Hedge Row

I have been patiently waiting to try Hedge Row (I like to wait a couple of weeks if I can), so recently after my graduation from grad school (no big deal), I told my family this is what I wanted. This is where local chef Brad Gates has landed as well if you’ve been wondering and the restaurant is owned by Kimbal Musk, brother of Elon. We had a reservation and were running a few minutes late due to traffic (again, graduations everywhere), but they were perfectly nice about it. The patio was open, but we sat in the main dining room. There’s a fair amount of seating with the patio and bar, but I was a little surprised at how small the main dining room actually is. However, regardless of size, it was not lacking in noise, so prepare yourself if you’re sensitive to loud restaurants.

It is a very cool looking place that feels like it is straight out of a larger city—very modern and boisterous. It was very crowded, and the drinks took a little longer than I would have wanted, but I am pretty sure that was a problem at the bar and not our server. Right away we ordered some snacks, and then perused the rest of the menu. We ordered the shrimp hushpuppies ($6) and the hand cut garlic fries ($5). Both were good. The fries were a big hit at our table—they were very hot and extremely crispy. We all liked the ones that had some extra crispy bits. And while I usually am bored with ketchup, this one was house made and very good. Lots of acidic flavor, and not so sweet as most are. Once I realized the hot honey to dip the hushpuppies in was kind of pooled on the bottom of the serving bowl, I really liked these as well. They are really large hush puppies made from cornmeal and studded with small bits of gulf shrimp. Dredging them in the slightly hot honey was very tasty. Hubby loved them. I liked them a lot, although they were a tad dry, but maybe that’s just cornmeal for you. I would have probably added a sauce on top—and after looking at other pictures online, most show the hushpuppies with some sort of topping that ours didn’t have. Maybe just overlooked in the kitchen.

The way they do food here is ideally family style, and my family was just fine with that. So, this means they just bring things out as they are made. The next things that were delivered were the crispy fish “tacos” (which are wrapped in lettuce) ($14). These were one of my favorites for sure. They take nice pieces of rockfish (one of my favorite fish for fish and chips in San Francisco), and tempura fry it. They put some smoked chili tartar sauce underneath and top it with pickled onions and radish slices. I really liked this take on a taco—hubby started to balk at the lettuce aspect, but honestly, by using it, it really lets the fish shine. It was a great dish. The four of us fought over them. Our server said we could add one if we want and we would definitely do that next time so we all had our own.

Next came the caramelized brussels sprouts and turnips with Smoking Goose ham hock vinaigrette ($8). Love the use of the pork and some acid (although I think it could have used a bit more) and I thought the sprouts were very good. What blew my mind actually was how good the turnips were. They were roasted perfectly and had an amazing pillowy consistency. Normally turnips don’t really get me going that much, but I was grateful to have my mind changed here. We also had the tuna ceviche ($15) because we all love tuna, but for whatever reason, this was probably the least favorite of the table. The tuna was impeccably fresh and it was an interesting mix with apples and red onion, but the flavors just didn’t really come together for me.  It had a coconut lime vinaigrette that I felt was more coconut than lime. And it needed some salt. I am hoping that they mix up the seasonings on it sometimes though, as that tuna practically melted in your mouth.

The next thing that came out was the salmon ($26) from the “large” section of the menu. This was an extreme crowd favorite at our table. It was one of the other stars of the night for sure. It was a piece of salmon that had skin on that had been seared crispy—so crispy we were fighting over it. There was this amazing smoky bacon broth that it sat in that tasted like it had some soy going on there too. The veggies with it were bok choy and shitake mushrooms. The bok choy was just right. Not so “fresh” that it tasted raw, but cooked enough that it was a little soft, but with a pleasant fresh crunch. There was a parsley-hazelnut pistou (sort of like a pesto) on it as well. So much flavor packed into this dish. It was great. 

We also got the pasta Bolognese ($19) at the request of my son. This was also extremely good and tasty. It was basically penne pasta topped with a sauce that had a mix of ground beef, pork, and lamb. Lots of fresh parmesan on top. An extremely well done, and hearty pasta dish.

