Best Restaurants 2014

Executive chef Ricky Hatfield’s experimental concoctions—such as wild-boar Wellington, wrapped in mustard greens and a puff pastry—are catching on among a traditionally risk-averse crowd.

Bistro-style dishes like root-vegetable cassoulet baked in its own cast-iron pan, unapologetically heavy Croque Monsieur sandwiches dripping with bechamel, and crepes of both the sweet and savory variety all taste delicious.

The Neapolitan-style pizzas are straightforward, with only five red-sauce varieties, each one garnished with Smoking Goose proteins and hand-pulled mozzarella.

You can set your Day-Timer by the weekly rotation of her menus—so even her most popular dishes have an ephemeral quality.

At Room Four, customers may quibble over taco choices—carne asada or rockfish—or opt for a Fischer Farms cheeseburger, a backyard memory revised to succulence by a master who appreciates simple food as much as esoteric fare.

Carlos Salazar’s umami-rich mushroom dumplings, pork-belly steamed buns, and meat-on-meat pig-face hash have raised the culinary bar while channeling the true spirit of Asia’s great street-food snacks.

The repurposed decor jibes with the menu’s reinvention of tavern fare: comfortable yet civilized, with flashes of brilliance, as in crispy-fried Citrus Spiced Seitan; beer-battered walleye with housemade tartar sauce; and black bean–corn fritters with cilantro cream.

After work, folks head upstairs to the 1933 Lounge, where they tuck into plates of mini bone-in filet chops, like caveman finger food. Even that famous cocktail sauce is now available by the bottle.

The servers here know they have the local lock on authentic Chinese dishes: twice-cooked pork belly shimmering in a tangy-sweet sauce; silky eggplant redolent of garlic or basil; perhaps the lightest seafood soup in the city.

The finger-friendly snacks offered at industrial-chic conversation nooks and in the cozier, fire-lit basement deliver the Taste flair familiar at brunch and dinner.

Says Micah Frank of Black Market, “Becky Hostetter of Duos was a pioneer for vegetarian-based cooking in Indianapolis way before it was trendy.”

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.

Divvy chef de cuisine Brock Jenkins says, “It’s always nice to get recognized, and it’s obviously because people have caught on to the buzz and are showing up and eating our food.”

First up from Baker’s menu, which rotates biweekly: lamb belly. Second: a grilled walleye fresh out of the water.

WISH-TV’s Indy Style pairs up with our own editorial and art teams to see what will make the cover of our 2014 Best Restaurants issue.