Birthday Dinner at Sensu

Here's the thing, it was my birthday, and of course, I wanted to try somewhere new...somewhere with sushi in particular.   I don't know what my obsession is with finding good sushi here, I mean, I know we are in the Midwest and my chances are slim.  But, I just keep holding out hope, that with this diverse and interesting restaurant scene here in Indy, I will find my sushi mecca...other than to go sushi from Fresh Market, that is. 

I did my usual online researching, asked some friends and decided on Sensu.  It opened not too long ago, I remember reading about it in NUVO or Indianapolis Monthly or something.  Either way, it was in the back of my mind for awhile.  On Friday, we went, with 6 of us.

The Place

Let's just start out by saying it was dark, and by dark, I mean too dark to snap ANY photos.  Also, for reasons I'll explain later, photos likely would've been more of a hindrance than at all fun.  Other than being dark, we walked in to a giant, and I mean, pretty giant, and empty club space.  It was early, like 7:30, so no club-goers yet.  It definitley had a trendy and swanky vibe happening.  We went upstairs and hung out at the bar while we waited for a couple more of our party.  They had cocktails and beer and a lighted, bubbling tank thingy that we quickly decided was very retro 80's. 
The upstairs is a restaurant that looks down on the club downstairs.  I guess the idea is that you have dinner and then you can stay to club later.  That wasn't our plan, but I have read in the article about them, that it is their concept.  The restaurant wasn't packed and we didn't really need the reservation I had made, but it's always better to be safe than end up eating at Qdoba or BW3s something for your birthday dinner, right?
Okay, so it's established, the place is dark and swanky and downtown.  It was a nice night out if you want to get a little dressed up :)

The food

The most important part...the food.  Let's start with the menu.  I think talking about the menu here is warranted because it's quite different than what I am used to and played a large part in our entire meal.  It's big and our server explained to us that idea is for us to order items from the menu and share them with the table.  It made things a little confusing and crazy with six people.  We worked on figuring it out, but I'm not going to lie, we sat with those menus for a long time!!  We are some college educated people at this table, and we had a helluva time figuring out how the heck to work all this out.

First, we just decided to kind of wing it, and with a little (or a lot) of guidance from our server, we ordered an appetizer...edamamme, of course.  I was starving, so I just needed something.  It was delicious as edamamae always is, you can't really screw it up.  The six of us hossed it pretty good.

Next, we decided to order the middle part of the meal, which consisted of your choice of tapas style entrees of either meat or fish.  We had no idea how many people each of these courses would serve, but they were about $25-30 each, so we thought we would get 1 meat and 1 fish order for the table.  We knew sushi would be next, so we didn't want to eat too much.  We got seared Kobe beef...ummmm totally straying from veggie lifestyle, but about the best way I have had beef EVER.  It was amazingly delicious!  The only downside is that I had to share it with 5 other people.  Now, I like sharing, but I wanted it all for myself!!  The other middle entree we ordered were the lobster tacos.  This usually comes with 5, but the server hooked it up and included another one for use to accommodate our 6th person.  He seemed to be very laid back about how the menu worked and insisted that everything could be ordered or done to suit your needs and wants.  It worked for us, we each had one lobster taco.  It was served cold and looked beautiful and tasted pretty dang good too.  Large chunks of lobster with a little spice to it...again left me wanting more.

Finally, we got to the sushi.  We ordered a four rolls for the table I think.  We had a variety of stuff from raw to veggie and fried rolls (my personal, yet bastardized version of sushi, favorite).  They were all pretty delightful.  I was pleased.  The presentation of everything was really nice and the food tasted good.  No complaints.  The sushi tasted pretty fresh and they had some interesting choices.  We did not have any sashimi, as I know this can be a real test of the quality of the sushi, but I was pretty stoked about the rolls we got.  I think everyone else was too, because we cleared the plates in about 3 minutes flat!

The sushi wrap (haha...get it?!?)

Sorry, I'm a big dork.

1.  Excellent food.  Delicious sushi and interesting mid-meal dishes.  Very pleased and would definitely devour this again.

2.  Great service.  Our waiter was patient and helped us figure out a fairly confusing menu and style of ordering.  Although, he wouldn't have had to be if the menu were a little more clear about how many people each dish was meant to serve.  A simple serves 2-3 next to each dish, would suffice if this is how they want patrons to order.  It would've helped us spend a little less time staring at the menu and little more time being able to talk and enjoy our meal.

3.  Because we had 6 people, they did not split the bill.  Not a big deal, but always something to be prepared for, particularly if you are ordering a bunch of stuff family style.

4.  I wish it wasn't so dark, so I could show you all of the amazing food we consumed!

5.  Oh yeah, someone at my table (not naming names), spilled the beans that it was my birthday...then they brought out a half-baked (literally gooey and not cooked fully) white chocolate macadamia nut cookie in a pan with a humongous sparkler atop it.  The cookie was AMAZING...I mean it.  So hella good.  The sparkler was a bit crazy...and the singing well...thanks guys!  It was embarrassing, but did take it to the birthday level for sure.

6.  If you went here with two people, I think there would be way more than enough food.  You'd pay for it, for sure, but I don't think you'd leave hungry.  Unfortunately, our unfamiliarity with portion sizes, our hunger level and whatever else contributed, I think some of us left kind of hungry.  So, for a party of 6, at about $30-40 a person, you can have some awesome food, a couple of cocktails and leave wanting just a little more.  If I went again, I would have a better idea of how much food to order.  Just something to think about for all you out there who haven't tried Sensu yet, but are thinking about it :)

Mange, mange, my friends.

What I've been cookin' and we've been eatin'

Remember when I said we were going veggie?  Yeah, that was awhile ago in "I'm going to be a vegetarian" terms.  It actually been going quite well.  I haven't eaten any meat since then, and it's not been nearly as hard as I thought it would be.  In addition, it's been kind of fun.  I'm spending more time thinking about eating and preparing for eating than before, for sure.  But, I feel good, and Hubs is pretty into too.

So, here's a little taste of what we've been chowing down on at home lately.

Mostly, we've been keeping it simple.  Eating real food, without much fuss.  There are tons of fresh fruits and vegetables out there right now at the Farmer's Markets and grocery stores, so it's been easy to do it that way.  

