December’s First Bite

New In Town: Smart Cookie

Kate Drury, founder of The Flying Cupcake/Dancing Donut empire, dropped a bombshell when she said her favorite sweet is … raw cookie dough. “Yes, more than cupcakes, more than doughnuts,” says Drury. “It’s my Achilles’ heel.” She worked with her team of bakers for months to develop a shelf-stable recipe because she didn’t love anything on the market. “Even if they were good, they didn’t taste like real cookie dough. I was hell-bent on making sure ours tastes like the real thing.” Her brand, Jane Dough, is available at The Flying Cupcake bakeries, where customers can grab 8-ounce containers of chocolate chip, peanut butter monster, birthday cake, and salted-caramel brownie, with more flavors on the way. (Out-of-towners can order them on Etsy.) Drury made the product safe by eliminating eggs and using heat-treated flour, both keys to protecting against salmonella and other contaminants. With no egg, you can’t bake it, so do what you really want to do anyway—eat it with a spoon.

Pinch Of Wisdom:

“Take meats and other dishes off the heat just shy of done, since the temperature will continue to rise. I take our meatballs out at 163 degrees so they can cruise to their sweet spot of 165.” –Chea Smith Carmack, owner of The Twisted Sicilian food truck, who converted the concept to a brick-and-mortar takeout in downtown Franklin

Revisit: Pit Stop 

Gomez BBQPhoto by Tony Valainis

Whether you prefer a nice sit-down family meal with a chilled beer or the grab-and-go method of eating, Gomez BBQ (2827 E. 10th St., 317-414-7661) has you covered. The smoked meat–slinger that opened inside City Market in 2017 has a new location under construction on East 10th Street, poised to serve more slathered-up pulled-pork sandwiches, slabs of brisket, and smoked-meatloaf platters in early 2020. “I’d like to become a neighborhood hangout, where people walk or ride over and grab a plate,” says owner Michael Gomez. The counter-service restaurant will cover less than 1,000 square feet in a building with another newcomer, 18th Street Distillery. Gomez will have a bar, wooden tabletops, and church-pew seating, and the menu will expand on the original and play around with the smoked-meat medium. “It’s less sandwich-driven and more meat-on-a-plate,” says Gomez. “We’ll up our pickle game, and I want to do a whole-hog roast on a regular basis. As soon as we get going, we’ll figure out the fun stuff.”