![]() The now fabled Fire ’n’ Ice marries the sweet and the spicy with its beguiling mélange of habanero, hibiscus, and basil. Go against instinct here and order the juiciest, most flavorful smoked turkey you’ll find or order up a whole pork butt or rack of ribs (48 hours in advance) for your next backyard picnic.ĪLMOST FROM THE day it opened in early 2013, Delicia, the sultry New Latin supper club on College Avenue, inscribed into local culinary lore some of its most memorable entrees. Maybe they’ve just been too busy serving up 16-hour post oak–smoked brisket and concocting funky specials like mashed potato bowls or Frito chili cheese wraps to think about expansion to fancier digs. OWNERS BRITTANY KOBAYASHI, William Hong, and Alex George (an alum of Austin’s famed Franklin Barbecue) have largely contained their operation to a truck in the parking lot of Metazoa Brewing Company, a testament to their focus on the craft. Instead of fries, opt for the Che Chori Chips, dark and crunchy russets that may be the best in town. ![]() And while the Pereras offer a host of authentic and hearty sandwiches, it’s worth waiting until Sunday (and select weekdays) for the knockout, super-tender porchetta, redolent of prosciutto and plums and slathered with aromatic chimichurri. Burgers and dogs come with as many bright and flavorful toppings as you could imagine. Choripanes, sandwiches featuring a savory butterflied Argentine chorizo on a baguette, are a great introduction to Argentine street food, whether you dress yours with sauerkraut or potato sticks. Flaky, plump empanadas with fillings ranging from beef or chicken to spinach or butternut squash will have you driving back for a dozen to stock your freezer. But the standout (and perhaps the best addition to Indy’s international food options in 2020) was Marcos and Laura Perera’s tiny Argentine takeout. ![]() ![]() ONE BRIGHT SPOT of last year’s restaurant crisis was the emergence of West 16th Street as a bona fide restaurant row lined with California burgers and Florida-style seafood boils. There’s more on the horizon: Pastry chef Youssef Boudarine is working on a to-go concept for doughnuts and gelato at a third location. Brunch is served all week and features eggs done every which way, plenty of Tulip Tree Creamery’s bloomy Trillium, mimosa packages, and drag shows. The Gallery Pastry Bar, their downtown second act, is a celebration of Vegas opulence played out in oyster flights, house breads, and inspired European-style standards. And back on went the lights and the cool-night heaters on the coziest screened patio in Indy, a signal that slow, intimate dinners with friends over show-stopping dishes could and would happen long into the future.įINESSED MACARONS HAVE belonged famously to SoBro’s Gallery Pastry Shop for the last five years, courtesy of owners Alison Keefer and Ben Hardy. Promoted to sommelier was Ashlee Nemeth, pouring from one of the best wine lists in the city. Back to the kitchen came chef Tyler Shortt, bringing perhaps the city’s best shrimp and grits, as well as fork-tender, Asian-inflected pork belly with silky, spicy kimchi and fragrant forbidden rice, the kind of dish that could never translate as takeout. But news that owner Tom Main, having failed to find a buyer for the property, was “getting the band back together” and reopening in May was the hope local gourmets and wine lovers had held onto for 14 months. TO DRIVE PAST the darkened patio of the long-popular Herron-Morton draw was a sad side effect of the pandemic, as well as a bellwether of how the local restaurant scene might come out of its toughest year. Here are the places that not only came back strong but also gave us hope for the future of our city’s culinary scene. We returned to their tables with a new appreciation-for their sacrifices and pain and delicate ecosystem-as well as that same old desire to eat delicious food. As restaurants around Indianapolis slowly reopened after all those dark months when an entire industry laid fallow, we couldn’t stay away.
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