Here we noshed on some baked sweet potatoes (with cinnamon), some fresh sweet corn and a salad topped with cherry tomatoes from our garden, grilled portobello mushrooms and walnuts.  A yummy natural strawberry balsamic dressing topped it off.

A close up of the delicious salad with fresh greens...oh yeah, and let me just add again, sweet and fresh from the vine cherry tomatoes from the garden a la Erin and Hubs. :)

Getting a little more veggie, and maybe going a little too far for some of you out there...a tofu veggie stir fry.  I started with a firm tofu (this is the first time I have ever cooked it).  I decided to pan fry it in oil first because every time I have eaten tofu, I tend to like it more firm and little crusty rather than having a soft, creamy texture.  I thought it was perfect.  I actually even enjoyed the tofu and the squash, green beans and red pepper over quinoa are super healthy, right!?!  Green, red and super healthy grains...score!  This one was nice and filling too.

Another delicious and filling veggie dish we had were these Boca crumbles tacos.  These were awesome!  Now, I'm trying to make something taste like meat when it's not meat, or maybe I am, I dunno.  These boca crumbles are a really good ground beef substitute, for sure.  I seasoned them with some Frontera seasoning (see below, because this stuff is amazing, and it doesn't even have that many ingredients).  It's helps flavor and give some good juiciness to this dish.  Add on some avocado, sour cream and some more o' those tomaters from ze garden...and voila!  Don't forget the corn tortillas...they are not to be done without.

Good stuff!

Lastly, and admittedly the least veggie is this easy peasy salmon meal.  Again, the sweet corn, because it's out there and it's fresh and Hubs loves it.  Some pineapple deliciousness goes nicely with the fish.  The salmon is wild Alaskan King Salmon, which costs about 3 arms and a leg.  I usually get the farm-raised salmon because it's so much more reasonable priced, but because I was veering slightly from my vegetarian week, I decided to get the super good for you stuff.  Not sure I can do that all the time, but I do love some salmon.  And, it's good for you, so why give up something that's good for your body, right?  I think we'll probably be sticking with eating fish sometimes and not feeling like we're cheating.  The point of all this is to eat better, feel better and to change out diets in a positive way.  So, crazy strictness isn't our bag.  That being said, onto the weekend.  Hubs parents are visiting, so time to try some "new" restaurants.  Or, at least they'll seem new because I'll be ordering from all new menus...the veggie sections.  Wish me luck!

PS - I made some gluten free zuccini bread too!  It turned out really good, super moist and springy. We ate it for breakfast all last week.  Heated up with a little spread...mmmmm.  It was probably the prettiest thing I cooked all week, so of course I didn't take a picture of it :)  Check out this link on the Gluten Free Goddess blog for the recipe.

Happy Eating Foodies!

Our last hurrah...or not, but maybe.

A semi-large decision has been made.  Hubs and I are going to get serious about being kind of vegetarian.  Haha...talk about non-committal.  "Hey, I'm Erin, I'm a kind of vegetarian."  Yeah, that's how I roll.  Anyway, so that's how my week started.  It's something we think about and talk about quite a bit and certain documentaries (Forks Over Knives and Food Matters) and thinking about what we need to do to be healthy...it's what we've come up with...kind of vegetarian.

For someone who is going to become kind of vegetarian, you have to have a last hurrah, right?  Well, I didn't know it would be a last hurrah at the time, but it seems it was.  We revisited 10-01 Food & Drink after a pretty decent visit not too long after it opened.  We were in the area, and something made me want to go back.  I wasn't sure if I was going to blog about it, but upon eating, I decided heck yes.

The Place


I won't rehash all the place business from my first post...it's still the same.  Although, we did sit on the patio this time and it was cool.  I thought it might be loud out there being so close to Broad Ripple Ave., but it wasn't a distraction at all.  I recommend getting out there before you can't anymore!

The Food


This is what made me want to reblog this place so soon after my first visit.

I'm going to mostly let the fact that this is homemade mac n' cheese topped with the most delicious bacon ever accompanied by duck chili, speak for itself.  Yeah, I said it, duck chili and yummy, yummy bacon.  Neither of which are semi-vegetarian...so you may be able to see where I am going with the whole last hurrah bit now.  Both of these dishes I ordered off the starters portion of the menu.  I went with it and decided to order what sounded good and didn't worry about getting  a complete meal.  Maybe some of you do this all the time, but often I feel some weird pressure to get a meal when I go out to dinner...especially if I'm going to blog about.  But, since I've already been to 10-01, I think that pressure subsided a bit...and am I glad it did.  That duck chili was to die for!

The wrapness


I was super happy with my second visit to 10-01.  My favorite parts of this visit were the bombtastic duck chili and the mac n' cheese was not at all shabby either.  It was a good last meat meal for a little while.  Also, this cannot be overlooked, our service was awesome!  Our waiter was super friendly and actually stood out as one of the best waiters I've had in awhile.  10-01 is getting it right with the whole package...I'll go back...for some salad, I guess :)

PS - Look out for all the creative things we are going to be up to with our new diet.  I will be posting more meals at home, I think, and definitely getting a new perspective on some old and new restaurants.

Al-Basha Broad Ripple

There are all of these little hole in the wall joints all around in Broad Ripple, from chinese to burgers to sandwiches and gyros.  We really have not tried any of them since we moved here because we are always so wrapped up in all of the restaurant options.  And, I think you know, there are MANY options to partake in.  Before we moved here we had a go to gyro place that never disappointed, but was a total hole in wall that also sold hooka pipes, mediterranean canned goods and some kick butt baklava.  Random, I know, but it was good.  Gyros Plus...we do miss you, but we must move on.

The place

Moving on for now is Al-Basha on Broad Ripple Ave.  It looked hole in the wallish enough to consider, so we gave it a go.  Surprisingly, masked by its shopping strip facade and its location next to a head shop, a running store, a breakfast place and a chinese take-out restaurant, it was MUCH cleaner and nicer than our old stand-by Gyros Plus (in Gainesville, FL), ever dreamed of being.  So, good start.  I don't mind eating at not-so-clean places, sometimes the food is just that good.  But, I'm not gonna fault a place for being clean and having nice tables to sit at!!

The food


I of course had to order what I ordered at my old fav, just for comparisons sake...and I think it's pretty well established that when it comes to my favorite foods, I find it very difficult to stray.  I very typically find my most favorite things to order at each restaurant I go to and will only order that item at that place.  It's comforting, and there are rarely surprises that way.  When I'm hungry, I get grumpy...I have to like what I eat or there are troblems (= troubles & problems).
I digress, the food.  Hubs and I both ordered the falafel sandwich combo.  Falafel sandwich, obvs, french fries and a beverage.

