The Libertine

The approachable yet amplified bar played host to droves of Super Bowl visitors, including dozens of A-listers.

For three nights, their every public move lit up the Twittersphere, with sightings at all of the well-trodden downtown haunts and as far north as Geist, where Madonna was spotted jogging.

We’ve collected links to several recent local and national stories about dining in Indianapolis during the Super Bowl. Here, a few of our favorites.

Of all the experiments chef Neal Brown has conducted, whether in his kitchen laboratoire or the culinary free market, none has come as close to successful alchemy as The Libertine Liquor Bar, his shrine to the cocktail in a Washington Street storefront downtown. A shot of Scandinavian austerity, a jigger of pre-Prohibition American frontier swagger, and a dash of orange bitters dosed from eyedroppers by Brown’s exacting barkeeps, The Libertine is a study in contrasts—some logical, some forced—that all mingle, dazzlingly. Take “The Last Word,” one of several clever coinages on Brown’s drink menu. It mixes Bluecoat gin, lending its distinctly piney profile, with Luxardo maraschino and green chartreuse, haute liqueurs as opposite as stop and go. A bracing hit of lime merges these improbable comrades into a restrained elixir that cleanses the palate at the same time it sweetens it, a beguiling medicine you’re all too glad to take.

1. The Jimmy John’s breadless Unwich. Meat. Gooood.

The Boogie Monster, a massive cheeseburger fortified with grilled pastrami, onion rings, and a fried egg, at Boogie Burger (1904 E. Broad Ripple Ave., 317-255-2450). The grilled fruit dessert at Canal Bistro (6349 Guilfo

“I don’t like the word mixology, really,” said Neal Brown, glancing down the long bar toward his busy staff at The Libertine Liquor Bar (38 E. Washington St., 317-631-3333), which opened last week. “These guys are barkeeps. But if the word means making drinks like a chef makes food, then it does apply.” Call them what you like: they’re mixing the most innovative and delicious cocktails—not to mention serving up some of the tastiest grub (“bar food,” in the menu’s designation)—in the city.