Abbi Merriss

Irvington gets The Mug, and Ohio gets Shapiro’s.

We ate our way through two pavilions of food vendors at the Speedway’s third annual Rev event on Saturday night. We’re putting these dishes on victory podium.

No. 14 – Amid all the Midwest-is-best chest-thumping going on right now, this is still the place we want to be.

Your guide to Indy’s 2016 James Beard Awards semifinalists.

The revolving menu of complex dishes, such as the thin slivers of lamb tongue fanned out amid dollops of tart ricotta tzatziki, remains the city’s most inspired source for quirky gourmet.

Salted peanuts, pickled ramps, fried shallots, and cilantro adorn the carpaccio, a small plate offered at the Fletcher Place spot, topped with a miso vinaigrette.

See the full tasting-hour and sit-down dinner menus from our April 24 event celebrating many of the city’s top chefs and restaurants.

That third course and others over the course of the night, as well as the prior tasting time, saw delectable plates of food paired with choice wines, beers, and cocktails.

From The Libertine to Recess and Oakleys to Bluebeard, Korean to Latin and sushi to steak, our critics chose the cream of Indy’s dining crop,. Who’s at the head of the table? Read on to find out.

If there were a playbook for new restaurants, mapping out everything hot and covetable right now in the ever-changing game of dining out, Fletcher Place newcomer Bluebeard would already have it memorized.

Since January, Indianapolis Monthly has been following the progress of Bluebeard (653 Virginia Ave.). So this past Friday, our forks were at the ready for the restaurant’s soft opening. Fans of Abbi Merriss Adams and John Adams were happy to see the pair back in the kitchen (right behind the bar), plating everything from white-bean salad with chorizo, zucchini, and radicchio fleur to a sharable whole snapper with house giardiniera.