We were celebrating after all, so we splurged on several desserts as well. My kids both had the salted chocolate chunk cookies ($4 each) and they were delicious. Warm and gooey and just the right kick from the salt. Hubby and I tried a couple of different things—the sticky toffee pudding ($8) and the butterscotch pot de crème ($7). The pot de crème was very tasty—a nice change from the more traditional chocolate version. It was served with a little piece of cashew brittle. The sticky toffee pudding didn’t really do it for us, and we are generally big fans, after coming to love this dish while living in England. This one was topped with a lot of pecans, and the cake had a much more date type taste than others I have had, which were more like rich, moist gingerbread almost. I feel like you kind of have to cover it in sauce too, and because of the way this one was served in its own baking dish, this was impossible. 

Overall, I think this is a very nice addition to the Indy restaurant scene. We enjoyed pretty much everything we had, and the restaurant has a nice hip and friendly vibe. Service was a little spotty at times, but I am hoping that will get worked out with time and experience. I look forward to going back—as does everyone else in my family. Who else has been? Please share your favorite items!

Hedge Row

350 Massachusetts Ave

Indy  46204

317/643-2750

www.hedgerowbistros.com

Noise rating: 5 bells (out of five)

Brad Gates Catering- Revisit

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I am a fan of Brad Gates from way back to Puck’s and Euphoria days (gosh, I bet many of you don’t even remember those places). Anyhow, Chef Gates has a lunch spot in the City Market, serving quick serve type items and to go things, but he also runs a successful catering business. And he is my go to whenever I need a party catered.

My favorite way to get food from him is to have him do lots of little bites. You know I like a good tapas style meal. So when we had a last minute going away party for some friends, I was thrilled they were available. Here’s a quick rundown of what we ate.

First were wild mushroom shumai with scallion dipping sauce. These were so good. Also vegetarian. I kept going back for more of that sauce to pour all over them. The mushrooms kept the dumplings nice and moist.

I loved the twice-baked fingerlings he does, and I love that everyone likes them. Think of little teeny potatoes stuffed with bacon, chives and cheddar and drizzled with crème fraiche.

The chilied salmon nachos with avocado crème fraiche and pico di gallo are also a perennial favorite in our house, and have been a recurring order whenever we have Brad cater. Another re-order, and something I used to even order at Euphoria was the sweet potato gnocchi with slow-braised Gunthrop Farms pork, Brussels sprouts and Parmesan. We love this one and saved some of the leftovers for a nice meal the next day. Even the kids love this dish.

We had a mixed group, so we wanted some items that were easily recognizable to people as well—so there were lump crab cakes with chives and honey remoulade as well as roasted Italian meatballs topped with a light San Marzano marinara sauce. And you can’t beat the service method for the meatballs—they were on a stick. Made ‘em easy to eat at a party where everyone was milling around.

gnocchi with pork

There was also some crostini with goat cheese, roasted pepper and pine nuts—ok I can’t speak to this one because I was too busy hitting the big money items, but people seemed to enjoy them as well.

Gates Catering is a great chef-driven caterer. I have enjoyed many sit down meals from here as well, but my favorite way is always the small plates. 

Brad Gates Catering

Indianapolis City Market

222 East Market Street

Indy  46204

317/445-0105

www.bradgatescatering.com 

City Market Dinner

This isn’t exactly my regular type of post, but I wanted to let you all in on something I have been working on for the last couple of months—an idea from Brad Gates that we talked about back in February when he was dropping off our annual Valentine’s Day dinner.  This past Saturday, I helped to organize what I hope with be the first of many market dinners at the City Market downtown.

We kept it fairly small for the initial attempt. I invited several people I know and several of you I feel like I know through the blog.  There were about 30 of us and we sat upstairs at large tables at the market and enjoyed food from Brad Gates Catering, Circle City Soups and Sweets, Fermenti Artisan, and pastry chef Pete Schmutte.   

Photos courtesy of Brown Sugar Meatloaf

I love the fact that we got to sit in an historic Indianapolis building eating local seasonal food prepared by market chefs—and we tried to keep the price reasonable at $45 per person.  We wanted the dinner to be accessible to lots of people in terms of price and formality.  I think people genuinely enjoyed themselves and it was great to interact with both old and new friends.

Dinner started with cheese and various pickled veggies.  The next course was homemade beet pasta with housemade salmon pastrami and a fennel cream sauce. The main course was bison medallions topped with cabbage, favas, pea shoots and a Vidallia onion demi glace and a baby root vegetable pot pie topped with Capriole farms goat cheese. Dessert was a lovely chocolate namelaka with passion fruit ganache (with lots more to it). The dessert was almost too pretty to eat.  Almost.  We were also treated to a plate of various flavors of macaroons and even more cheese. 

The dinner was even better than I hoped for food-wise, the setting completely casual, and it was great to bring various Indy food loving people together over a meal.  I know the market vendors hope to make these types of dinners recurring events and that is why I am doing this post.  I want to help them compile an email list for future dinners of anyone who might be interested in attending that I can pass along to them (and also for purely selfish reasons—I want to attend more of them myself!)  When they’re announced, the menu and the price are set (and payment is made in advance).  If you are interested in being included in the mailing list for future dinners, please leave me your contact information in a comment below (or if you were there, let me know what you thought about it) or email me at erininindy@gmail.com.  I can’t wait for the next one and I can’t wait to meet more of you!

***Special thanks to Brown Sugar Meatloaf for having the good sense to take some proper photos (I took a couple, but hers are so much prettier).  The photos here are her work. 

Brad Gates Catering

Indianapolis City Market

222 East Market Street

Indy  46204

317/445-0105

www.bradgatescatering.com

Circle City Sweets

Indianapolis City Market

222 East Market Street

Indy  46204

317/632-3644

www.circlecitysweets.com

Circle City Soups

Indianapolis City Market

222 East Market Street

Indy  46204

317/956-2395

Fermenti Artisan

Indianapolis City Market

222 East Market Street

Indy  46204

317/493-1652

www.facebook.com/fermentiartisan

Pete Schmutte

Pastry Chef

Pete.schmutte@gmail.com

Brad Gates Catering- City Market

The City Market just keeps getting better and better if you ask me.  I love what it is turning into, and I love that you can go even on a Saturday and have lots of great lunch options.  My daughter and I spend many Saturday lunches there and often when I have something going on downtown during the week, I just stop in myself and grab something.  The last couple of times I have been there, I had the opportunity to try one of the newer vendors—Brad Gates Catering.  I am very happy to have an outlet to get his food other than having him make it at my house (which is good too, but this way is much more economical).  He also has a great cheese selection if you are looking for stuff more interesting than what you can get at the grocery.

His menus change daily and some things are in the rotation frequently and others less so. (I regularly check his daily menus on facebook.)  The first time I went in, I was intrigued by the linguine with asparagus and Laughing Bird shrimp scampi ($12).  Pasta is a big lunch for me, but it sounded good and I knew hubby would eat the rest later (which he did).  It was really tasty—lots of slices of garlic and asparagus pieces that were just about the same size as the shrimp and it had plenty of fresh parmesan too.  It was fairly simple, but well done—the shrimp are smallish and sweet and were cooked just right.

The next trip, he had fried chicken ($10). So, well, duh, that was a no brainer for me.  I certainly wasn’t passing that up.  He gives quite a generous portion for lunch. There was a thigh, a leg and a breast/wing combo that I really liked because he had taken out most of the bone.  The chicken was buttermilk marinated giving it a nice tangy flavor under the crust and the breast meat was sort of shockingly juicy.  I love fried chicken breasts done well, but it is almost always dry, so I usually only eat the dark meat, but I think this breast was even better than the dark pieces.  The skin was nicely seasoned and crispy and I really liked the coarse grits served alongside—I am normally a person who nearly always gets mashed potatoes with fried chicken when given the option, but this was a nice variation because of their texture.  There were also collard greens under the chicken with some big hunks of pork—they were good too, although honestly, I was a little more fixated on the chicken. And that was a ton of food for me for lunch.

One of the things I love about the City Market these days is the variety of food you can get there, and Brad’s goes even further offering different options each day which opens up even more possibilities. I have seen many daily specials on the facebook page that I would like to try.  So have you guys been yet? What have you had?

Brad Gates Catering

Indianapolis City Market

222 East Market Street

Indy  46204

317/445-0105

www.bradgatescatering.com

A Few of My Favorite Places: Brad Gates Catering

I haven’t done a favorite places post in awhile, and I thought it would be a good fit to talk about Brad Gates Catering again. Brad has catered a couple of events for me in the last month or two and he is certainly my go to person for this kind of need.  Most recently, he catered my birthday and did a great job.  I’ll just tell you a couple of highlights, mainly because there was a lot of wine consumed on this particular night, and some of my recollections of particular details are somewhat foggy (also explains the lack of pictures).  We had a smallish group, but Brad still provided us with lots of different small tastes to enjoy and the food was great. 

I helped to choose the menu somewhat, but also let Brad come up with most of the ideas.  There were a couple of things I have had before and a lot of new stuff. It was all good. Really good.  One of the the things I loved was the chilied salmon nachos.  They were chips with some nicely seasoned salmon, pico de gallo and avocado crème fraiche. They were easy to eat which meant I ate a lot of them. And I loved that most everything we had was finger food-ish so we all just sort of munched and hung out.  We also had lamp chops Milanese that surprised me—I was a little skeptical because they were breaded and I worried they might be tough or overcooked. But they weren’t.  They were super tender and perfectly medium rare.  There was also a great pork wonton soup-- he did little individual spoons with a wonton in each.  Those wontons were amazing. Such tender pork.

Anyway, if you are ever in the market for a caterer, I would heartily recommend Brad Gates.  He also recently did the food for an anniversary party for my parents and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it as well (including me). The menu was completely different, and maybe slightly more traditional (per my request), but just as good.  He is also a really nice guy whom you don’t mind having in your house for several hours (there are some I have met I would not say this about).

And, I wanted to get this posted because I just saw on facebook that Brad is continuing one of my personal favorite traditions—delivery Valentine’s Day dinners.  He creates a menu and you can tell him how many dinners you want and it is delivered to your house in a cute basket.  This is a perfect scenario for me because a) I hate going out on Valentine’s Day and b) I love Brad’s food.  So check it out—last year’s pork shoulder was extremely memorable.  It is a great way to get a great meal prepared for you by one of my favorite local chefs without having to have a party to cater.  You can also check out his food locally at the Ball & Biscuit.

Brad Gates Catering & Events

317-292-4259

www.bradgatescatering.com

More Closings....

With sadness, I have to let you all know that two places offering great independent food in Indy have both closed this week.  As I tweeted earlier this week, Z's Oyster Bar and Steakhouse abruptly closed this week (well, it seemed abrupt to me anyway) and last night I received an email from Euphoria stating that they have also decided to stop offering nightly dinner service and focus solely on their private party/catering business, which according to the email, has been a growing business for them.  As I have written here, Euphoria has always struggled somewhat with getting customers in the door, even with 2 superb chefs at the helm--first Brad Gates and now Ivy Denman.  I am assuming Ivy is still going to be the chef for the private functions (if that is not the case, I will let you know), so at least you can still plan a private party and enjoy her wonderful cooking.  And as I have mentioned here and reviewed several time, you can enjoy Brad's cooking through his catering service, Brad Gates Catering and Events.  Z's was a great, but badly located, restaurant where I recently had one of the best steaks I can remember.  I was actually thinking about having an anniversary party for my parents there this year, but I guess I will need to think of another option.

<<<Update: I have heard from Chef Denman, and she is leaving Euphoria, so unfortunately you will no longer be able to enjoy her cuisine at Euphoria.  Honestly, I am not sure if they are hiring another chef, but I can't imagine it being successful for long without a chef. I really hope to see Chef Denman somewhere else very soon. I would hate to see her leave Indy.>>>>

So now, as I have to do every so often (usually whenever another one of my favorites shuts its doors), I am giving you the poke in the ribs to get out there and support local restaurants.  Next time you are tempted to go to a chain, for me, think about it and pick a local place instead.  The only way we can expand our dining scene, encourage new independent restaurants, and maintain the ones we have is by supporting them with our business.  If you are looking for ideas, check out the right hand "labels" column here on my blog, and click on "Independent Restaurants."  Or leave a comment, or drop me a line.  I will be happy to recommend somewhere close to you, wherever you are in the Indy area.

And hey, keep in mind that Chow Down Midtown starts this week, where you can get a multi-course dinner (or two) for $30 at some great independent restaurants in the Broad Ripple Area--what perfect timing to try someplace new! (Tomorrow's post will offer a review of one of the places featured on Chow Down Midtown, and I have reviewed many of the others--again, check the labels column to easily find them).
And feel free to leave a comment and a shout out to your local favorites. Anything we can do to support them!

Now, go eat!

Erin

Brad Gates Catering - Valentine's Meal Delivered

This is kind of a random review, but this meal was so good, I had to share it with you. And you will know, next year, if Indy is lucky enough to have Brad Gates preparing a delivered Valentine’s Day meal again, you should totally get it. (Sometimes he does the same concept for other holidays as well).  So the way it worked was he had prepared a set menu and you could just order it to be delivered for $40 a person.  They dropped it off in little foil carry out containers with heating instructions –they were really easy to follow and not screw up.  Oh, and they brought a nice red rose too. (Keep in mind the pictures are the way I plated the food, possibly not the way he might have had in mind, and certainly not as pretty as any chef would have done I am sure.)

The first course was a smoked trout and crab cake with a frissée-onion salad and mustard remoulade.  The very good sized cake was tasty—it had a lot of the smoked trout flavor to it, reminding me a little of brandade—or those little potted dishes of salt cod.  It had a fair amount of crab in it too, which mellowed the fish flavor just the right amount.  The salad with the insanely thinly sliced red onions was a nice accompaniment to the rich, almost creamy cake, giving a nice texture variety—the only thing I would have changed would be to add a bit more vinaigrette to the greens to add a punch of that zinginess I like.   I used the remoulade to dip the cake into—it had a nice bit of heat from the mustard that was a nice balance to the slight smoky taste of the fish.  These cakes were mainly meat, not a lot of filler, but enough that they were moist and not dry (sometimes I find those really super crabby cakes to end up dried out because they don’t put enough liquid ingredients to bind the meat properly).

The next course was one of my favorites—and one of the dishes Chef Gates delivered to me on my birthday as well.  Mushroom gnocchi with Parmigiano cream sauce, little slivers of prosciutto and some fresh spinach leaves mixed in.  I have said it before, but I think Chef Gates does some of the best Italian food in Indy.  These little tender, earthy pillows were so good-just the right amount of mushroom flavor coming through.  And the cream sauce, while rich, was not so heavy that you felt like you were clogging your arteries with each bite.  The sauce was just a little thin, and mostly tasted of the salty Parmigiano.  He provided just enough extra cheese to sprinkle on top as well.

The main course was Italian-style steamed Gunthrop Farms pork shoulder.  Now, I am somewhat picky about pork, because it seems like it so often dry and flavorless.  This just may have been some of the best pork I have ever had. It was sliced in a bit of the broth—you just heated it up along with some veggies on the side (fingerlings and carrots) and finished with a wonderfully fresh, salsa verde—lots of green flavor and a bit of crunchy texture from chopped parsley and red onions.  I loved that salsa verde and put quite a bit on my portion.  He even provided a little container of coarse sea salt to sprinkle over the top, which we did, and which totally finished the dish.  But the pork was just so moist; it was like the world’s best pulled pork with Italian seasonings.  This dish was so amazing.  Hubby ate the rest for lunch a couple of days later and enjoyed it just as much, if not more.

For dessert, there were two little flourless chocolate cakes and a little side of vanilla crème brulee and little vanilla syrup to drizzle.  It was a nice, reasonably small dessert to finish off a great Valentine’s dinner.  The chocolate was rich and the flavor of the crème brulee was a nice addition, although, it was hard to get the super crunch top on it the way you do at restaurants (although it did come already caramelized on top).  The vanilla syrup was light –not super syrupy like you might imagine. It added a delicate flavor that was better just with the crème brulee because it got lost a little if you ate it with the rich chocolate.  From top to bottom, this was one of the best meals I have had in awhile, and even though I had to do the dishes, it was totally worth it.  I hope Chef Gates continues the Valentine’s Day tradition of delivering meals, and next year, if you are looking for something different, give it a go (and keep your eyes out, like I said, sometimes he does similar carry out meals for other holidays).