My bad, I totally forgot to take a picture before I started devouring.  Although, in hindsight, I think this may have worked out better so you can see the falafel??  I mean, it looks chewed up, but you get the idea, right?  So, pretty casual.  The falafel was really good though.  It had some really cool mediterranean seasonings that I haven't really tasted in my previous exposures.  The falafel were big and tasted really fresh. The flavors were not overwhelming, but made it a little more sophisticated than falafel that might be a bit bland without being doused in mediterranean sauces.  Hubs really liked his too.  The fried were also excellent.  They were cooked just the way I like them and they looked pretty sprinkled with paprika.

The run down


All in all, this was an easy meal.  It was cheap and good and fresh.  I will definitely be going back here for my falafel.  Yum.  Maybe if I figure out what any of these spices are for in cooking, I could go back for some of those too.  Have you ever seen such good looking shelves?!?  Somebody at al-basha is very organized!

Revolucion

I am a total sucker for Mexican cuisine and I'm pretty sure I could eat some version of it almost every meal of my life.  Venturing into Fountain Square quite a few times in the last month or so, I have passed by Revolucion and had been very curious.  I wasn't too sure what to expect because they don't have too much info online.  That's good, sometimes no expectations can make things a little more interesting, right?

The place

When we walked in on a Friday evening after work, I think we were all thinking margaritas, por favor. 

There were not very many people when we arrived.  I guess that's good.  No waiting :)  We weren't sure what to do, I just wanted to check the place out.  They have some interesting decor, it's very Dia de los muertos.  It has some really cool potential.  It was missing a little something for me in terms of atmosphere though.  I don't know if it was that it was a bit quiet or what, but the place didn't fit the energy.  However, if you want a little change of energy, you can make your way out to the tiki bar in the back.  At first, we thought the tiki bar was the loading dock (if you go there, you'll see why!!).  But, a nice patron noticed my confused look and directed me to the actual tiki bar, which is a bit hidden.  Now, the tiki bar is where the party's at.  It doesn't really fit in at all with the look or themes of the inside of the restaurant, but they have a tiki bar, picnic tables and live music, so it's definitely a fun atmosphere!

The food

You have to order at the bar, which took us a few minutes to figure out.  I'm not sure why, it seems like the kind of restaurant where someone would come to your table and take your order, but that is not the deal.  No problem, we did it.  The menu is heavy on the tacos, which I think everyone at our table ordered in some capacity or another.  I scored myself some pork tacos...mmmmm.

The tacos are LA style from what I can tell.  They kind of reminded me of the tacos from the West Coast Tacos truck.  They put a good amount of pork in 2 soft corn taco shells.  Eating them was kind of mess, I'm not gonna lie.  My tortillas fell totally apart and my paper carton came in super handy at catching all my taco mess.  The pork tasted really good though.  I was a fan.  It was really simple, but good.  Hubs had some chicken tacos.  That's how we usually roll to tell you the truth, I'm pork, he's chicken, that's it.

I think you can see it was the same idea with the chicken tacos.  Nothing fancy, for sure.  These things are bare bones and served as such.  They have other sides too, like chips and guac, chips and queso etc.  They also have a bunch of beers on tap inside, but outside at the tiki bar, the beer choices are less exciting.  You can check out their facebook page to see what beers they have on tap.  I think this is really the only place on the web, besides urbanspoon, that you can go to try to get an idea of what's happening at Revolucion.

The wrap up

Okay, so a few things I like about this place.  I love their Dia de los muertos feel.  They have some really cool artwork and the location is awesome.  The food tastes really good and the margaritas (although admittedly, I'm no margarita connoisseur) were quite delicious.  They have some good beers on tap and the tiki bar makes you feel like you are as close to a beach as you can be in Indianapolis :)  However, I do think something is lacking.  I think there is potential for this place to be a really cool restaurant, but is soooooooo super casual.  They really could be serving this food out of a hole in the wall of the building they are in.  They give it to you in paper cartons and you order it at the counter....from a pretty cool bar I might add.  It's confusing to me.  I would like to see a more diverse and interesting menu and for this space to be as cool and hipster and Fountain Square as I really, really want it to be.  That being said, I like it, I will tiki it up again and definitely nosh on summa dem tacos!

Gray Brothers Cafeteria

Well, this was one my many vacation food stops (ps - I've been on vacation and then continued to be blog lazy...sorry :(  ).  During said vacation, my cousin and Aunt were visiting Indy for the first time all the way from Raleigh.  My cuz happened to see a Man v. Food episode featuring this particular restaurant, Gray Brothers, and let's just assume that it might have been the only reason he made the 12 hour trek with his Mom to visit his old, lame cousin :)  Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't...either way, he mentioned he wanted to check it out and the kid doesn't ask for much (except this and some fresh Nikes for the new school year), so neither could be missed.

The Place


I guess you probably caught by the name that this is a cafeteria-style restaurant.  I have to admit, I haven't been to one of those since undergrad at a mall in Wilson, NC where people still smoked inside.  Yeah, it was a little while ago.  I was up for it though, we took a family trip out there and stood in the SUPER long line.  I never mind that either, more time for chatting and checking out other people's food :)

Check it out though!  This photo doesn't really do it justice either, that thing went through the doors and just kept wrapping around, I thought maybe I was at Disney!  At least they didn't charge people $15 to go to the front of the line...that's a win in my book.

We waited in line, maybe for 45 minutes.  We checked out the food and gasped at the sights, the portions the smells and the craziness of it all.  By the time we were ready to order, I was ready to eat, which I guess is a good thing because I think they were ready to feed us, and maybe the entire continent of Africa for a couple of days.

The very large portions of Food


As you are waiting in line, it is your time to decide what you want.  I thought I had it all in my head, but when I got up there with my tray, I kind of drew a blank.  I stared at the food and the ladies with tongs to serve it to me and had to make some rash decisions.  This is mostly because the food they have is displayed a la carte style on a board, but it's not anywhere on the food when you are looking at it.  I forgot what things were!!!  So, I just kind of winged it and started grabbing stuff and asking for stuff.

I think the same thing happened to some others in our group.  There's so much to choose from, and so much of it is huge.  It's hard not to have your eyes be bigger than your stomach.  Here to the right you can check out the entire spread!  That is alotta food, eh?  I guess you could call this Midwestern comfort food, but I had a feeling I wasn't going to be too comfortable after consuming this.  Erin's stomach v. Fried Food = Erin loses...every time.  I tried not to get too crazy though, and although I did order the fried chicken (it looked wicked good) and mashed potatoes with gravy, I also got a small bowl of cottage cheese.  That's healthy, right?  Okay, maybe not super healthy, but I could've gotten the banana cream pie, and I didn't, unfortunately.  I think I am still having dreams about how amazing some of their homemade pies looked.

Here's a little shot of my food.  I prefer dark meat and that is what I got.  It was juicy and salty and yummy.  I felt like I was at KFC, but with real food.  Don't you just love their cute "gramma's old china" thing they have going on too?  It really makes you feel like you are eating some down home cookin'.  The waitstaff was really good too.  They will bring you drinks and hooks you up with extra food if you somehow went through that whole cafeteria line and didn't end up with more food than 10 people could eat.

The only other meal I took a picture of was this tenderloin because it was seriously as big as the plate and I thought it was a pretty amazing sight to see.  Accompanied by some mac & cheese and a nice little fruit cup.  I didn't hear anyone complaining about their food.  I think everyone enjoyed themselves.  It was a good family experience, with good food and good service.  It's a little hike from Indy and I can't see Hubs and I venturing out there to stuff our faces once a week or anything, but I think when my Mom and stepdad are visiting we just might have to make a little trip back.  Something tells me Bill might think this place is the bees knees?!?


The wrap


This place was a good place to get some home cooked food.  I will not make the mistake of passing up the homemade pies next time...I'll share my entree if I have to, but I HAVE to get some of those pies in my belly.  The only complaint I have is I wish that it was a little more clear what foods are in front of your face when you are ordering.  Obviously I know what mac & cheese looks like, but there were a couple things I just didn't know what they were while I was standing in front of them...and that place is busy, you gotta keep than line movin'!  It's a very good place for a family outing, unless your kids don't like standing in line for too long...make sure to bring some toys to entertain them.  I think we'll be back...after I do 200 crunches. :)

I'm back! Food Truck Frenzy :)

Sorry I've been away for so long...not time to dwell on that now.  I'm off to the Food Truck Frenzy!!!  Looks awesome...come and check it out until 3PM in Broadway Park today in Broad Ripple :)

Food Truck Frenzy!   Check it out on NUVO and join us!

See you there.

Be back soon...promise.

Papa Roux - A little bit o' Nawlins in Naptown

   We heard somewhere through the grapevine that this place was pretty awesome, I can't seem to remember for the life of me where on the vine that was...so I apologize to whoever suggested this place to us!  But, please do let me thank you!  Because of said glowing review, and in hopes of getting our serious nosh on, we made our way over to Irvington last week and hit up a taste of Nawlins at Papa Roux.

The joint


   This is not an area of town we venture to often, and there was some interstate and gps use involved in our getting there.  When we arrived, it was not near the only other restaurant I've been to in the Irvington area.  It was a little more rough looking than I expected...and I immediately was very excited.  This hole in the wall might be just the kind of thing I love to discover!

The big bold "Papa Roux" and the oh so familiar sign of NO, the fleur de lis, on the outside of the building let us know we had arrived.  We walked in and approached the counter and said "Hello, 2 please."  Clearly, we had not been here...yeah, your order at the counter.  They have kind of a cool, and different way of ordering here.  You choose what you would like off the menu and then find yourself a seat.  Once your sitting, each table has a little placard, which when you decide, you place in a car holder on the table indicating you would like to order your sides.  The service is super fast.  They see you putting that card up and they are already there!  It was crowded and everyone there looked like they were really enjoying their meals, they were stoked to be eating their po'boys in Indy.









The food

The menu speaks for itself.  You can get po'boys, sandwiches or stews, Hubs' favorite, Zapp's potato chips.  Once you decided your order is accompanied by all you can eat sides that come free with your meal and are served to you as you see fit once at your table.  The picture shows my choice, which was a roast beef po'boy sammich and a side of cornbread and Zapp's chips.  The roast beef was sooooo delicious.  It was real hearty and so tasty.  Underneath, you can't really see the cole slaw, which if you remember from some previous blog posts...is not my favorite food.  I went with the go to eating at new restaurants theory of "listen to the chef" with this one though.  I am glad I did because the cole slaw was a necessary addition to this sandwich.  The roast beef was really moist, but the cole slaw really added something to it.  It was a perfect combination, complementing each other with meaty goodness and creamy, sweet crunchiness from the slaw.  The sides were also uh-mazing.  They have a bunch of choices and many of the patrons were going crazy with them.  They ask you to order two sides per person each time you put up your placard (so as not to waste food, I guess).  Good idea.  I only ordered one...cornbread.  Hubs scored some bread pudding and excited enjoyed his Zapp's.  Also, for his entree his ordered a Muffaletta, which is one of his favorite things to eat ever.  He's always talking about this amazing Muffaletta he had in New Orleans on time and never finds anything that matches up outside of that crazy city.  So, him saying that this Muffaletta was the best darn one he's had since then is saying quite a bit.  He was pleased friends.  And, I was pleased with not just my sandwich, but those sides were supa yummy.  We both were doing some ooohhhing and ahhhhing about the bread pudding!  For me, 2 sides and the sandwich was plenty of food.  I guess you can get crazy, but to enjoy it, leaving there feeling satisfied but not on the verge of explosion, that combo did it.  I will be wanting to try the etoufee next time...and let's just go ahead and say awwwww yeah, there will definitely be a next time.  I can't wait to take some visitors to Papa Roux's.  It's the perfect kind of restaurant to show off how cool and diverse your city is :)

The wrap


   I think I said it, I want to show off how awesome Indy is based on restaurants like this.  It's fun and different and the food is really good.  There are no frills and I love that about it.  The food speaks for itself, no fanciness or gimmicks needed.

10-01 Food & Drink - Midwestern Comfort Food with a Culinary Twist?

