dining

Drive east on 10th Street out of downtown, and you’ll be greeted by a panorama of colorful storefronts and taverns with cheery names that belie their darkened windows and gritty interiors. These time-honored watering holes make for good hipster fodder when slumming on neighborhood pub crawls, but you might not return without 20 of your friends to stack the deck. Had you stopped in at the Tick Tock Lounge (2602 E. 10th St., 317-631-4182) just a few years ago, you might have done well to get a Bud Light on draught and a cheeseburger cooked up on an electric skillet in the back. But the experience might have left you wanting for decor—and a good dry cleaner to eradicate the smell of smoke from your clothes. Now, after two years of standing vacant, the Tick Tock has been given a facelift by longtime Indianapolis bar owners Wanda Goodpaster and Tammy Jones, who have added a clever pub menu, local brews, and a surprising selection of house-infused vodkas, including pepper, coffee, pineapple, and even a bacon version. Having heard the buzz about the over-the-top garnishes on the Bloody Marys and the mammoth tenderloins, we stopped in to experience the many ways this east-side institution had changed.

1. Bakersfield Mass Ave’s (334 Massachusetts Ave., 317-635-6962) fiery Red Headed Stranger—Buffalo Trace bourbon, Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur, bitters, and fresh lemon set ablaze with cayenne pepper. It’s garnished with a slice of candied ginger that you can nibble en route to the emergency room.
2. Scallop sandwich from Panini-Panini (1720 Franklin St., Michigan City, 219-873-1720), stacked with plump grilled scallops, sliced pears, goat cheese, and prosciutto.
3. The bibimbap from Cafe Korea (7262 Fishers Crossing Dr., Fishers, 317-578-1987). The white rice dish is topped with seasoned carrots, cucumbers, beef, and an egg, served in a hot stoneware pot.
4. A warm, crisp oatmeal-raisin cookie topped with a jumbo scoop of chocolate-raspberry ice cream at The Legend (5614 E. Washington St., 317-536-2028).
5. Elotes in a cup—like spicy, cheesy creamed corn—from The Tamale Place (5226 Rockville Rd., 317-248-9771).

PIEROGIES: Right now, we mostly rely on the frozen ones from the grocery. But these delectable Eastern European dumplings filled with cabbage, potatoes, or sweet cheese are best fresh.

Romaine-hearts salad, Harry & Izzy’s + Filet slider, Harry & Izzy’s + Bone-in Kona-crusted dry-aged sirloin, The Capital Grille + Brownie, Harry & Izzy’s. —Angela Buchman, meteorologist

1. A sweet slab of blueberry coffeecake from Boyden’s Southside Bakery (3953 S. Meridian St., 317-784-2992).
2. Warm pear crumble with housemade vanilla ice cream at Finch’s Brasserie (514 E. Kirkwood Ave., Bloomington, 812-333-2700).
3. Yaroa—an insanely addictive serving of French fries melded with shredded chicken, ketchup, and mayo under a sheath of melted white cheese—on the Dominican menu at Panorama Mediterranean Grill (901 N. Pennsylvania St., 317-423-3423).
4. Indiana duck noodle bowl at H2O Restaurant & Sushi (1912 Broad Ripple Ave., 317-254-0677), served with shiitake mushrooms, a pristine broth, and a perfectly cooked five-minute egg.
5. The beet salad at Michael’s SouthShore (11705 Fox Road, 317-723-3808) with sweet pickled onions, both red and gold beets, and goat cheese “croutons.”

Here, four artful takes on sushi at Bu Da Lounge, Naked Tchopstix, Ichiban Sushi Bar & Sammy’s Asian Cuisine, and Izakaya Japanese Bar & Grill.

“I have a hard time corralling myself, because I get excited,” she says. That boundless enthusiasm will come in handy as she debuts her cocktail-bar project, Twist Lounge, this month. “It’ll be Zest’s sexy sister next door.”

Sweet treats get plenty of attention during the spring and summer party circuits. But ask for a gluten-free or dairy-free cupcake, and you’re bound to be let down by dry, fun-free substitutes. Not for long—The Flying Cupcake (TFC) has a plan for Celiac disease sufferers and nondairy doers. Starting May 1st, Indiana-based baking entrepreneur Kate Bova Drury will reopen her Illinois Street spot (5617 N. Illinois St.) as TFC Raw, devoted to gluten-free and dairy-free cupcakes. Using a special blend of flours containing tapioca flour, potato starch, and brown rice flour (and, in some recipes, almond meal), allergy-trained bakers will devote all of the ovens and an entire display case to 5 to 12 varieties of cupcakes (and even a flour-free peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie).

Lick’s creamy root beer vanilla bean ice cream from Eggshell Bistro (51 W. City Center Dr., Carmel, 317-660-1616), served in an old-fashioned parfait glass with tiny, cute spoons. The vanilla beans give the treat a true flavor boost.

Frozen yogurt spots are taking over the city and suburbs, but first-time restaurant owner Matt Meinema believes he’s on the right track to offer something slightly different. Meinema filled us in on what we can expect at PEARings Frozen Yogurt & Beyond (6 W. Washington St., 317-608-6456).

While most of us hit the Monon Greenway with our bikes to enjoy Sunday’s sunshine, Andrew and Amanda Fritz got out there with shovels. The young couple, residents of downtown Carmel, went to work building a trailside community garden near City Center. Called The Gleaning Garden, its purpose is to grow produce for people living in poverty — a type of farming the Bible calls “gleaning,” Andrew says. “Gleaning is leaving food behind so those on the margins of society can take what’s there for themselves.”

INGREDIENTS

Tucked into the quaint but somewhat intermittently desolate heart of old Greenwood on Madison Avenue, the Blind Pig (147 S. Madison Ave., Greenwood, 317-882-7892) draws in a pretty dedicated clientele of regulars for live music and nightly beer quaffing. (And if you can get beyond the now somewhat jarring smell of indoor cigarettes in “smoke-’em-if-you’ve-got-‘em” Johnson County, it’s one of the better places to cheer on IU as it heads into the Sweet 16.)

At one end of Cerulean, an enclosed birchwood hut called “The Nest” makes for a cozy hideaway.

We’re already well into this droll, sporty, and yet downright painful 2013—St. Elmo and soccer and Lance, oh my—and so here, without further ado and based on pageviews, are the top 12 stories of 2012 at IndianapolisMonthly.com as determined by you, our readers: