February’s First Bite

New In Town

Grindstone Public House is bringing a little double-stacked nostalgia to downtown Noblesville, a three-minute walk from the spot where its patriarch, Clancy’s Hamburgers, started a ground-beef empire in 1965. Grindstone co-owner Blake Fogelsong, grandson of Clancy’s founder Carl Fogelsong, opened the casual pub-and-grub destination last summer after giving the 1891 Castor building a crisp, open floor plan that plays up the historic storefront. Floor-to-ceiling windows and blue upholstered club chairs in a glowing front bar transition to a family-friendly dining room featuring an oversized portion of fried green tomatoes, herb-buttered steaks, and homey chef’s favorites like prime-rib dinners that beget weekday prime-beef Manhattans. A pickle-brined fried chicken sandwich tastes exactly as its name implies, and a juicy, meat-free Impossible Burger satisfies wistful vegans. But the Clancy’s Topper, made with two burger patties, American cheese, shredded lettuce, and house tartar sauce, is a callback to the double-drive-through menu at the family’s chain of 31 restaurants across four states. 101 N. 10th St., Noblesville, 317-774-5740

Pinch Of Wisdom

“Don’t poach fresh sausages in beer or other liquids. You’ll wash out the flavor. Instead, sear them in a little olive oil over high heat until the casings are well-browned, then finish them in the more even heat of the oven. You will have much juicier sausages in the end.” —Lisa Abendroth, owner of Columbus’s popular custom butcher, The Savory Swine, which will open a location in Indy this spring

Discovery

Neo-honky-tonk acts crowd the stage at Duke’s, a new bar with an old soul on the near-south side, but owner Dustin Boyer is a one-man show behind the scenes. So many nights, he simultaneously tends the bar and runs the kitchen, popping Lone Stars while plating fried-chicken dinners—and only fried-chicken dinners—and chatting up customers lucky enough to snag one of the dozen-or-so barstools. Now his Monday-night “Doris’s Kitchen” supper features one prix-fixe menu in the $12-to-$25 range, served somewhat family-style at the bar, festooned with cowboy art and vintage neon. He Instagrams the menu at @dukes_supper_club on the morning-of, and the first commenters
to reserve a spot get to dig in to the Southern comfort food, one-off scratch-made dishes that will probably never reappear at Duke’s. Boyer named the weekly sit-down after his Grandma Doris, but the recipes are his own. “She didn’t cook too much,” he says, “and when she did, it wasn’t too fancy.” 2352 S. West St., 317-643-6403