   Another new restaurant has opened up in Broad Ripple, while a couple others have closed (i.e. Barley Island).  I'm thinking this area is pretty transitional??  My first favorite part about this new place, 10-01 Food & Drink is that they made a run-down old building look A LOT nicer.  You can never go wrong there...who doesn't like the disappearance of empty and run down eyesores in their neighborhood, right?  And fill them with a new, local business?  Double score.
   For the reasons stated above...and the description on the signage during construction..."Midwestern comfort food with a culinary twist,"  I was pretty stoked to try this place when it opened.  The concept sounds delicious, right?  I have to admit, I had some ideas in my head based on a restaurant I love in Asheville, NC, Tupelo Honey Cafe.  Seriously, this place is wicked good, southern food with a culinary twist if you will.

   My expectations:  hearty deliciousness with a homestyle feel, but for foodies.  And by that, I mean, putting a different spin on some of your old favorites....creative presentations, locally sourced foods, etc.

  It's always a risky little game to have expectations...because even if it's good, it often is difficult to match up to what you've created in your mind.  Brains are awesome at making something "the best thing ever...." that you remember anyway. 


The Place & Food


   I called to see if they took reservations because you know how crazy the new places can get.  They don't, but they suggested they have plenty of seating and we were welcome to enjoy their bar downstairs for appetizers and drinks while we waited for our table.  Okay...I like it.  The bar downstairs was actually really cool.  Temperature-wise as well, which might tempt some of you that are melting out there this week!!  It's a basement, but they've done a good job of making it feel like happening bar.  Of course, all the people in the joint certainly help with that too.  It was pretty busy down there.  The waitstaff was busy, but on point for being a new place.  It wasn't his first dog and pony show.  We ordered some corn and clam fritters to share between 3 of us.  Luckily, they were big and conveniently, there were 3 of them :).

It was dark...sorry about the grainy pic of the fritters!

     They were pretty yummy.  The sriracha lavender butter sauce that drew me to them (check on the culinary twist!), was good, and kinda spicy!!  My friend did laugh at me and tell me I was a wuss, but you make your own decisions about that one!  I thought they were spicy, but fried and comfort foody.  Alright, good appetizer, pretty extensive drink selection...we're off to a good start.  We were called up to our table for dinner on the top floor of the restaurant.

The dinners

I ordered myself some pulled chicken bbq sammy, served on a pretzel bun with sweet potato fries.  I came to this decision after looking over the menu for quite some time.  I have to admit, my first look at them menu (I didn't scope it out online before we went), I wasn't as excited as I thought I would be.  I was expecting a little more culinary twist, I guess.  There are some interesting choices on the menu...and very Midwestern like the open faced duck burger, but while many of the entrees sounded tasty, I felt like I make some of them at home too often and too easily to order while I am eating out.  So, my expectations may have gotten the nest of me on this one.  Despite my slight disappointment with the menu choices, my sandwich was really good.  As you can see in the photo, there was a heaping serving of pulled chicken on that bun.  I do also love me a pretzel roll :)  The sweet potato fries we really sweet and salty and I always love them...they were just how I like my fries, crunchy on the outside, potatoey on the inside.  I'm not a connoisseur of cole slaws, but Hubs kind of is...and he thought it was pretty tangy and tasted as homemade as they said it was.

Hubs got the blackened catfish sandwich...and of course, the sweet potato fries.  We can never resist a sweet potato, I'll tell you!  His fish sandwich was topped with pepperjack cheese and a sriracha tarter sauce served on an egg bun.  Okay, it's a bit of a culinary twist.  A bit.  He liked it though.  The food was decent...we definitely didn't have many complaints.  We had an enjoyable meal and tried not to annoy our Friday night dinner guest with our over-analysis of the food and restaurant :)  But, hey, that's how we roll I guess!  We were pretty full and had a couple of drinks too, so we didn't partake in any dessert.  One of the great things about this restaurant, that I'm sure we've all seen make or break your experience at a new place, is the service.  Our server in the restaurant was also pretty kick ass.  They really had it figured out for only having been open for a short period of time.  It can be easy to overlook good service, but if the service is bad, it can often be enough to ruin your whole night and often it can make me feel like never returning.

The wrap-up


   10-01 food & drink is an interesting concept, and I don't think there's anything like it in BR.  We enjoyed our meals and our super good service.  I think we will likely return and try some other things on the menu.  My only complaint is that it felt a little more chainy than I was expecting and maybe a more intimate feeling would help us get to that "culinary twist" idea more freely and to really wow us.  But, I understand the need for space to accommodate all of us foodies!  We did really enjoy the bar area, which did have more of an intimate feel and was pretty bustling.  I think we'll certainly be back for drinks down there and some more of those appetizers!!  Happy Friday and have fun eating this weekend...although ice cream may be all you want with the heat :)

Osteria Pronto & Chateau Ste Michelle Winery

   Let me start by saying we were really excited to have been invited to attend this event at the JW Marriot's restaurant Osteria Pronto and I haven't been more excited to write a review.  White Winemaker, Wendy Stuckey of Chateau Ste. Michelle in Washington state was visiting Indianapolis promoting her wines.  Together with world renowned Chef Rino Baglio (seriously, check out his bio!!), Osteria Pronto held an amazing wine and food event to showcase her wines complemented beautifully by the chef's food pairings.

The Place


   The JW Marriot is a new, modern and very cool hotel in downtown Indianapolis.  Inside there are a few options for entertainment that you should partake in whether you are staying at this swanky joint or not.  The sports bar, High Velocity, and outdoor restaurant bar, Tavern on the Plaza, and last but not least, the contemporary Italian restaurant headed by Chef Baglio, Osteria Pronto.  This place is getting it done, right?  A great place to go for a nice night out on the town in Indy.
  Osteria Pronto is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  This was our first visit to the restaurant and we were led through the restaurant with it's sea of tables and it's upscale, but causal feel into a back room where we were greeted and ushered in to begin drinking and eating.

The Food & Beverage


   Okay...so there was a LOT of food and even MORE wine during this particular even, so I'm going to try to separate it out into courses so it's clear.

   Appetizer


   As I mentioned, we were ushered into a room with cocktail tables and served a glass of 2010 Horse Heaven Sauvignon Blanc accompanied by Escargot (yes, snails), served on a baguette with pesto and mushrooms.  The wine was super tasty and a great start.  You can't go wrong with walking into a room and immediately having a nice adult beverage in hand, can you?!?  It was very fruity and acidic and complemented the salty escargot well.  I don't know about you, but escargot is not one of those foods I eat very often.  In fact, I think I have only had it one other time maybe 10 years ago.  But, when in Rome...I did it.  All in the name of food blogging, just for you!!!  It was actually really quite good with the wine.  Very nice flavors, the escargot was not as chewy as I remembered.  After about 10-15 minutes of hanging and enjoying our wine, we were seated in another room complete with tables set with place cards.