Brad Gates Catering & Events

317-292-4259

www.bradgatescatering.com

Brad Gates Catering- the Next Dinner Party

It was my BFF’s birthday, and we wanted to do something special, and I had been itching to hire Brad Gates to cater another dinner for us.  So I talked to my friend about putting some items on the menu that she would really enjoy, and planned a dinner.  It is really easy to work with Brad—we tend to communicate via email and sort out a dinner.  This time my friend had requested a couple of things, and then I let Brad come up with the rest (subject to my approval). 

One of the great things about Brad’s business is his enormous love and stock of cheese.  We started with a cheese plate for our hors d’oeuvres.  He does a fabulous job with cheese.  He served us Beehive Barely Buzzed, Mont Enebro, Colston Bassett Stilton, and Forsterkase.  The cheeses were served with wafer thin crackers and fig jam.  It was a great selection of cheeses, and all 7 at the dinner commented on how much they enjoyed them.  The “Barely Buzzed” cheese is a fairly firm cheese with quite a deep flavor. The rind is rubbed with a combination of coffee and lavender which gives the cheese an even nuttier flavor.  It was unique and quite tasty. 

The Mont Enebro was a nice fairly soft goat cheese with the characteristic tanginess that so often goes along with goats.  The Stilton was our blue cheese of the evening, and had the characteristic veining and sharp flavor of a blue.  Stiltons are dryer blues than most.  It tasted amazing with the fig jam.  Finally the Forsterkase is a Swiss cow’s milk cheese that is wrapped in bark—this gave the creamy, slightly stinky cheese a  bit of a woody flavor.  It was also really good.  Ok, I am trying not to go on and on about cheese, because I could, but I want to get to the next parts of the meal.

For our first sit down course, we had one of our (and the BFF’s) perennial Brad favorites, the tuna tartare.  Seriously, I can think of only maybe one other place that can do it as well (although with completely different seasoning). Why is this so hard?  Anyway, he served nice individual portions of the layers of tuna, finely diced sweet onion and tomato, avocado and horseradish-Dijon vinaigrette. The thing is, the layers were layed out individually, but even if you just picked up a couple of pieces of the tuna without the rest, you could taste that it had been nicely seasoned with lemon and salt.  Of course, once you mixed it all together, it was even better.  The only disappointment was that this time it was served with warm pita. I really missed the crunchy seeded wontons we have had in the past. (Hey, I saw some yummy looking seeded crackers at Zest a couple days later that looked like they would be delicious with the tuna).

The next course, and the other one requested by the birthday girl, was something we had had at Euphoria together when Brad was the chef there.  It was sweet potato gnocchi with shaved Brussels sprouts, braised pork shoulder and Parmigiano Reggiano.  This was probably the favorite course of the evening for most.  Little pillows of sweet potato gnocchi (but not overpoweringly sweet) with super tender rich slivers of pork and the Brussels sprouts giving it a little crunch.  And the portion was not overwhelmingly  large, which I appreciated.

The last savory course was tender, juicy wonderful Cook’s Farm bison tenderloin served with caramelized Cipollinis, 3-Grain rice pilaf and pomegranate coulis.  I liked the sweet and tangy nature of the coulis, although others at the table felt it may have been a little too sweet.  The little onions were soft and tasty and while maybe slightly less of the coulis would have been perfect for me (and for others), I thought the flavors were nice together.

Finally, we were served a little warm chocolate-anise truffle cake with candied Anjou pears and Crème Anglaise.  I didn’t get the anise that much, but the little molten chocolate cakes were delicious and rich, and the perfect dessert for the BFF, who LOVES a chocolate molten cake.

The service (which was Brad’s lovely wife Meggin) was stellar.  I love that they work together so well and are efficient and on top of everything, but unobtrusive.  And they are very friendly and fun to have in your house.  And when an issue arose with one of our guests, who as it turns out didn’t eat pork or red meat (bad hostess for not asking!), Brad quickly whipped up a portion of the gnocchi without the pork, and served her a lovely piece of seared tuna in place of the bison.  I was impressed since he obviously wasn’t prepared in advance for this situation (again, bad hostess!).  All in all, it was a top notch meal, and I am so glad we still have Brad available to cook for us, even if he isn’t in a restaurant.   

