Bluebeard

It also reminded me of when I went to Paris—I stayed at a chateau south of the city, and one of the things we made was duck confit.

These intriguing names for concoctions hail from The Libertine, Black Market, Bluebeard, Nicky Blaine’s, The Ball & Biscuit, and Plat 99.

The delicacy takes a turn in these distinct styles—as a warm salad, grilled with pepper-and-fennel confit, and sushi.

Barack Obama, Jon Hamm, Katy Perry, Martha Stewart, and more.

Avoiding Friday and Saturday nights not only ups your odds of a table, but can also mean less harried service and more attention to dishes. And Sundays can be great nights to dine out—Bluebeard, for instance, stays open until 10 p.m. with a special, scaled-down menu of dishes you might not get the rest of the week.

Including a sugar-rimmed brandy sidecar—with Cointreau and lemon juice at McCormick & Schmick’s.

So you’ve munched on corn at the Indiana State Fair and had your mouth set afire by a certain shrimp-cocktail sauce. But what are the modern-day rites of passage? We have answers.

Including a sticky, smoosh-able pig-face Asian bun, its melt-in-the-mouth fatty meat sweetened with Korean barbecue sauce, at Bluebeard

These summertime sips are too cool for school.

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.

Great dishes—from salads to main courses—at Bluebeard, Topo’s 403, and Delicia.

At first whiff, you might think you’ve stumbled into a French bakery at Lilly’s Soap Kitchen (below). The handmade soaps here look like slabs of swirled pound cake and come in yummy scents.

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.

From The Libertine to Recess and Oakleys to Bluebeard, Korean to Latin and sushi to steak, our critics choose the cream of Indy’s dining crop.

Seven of Indiana’s top culinary dogs are strutting their stuff as 2013 James Beard Foundation nominees, selected from more than 44,000 online entries in 20 categories. Last week, the foundation unveiled its “long list” (421) of the year’s semifinalists—which will be cut down to the final list of nominees on March 18 during a press brunch in Charleston, SC. (NOTE: nominations will also be announced live via the Foundation’s Twitter feed.)