   Course 2


   The tables were very pretty, clean and crisp white linens and lots of glasses waiting to be filled with wine.  A little bread basket was the centerpiece.

   The kind of sad thing is, this was simply a centerpiece.  It did not get touched!!  For me, not touching the bread means something else awesome must of been happening.  Oh, you wait...it was!!  On to the food we actually ate!

Our first meal course came pretty quickly after an introduction and a welcome from the winemaker.  We were served our second wine, the Chateau Ste Michelle Cold Creek Chardonnay (2008).  With this wine, the chef decided to serve a Wild King Salmon on top of a zucchini fritter, lemon yogurt and arugula pesto and garnished with a bit of arugula.  I seriously can't say enough good things about this entire pairing.  The wine had a very oaky aftertaste and the salmon was just cooked perfectly.  It was seared which made it quite crisp on the outside and left it cool and fresh on the inside.  The flavor of this was excellent and the wine only added to it's deliciousness.  Not to mention the zucchini fritter, which was absolutely amazing.  I was going about my business enjoying the salmon when I got a bite of the fritter and was really surprised at how good it was.  Hubs and I both loved this course and were ready for the next one!  I love being stoked about food while you are eating it, where you have to hold in all of your comments to not sound so annoying to those around you...like "yummm...mmmmm...this is so good.  oh my gosh...do you love it?  yummm..mmmm. "  Yeah, that's annoying, I know...so I tried to refrain.

   Course 3

   This course began with the Eroica Reisling (2009).  Exactly what I love about a wine pairing, if it were up to me, I'd have Pinot Noir with everything and call it a day.  But, it's really awesome to have someone THINK about the wine you are drinking and try to pair that with something that brings out the flavors of the wine and the food all at the same time.  It helps me broaden my wine horizons and step outside of my box.

I was really excited about this course as well because I love scallops.  But, Hubs was a little more hesitant.  He's not an eater of the bi-valve.  I was proud of him though, he tried and it and ate a good portion of it too.  How could you not??  Look at it!  It tasted as good as it looks there too.  Pictured here is a seared sea scallop over a fava bean puree, leak and smokey bacon bread pudding and a white wine creme.  I don't even know what to say about that.  So creative, and unlike anything I have had before.  The scallop was less cooked than I have had them, but, truthfully I think that's everything I have been missing in a good scallop.  It was awesome and dipping it in the creamy goodness underneath it was heaven polished off with bacon and the reisling just blew it up in your mouth.  The sweetness of the wine brought all of these flavors in this dish to the forefront.  Perfecto!

   Course 4

   Yep, seriously, there's ANOTHER course...and that's not even it.  Beginning this course were TWO wines!  These were not skimp bottles of wine either, friends.  This course brought some reds into the mix, Col Solare (2006) and Ethos Cabernet (2006).

The cool part about this pairing was that the filet mignon was prepared two ways, one for each of the wines.  On the left, we had a filet with horseradish gremolada to be enjoyed with the Col Solare.  The right side was also a filet, but with roasted peppers and a cabernet jus for the Ethos.  The weird thing was this was probably the most well done filet I have ever had.  I was really surprised for two reasons.  I thought chefs hated cooking well done filet because it ruins it, but despite it being well done, it was actually still really tender and juicy.  So, I would have liked it medium, but wasn't disappointed in the final outcome.  Hubs and I later decided it probably came out cooked less, but sitting on the plate for a few minutes while the wines got situated and introduced, it must have cooked through.  Anyway...the Ethos Cabernet was my favorite wine of the evening.  Just goes to prove that I am a red lover, I guess.  By this time, I do have to admit that I was feeling a little wined.  It was A LOT!!  But, we were enjoying ourselves and the company at our tables.  Some very nice folks and one of the guests at the table had helped organize the event a bit and was very skilled at fielding all of our questions about the food, the wine, the pairings, etc.

   Course 5 - The dessert


   Strangely enough, this was the same dessert we had at Recess a few weeks ago, and I have never had it prior to that!  We were served yet another wine (best dinner event ever!!!), the Domaine Ste Michelle, Luxe (2004).  This wine was a sparkling white wine and is apparently very difficult to make.  Going back and forth from the wine to our dessert was stellar.  One bite, one drink...mmmmmm.

This was a Lemon Anglaise Panna Cotta with strawberry coulis and fresh berries.  Now, the one other time I had this at Recess it was delicious.  The chef came out and talked about this and wanted to explain to us why this was different from any other panna cotta we've had.  I didn't have a lot to compare to, but I was willing to take the challenge!  The difference was pretty apparent.  Normally a panna cotta is made with a gelatin base, but this one was creamy and a very different texture than my previous experience.  It was pretty dang amazing.  I can't think of a better way to end this meal than with this perfectly prepared dessert and a hearing how proud the chef was of his interpretation of it.  He was right on, though, I was impressed.









The wrap


   Sometimes I wonder why I even do a wrap up?!  I think it's pretty obvious that I am overly stoked about this place...probably annoyingly so, I know :)  I apologize, but I think the wrap might be necessary to discuss Osteria Pronto in general.  I think that our experience here might be a little bit different from an experience at the restaurant ordering from the regular menu.  Now, I haven't heard anything but good things about the restaurant AND Chef Baglio is still the head chef.  I am very, very excited about going back and recommending for you to go and give me some feedback about your experience here.  ALSO, this was their second wine dinner, so if it seems like something you might be interested in trying out, check out their specials (on the website).  They are actually hosting a Sun King Brewers Dinner on August 2nd for around $50.00 per person.  From what I've seen, they do it right, and it would definitely be an event worth trying!
  Thank you to Adrienne Bailey for inviting us to this event!  We had so much fun.