Brad Gates Catering & Events

317-292-4259

www.bradgatescatering.com

Brad Gates Catering and Events

This is not my typical review, because it was my birthday dinner, and it was a catered dinner I had at my house. I wasn’t going to review it at all but then I thought, hey, anyone can hire them as well, and well, the food was so damn good, I needed to share the info. And really, when you think about how much you spend on a nice dinner out, it really isn’t any more expensive per person—so get your closest friends together, pool your money and have a dinner party!

I hired Brad Gates Catering & Events to do my birthday dinner, because he is one of my favorite chefs in Indy, and since leaving Euphoria, has started his own private catering company. And hey, a small dinner party with a few friends at my house sounded pretty good to me right? Someone else cooking and serving but in the comfort of your own home…and it was one of those milestone-type birthdays (damn, I am getting old) so I figured why not?

It worked like this—Brad sent me a sample menu, and I made a couple of small changes to a couple of the courses, mostly based on what I thought my guests would like, but overall, he supplied me with a menu for dinner that sounded amazing and I went with his instincts for seasonal food. It was quite a menu for sure but I couldn’t really say no to any of the courses so we went with what ended up to be a couple of appetizers served before dinner and then a 6 course seated dinner.

The appetizers were amazing- 2 of my favorite things from when Brad worked at Euphoria—the tartares- tuna and beef. He served them in individual portions, the beef on potato chips and the tuna on crispy wontons. The beef was amazing-super fresh (has to be) mixed with the onions, capers, a slice of the cornichon and a part of a fried quail egg on each one and with mustard on the side to put on yourself. Perfect. The tuna was also really good—served with a tomato, onion and avocado mix and horseradish vinaigrette on crispy wontons. I loved the way these were served in individual portions—I sorta thought they would be served communally, but this was even nicer and even though hubby and I argue about how to best mix (or not mix) the ingredients in the beef tartare, this was the perfect solution—someone else did it and did it perfectly—you got a bit of every flavor with each bite.

Ok, obviously, I cannot go into great detail with every course because there were so many and I know I will probably lose you all at some point, but the first course of the seated dinner was certainly one of my favorites—(and coincidentally one of the few I remembered to take a picture of). It was Edgartown bay scallops in a shallot-verjus nage. Wow. These scallops were amazing. It was also one of the ones I was most concerned with because I had a couple of people at the table who didn’t think they liked scallops. But everyone loved these. Everyone. They were super fresh, very sweet and the sauce was perfectly balanced—the right amount of acidic flavor with a touch of butter and the little pieces of shallot. Outstanding.

The next course was also great—skate Meuniere with sage mashed potatoes and hedgehog mushrooms and lemon-thyme pan sauce. This is one of the courses I added in place of something else because I love skate so much. It was also great—the fish was lightly pan fried and crispy and the sauce had just the right amount of lemon. Several people at the table hadn’t had skate before and really liked it.

The next course, which was probably the richest, and thus the one I could eat the least of, was pork cheek risotto. It was risotto, with a nice piece of slow cooked pork as well as roasted cauliflower, cipollinis and Parmigiano Reggiano. It was really good—the risotto was properly cooked (hello! not hard as a rock) and the flavors were totally winter and hearty and everything you look for in such a dish. So rich though. Wow. I could only eat about half. But really tasty.

Our next course was lamb chops with butternut squash puree and roasted Brussels sprouts. The chops were small and tender and had a lot of flavor. They were seasoned with a balsamic reduction and had a slightly sweet taste, which may not be to every one’s taste, but I quite liked them and they were nicely prepared medium rare.

We also had a couple of great cheese boards and a small trio of desserts including a vanilla profiterole, a caramelized banana tart and a molten chocolate cupcake. Of course my favorite was the banana tart—I have loved that banana tart since when Euphoria used to have it. I do have to admit though, a lot of wine was consumed at this dinner, so by the time we got to the last two courses, it became hard to remember all the fine details.

