nearly 100 outlets in 14 states, had finally touched down across from the Fashion Mall