Chateau Ste Michelle Winemaker, Wendy Stuckey and myself

The wine setup at the event

Happy Go Foodie by Avec Moi

   Okay, I'm going to tell you a quick story, because I'm pretty sure there are a few of you out there that can relate.  It's been a long day of ____________ (insert what your day consists of here).  You get home and all you want to do is hang out and maybe try to relax a bit (unless you have children, then I am assuming this hope has long ago faded into the mist).  Nevertheless, you made a stop by the grocery store on the way home to pick up the last couple of ingredients you needed for the semi-complicated dinner you have been planning to make for the past week or so, but have been procrastinating on because you have found something easier to cook each night.  You finally peel yourself away from any idea of relaxation and realize, oh crap!!, the main ingredient for your dish is shriveled, spoiled, rotten....unusable!

Shriveled and dried out ronde de nice squashes :(

  Yep, your dinner is NOT happening.  AND, to top it off...you have no backup, besides easy mac or pb & j.  Is that an acceptable dinner for a couple of 30 somethings, you ask yourself?  No, nope, certainly not.  What to do?  Ding!!!  The light in my head pops on, I have a little gift card I got as a promotion a couple of months back for a new business that I think will solve my problem (and very likely your same problem...stat!).

   Happy Go Foodie is all about fresh, home-cooked take out meals.  Perfect for families or those of us that just can't stomach fast food when not on a road trip.  The owner Kris, has opened a small storefront conveniently located right of College Ave. on 62nd Street in the BR.

The Food...and how it works


   As mentioned, almost everything here is made fresh daily for you to enjoy (there are some frozen options too).  You can go online and reserve what you want to pick up later, which is highly recommended if something looks good to you.  It would be sad to show up there and for her to be out of what you were craving...but that's the price you might pay for fresh food if you don't get on it!  Check out the website and see.
   So, last night we were very last minute because of our dinner predicament.  We did still manage to score some delicious dinner options, though sadly a couple things on the menu were out.  There were still two orders of chicken and pineapple skewers and we accompanied them with a serving of green beans with lemon zest.  Sounds pretty good, and healthy, huh?

So, the idea is, you pick your serving a la carte from the little refrigerated case.  There are instructions for reheating, as you can see in the photo, as well as a list of the ingredients contained.  These green beans were a nice little side to accompany our skewers.  Now, the one thing I will admit is that I make these a LOT at home.  Fresh green beans, toss 'em in a pan, throw in some olive oil and seasoning and Voila!  BUT, I didn't tonight, did I?  Nope, but Happy Go Foodie did.  So, we had fresh green beans, that yes, I could have made easily at home, but the fact is, I did not.

As our entree, we scored these delicious little chicken and pineapple skewers.  Three skewers for each serving at $5.50.  At first I thought maybe this wouldn't be enough.  My eyes are always bigger than my stomach, though.  I threw these in the oven for the time specified and when they came out, they smelled GOOD.  Hubs and I were totally satisfied by the amount of food seen here.  It was actually a perfect portion for not gorging oneself :)  In theory, these are not too complicated either, but again, I didn't have chicken or pineapple on hand.  And it would've been a little prep for me to get this together.  These were really good.  With the green beans, we were really happy with our quick and very painless fix to my flop of a dinner on a Tuesday night.

The wrap.

   If you are tight on time and budget or you just want something healthy and fresh for your family, check this place out.  I think it's a really great idea, whatever your reason.  Let someone else cook for you for a night.  Check out their website and see what Kris has cookin' today.  The menu changes daily and she also has desserts.  There were some wicked good lookin' sugar cookies there last night too.  I might have to stop by and get one of those sometime!  Oh yeah, she also usually has a gluten free option and kids meal options as well.  Have fun with a fresh new take on "fast food."

Zest! At Night

   I actually didn't even know Zest served dinner because, while I have had quite a few recommendations to go there to eat, they have all been glowing reviews about their brunch.  I am a big fan of brunch, it's actually my favorite meal, and I definitely thought I would make it there for it by now.  But, alas, I was searching Opentable.com for restaurants that I could easily make a reservation for and I saw Zest as an option.  I took a look at their menu and decided we should give it a try.

THe placE


   I didn't spend much time looking around inside because there was plenty of seating outside and the weather was beautiful.  Our reservation wasn't really necessary at 7:30 on Friday, which is good to know for future reference.  We were seated outside on the patio under the shades, which is nice :)  Zest is located in SoBro on 54th, so not as much people traffic to watch as sitting outside in the BR, but I still like it down there.  I would have expected it to be a bit busier, but I think you know as well as I do, there are so many good restaurants in Indy, it's got to be hard to keep busy for dinner!!  There were a decent number of people out there enjoying the summer night over dinner though.  The only think I was kind of disappointed about was that online it was indicated that on Friday nights there would be live jazz.  Now, I know we were there kind of early at 7:30, but we stayed for awhile and there were no signs of jazz happening.  Maybe inside?  But, why would that be?  Outside would be perfect and it would also be great to have something like that at dinner time.  I moved on though and got to enjoying some food, which is what we were there for anyway, right?  Right.

The Food

   For starters, they brought us out this cute little can full o' warm fresh pretzel bread and a french loaf.  Mmmmmm....my favsies.  I am pretty easy to please in the bread department, warm, delicious and fresh, I'm in.  They served it with an olive tapenade, olive oil with sundried tomato and a nice hearty mustard.  Hubs really liked the pretzel bread with the mustard.  I almost didn't get any he liked it so much.  I did want to try it, so I grabbed a bite right before they completely disappeared down his gullet.  The french loaf was pretty to die for and I preferred it in the olive oil anyway.  Nice and simple, and, like I said, my favsies.

My entree

  I had a difficult time deciding what to order, there were a few interesting sounding choices, including one of the specials, which was pork and shrimp skewers over some tasty sounding couscous.  But, I decided to try something off the regular menu for reviewing purposes and I wanted to make sure I was getting a real taste of what a Zest dinner had to offer.  I scored me some Baja Tacos.  And dang, they seriously look good, don't they?!?

   A light cornmeal crusted fish served on corn tortillas with white cheddar and a chipotle slaw.  Now, the chipotle slaw was a push for me, I'm not much on slaw usually, but I trusted the combo.  Something I have been trying to do lately, I figure the chefs know what they are doing!!  And, with this, I really think they did.  It was tangy and fun, not too spicy, but a little kick.  The fish was prepared well and I loved the light breading.  I am also a sucker for a corn tortilla always. 

   My Baja Tacos were served with refried black beans made in house (which when I saw on the menu, may have pushed me to ordering this option...I love some beans).  The beans were topped with an avocado salad.  They were also drizzled with the same chipotle sauce that was on the tacos, which made them taste similar, but brought them together as a meal.  For me, the tacos were really good.  I am very glad I ordered them, but the beans were a bit of a pass.  They were not too tasty, a bit bland and I would have preferred more avocado.  

Hubs' Meal

Hubs has been talking about going to Maxine's chicken and waffles for a few weeks now, so when I saw chicken and waffles on the menu, I directed his eyes there.  He thought this might be a good opportunity to fill that craving, or at least give the whole chicken and waffles thing a try.  They also looked really good.  Zest sure did a good job with their presentation.
  As far as the chicken and waffles went, I think Hubs might not have read the menu closely :)  He was surprised by the white-cheddar scallion waffles at first.  They were topped with a dijon gravy and gralic mashed potatoes.  It looked like the chicken was breaded with the same cornmeal breading as my fish.  Hubs' impression of this was that it was interesting, but he thought maybe a little more gourmet than it needed to be.  You know how sometimes something that is simple and delicious can be made weird if you try too hard to make in gourmet?  That's what he thought.  So, it looked pretty, but it wasn't his favorite.  Looks like he's gonna have to try Maxine's for comparison!!

The wrap


   Overall, I liked Zest.  They had a cool little menu and the specials sounded pretty good too.  It was nice to sit out on the patio, even without the jazz (sad face).  I really liked the tacos, and would totally get them again, but I think Hubs will try something different.  I am still looking forward to trying brunch here...AND I am dying to try the world famous mac and cheese.  I am expecting it to be super good, which sometimes works...if it's super good.  So, here's to high expectations!!  Oh yeah, this place was also featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  I didn't do too much research on that and I haven't seen the episode, but I know some people are really into that, so I thought I mention it (not that you didn't already know :)).  I have no idea what they tried here, I didn't want to taint my personal decision-making.

The Rathskeller

   We went to The Rathskeller a couple of weeks ago after we had been indulging for a few hours at the Brew Ha Ha.  For those of you who don't know, the Brew Ha Ha was a beer tasting festival that took place downtown around the Mass Ave area.  If you have never been to one before, you basically make your way around to all the various vendors and get "samples" of their beer.  This can go on for awhile, so as you can imagine, many samples = many beers.  It was fun though, and some of our seasoned Indianapolis friends suggested we go to The Rathskeller afterward because we hadn't been there yet.  I was excited to go, I had heard good things about it.

THe PlaCE


   I don't know why, but I was expecting a very bar/hole in the wall atmosphere.  I was very wrong actually.  It's quite interesting in there and the building, the 19th century Athenaeum, is absolutely beautiful.  Now, we did sit in the dining area, and it was like 5:00 PM.  I am certain this can change the atmosphere of a place, but we were definitely the loudest people there!  Not that this is completely uncommon for me, I'm kind of loud all the time, but like I said, I was expecting something different.  Not that it's bad, it's a really historic and cool place, they describe it as feeling like you are nestled in a Bavarian inn.  They do also have a bar area as well that is supposed to make you feel as though you are in Europe also.  Okay, I'm with it...it was different and we were getting into it.

THe Food


   Despite the fact that I had been "sampling" a bit during the day, I'm just going to go ahead and say this is by far the best Bavarian/German food I have ever had.  I haven't been to Austria or Germany, but Hubs almost had us moving to Austria for a job last year.  I think I would've gained like 500 pounds if I lived there!!  The food was really, really delicious.  They started us with breads and pretzels with various dipping sauces.  One of which was the most insane, spiciest mustards you have ever laid your tastebuds on.  Literally, it was cuh-razy!  I am not too into that, but it seemed to be popular at the table, and a challenge to see who could handle it.  PS - not me :)  The pretzels were to die for too, probably the best soft pretzel I've had.  And this is just what they give you to start!!  I was feeling good about what was to come.
   The Appetizers - We ordered the Rathskeller Appetizer Sampler & the Hot Wurst Plate

This is good to order for trying to get the feel of a place.  If it were just Hubs and I, we would have never have ordered all of this food.  It was A LOT!  But, I'm glad we had some veterans with us to convince us of the things we shouldn't miss.  Seriously, the deep fried chicken cordon bleu fingers....yummmmmm.

Rathskeller Appetizer Sampler (for 2-4) $15.95

A chance to try our tasty deep fried appetizers on one platter! 3 chicken cordon bleu fingers, 3 cajun chicken poppers, 4 brat 'n kraut balls, and 2 jalapeño corn bread hush puppies served with an array of sauces.

Hot Wurst Platte (for 2-4) $15.95

A sampling of Bratwurst, Bockwurst, Kielbasse and German Wieners served with our homemade sauerkraut and red cabbage. Served with German mustards for dipping.

This was our SECOND appetizer.  Yeah, that's how we were rollin' that night!  All out kids!  Holy sausages.  This was just an excellent way to get a sampling of the different brats and wursts The Rathskeller was slingin'.  You even got some 'kraut, cabbage and some more mustards.  I felt like were in The Sound of Music!

The Entree -  Jäegerschnitzel $24.50  Our signature schnitzel topped with a wonderful sauce of wild mushrooms, shallots, fresh garlic, red wine and select herbs.

   Three of us split the Jaegerschnitzel.  Prior to this, I had never had a schnitzel before, so I was very excited to taste it, although I can't believe I had any more space in my stomach for more food.  Nevertheless, I made it happen.

The schnitzel was served with a vegetable!  We had some veggie and some of that yummy cornbread.  But, clearly the highlight was the jaegerschnitzel.  It was topped with this deliciously seasoned mushroom, garlic gravy.  The meat was so tender and literally melted when you put it in your mouth.  It was soooooo good.  I wish I wasn't so full.  I tasted it and the three of us put a dent in it, but we couldn't even finish it.  It was so sad to see it sitting there on that plate, calling out for us to eat it.  But, we just couldn't.  We finished most of it though, but that's only because it was amazing!

The Wrap

   I think that this was some seriously authentic German/Bavarian cuisine.  From start to finish you really got the feeling you were eating something you would be eating in the mountains of Vienna.  The atmosphere of The Rathskeller set in the Athenaeum only added to the authenticity.  I know this is a popular place, and I am here to tell you there is a reason for that.  My only suggestion is to roll how we rolled and do this family style.  You get to try more food and there is so much of it, you almost have to share!!  I passed Kindergarten with flying colors many moons ago...I'm a good sharer.  Are you?