Oh, and let me mention the wine as well—I know usually I don’t get into the wine part of my meals as much—but in this instance, we had our friend Ashley from Cork and Cracker pair wines with each course. Wow. This was amazing—the wines were beautiful and made this dinner extra special. I have included a picture of the wine list that Ashley chose and as you will see, she worked hard on it. Every one of them was great, and I can’t wait to go buy some of them at the shop.

I am telling you, this was from top to bottom one of the best dinners I have had in Indianapolis—and it doesn’t hurt when you have good friends, great wines, and your own music playing (and I even got to use my own china at my request). I am seriously thinking that more small catered dinner parties are certainly in my future.

(P.S. I also tried some of Gates Catering’s “to go” type items—there are several products you can order and have delivered. This was also a great way to have some really good food at home for a reasonable price).

Brad Gates Catering & Events
317-292-4259
http://www.bradgatescatering.com/

Euphoria minus a chef

***As of June 5, 2011, Euphoria is closed as a restaurant and is only open for private events. The chef has also left the restaurant.****

Well, damn, it looks like one of my favorite chefs in the City, Brad Gates, has left Euphoria to pursue his own business in catering. I know, I for one, will miss him at Euphoria. Of course I wish him well in his endeavors and will have to come up with some events to have catered!

While Euphoria has been one of my favorite restaurants since I started blogging, it has always struggled a bit business-wise (from my purely unscientific observations) and this loss makes me wonder for its future. Hopefully, it will find its groove because it would be a shame to lose yet another of our few fine dining establishments. If you eat there from here on out, shoot me a line and let me know how it went. And of course, I am sure I will get back there myself one of these days to see what's up.

In the meantime, if you are interested in Brad Gates, you can find him on twitter @Gates_Catering.

Euphoria- Summer Devour Dowtown

***As of June 5, 2011, Euphoria is closed as a restaurant and is only open for private events. The chef has also left the restaurant.****

Well, we took some friends who had never been to Euphoria for devour downtown (what? It’s a new season, and yes, I love this place). Anyway, I was interested to see what they would do for the devour downtown menu. I am really trying to eat off the $30 menus to see if restaurants are really showcasing their best. And because I want to see what I would think if I walked in for the first time specifically to try the cheaper menus.

I was glad to see that the Euphoria menu featured something besides steak (which I have seen on most of the menus) and highlighted one of the chef’s specialties, the scallops grenobloise. Another nice touch was that they were offering a wine pairing with each course for an additional $20.

Anyhow, I started with the Gruyere Salad which was red oak leaf and bibb lettuce with gruyere, croutons and a Dijon vinaigrette. I have had this salad before, and it is tasty. Properly dressed (actually tossed in the dressing) and had the cheese and croutons tossed in as well so they were nicely distributed. I kind of have a pet peeve with a lot of the restaurants in this city about salads. I hate when they give you these nice salads with great greens and then either drizzle a tiny bit of dressing on top or pile all the toppings on top in a bowl that is far too small to mix them up in. The best salads I have had are ones where you can stick your fork in, get a bite, and taste all the flavors at once. Even the dressing. This is a salad like that. Still fairly simple, but the flavors are all there in each bite.

Hubby had another classic standby, the steak tartare off the bar menu. It was, as usual, yummy and huge. Seriously, that is a lot of meat. Enough for 4 people I think. It looks so pretty all layered the way it is served, but hubby always promptly mixes it all together into a yummy mash. But I am glad to see this staying on the menu, as I haven’t had it anywhere else around here where it is any good (I can only think of one other place where I have even seen it on the menu).

I had the scallops for my main. They are always perfectly seared (yes, I have had them a few times) and they are served over fingerlings from the farmers market with green beans and garlic croutons and lemon caper butter. I love the totally zip of the lemon butter. You can actually tell there is lemon (and capers too) in there. It is tangy. And that’s how I like it. The croutons are nice with it too, although mine had absorbed a bit too much of the sauce and were a little soft. I have had it before when they are really crunchy and I like the juxtaposition of the softness of the scallops with the crunch of the croutons.

The other choice on the devour menu was a roasted chicken with maitake mushrooms, polenta and a black truffle-fines herbs jus. This was a tough decision for me because I have had this before as well and it is also really tasty. One of the few places I would actually consider ordering chicken out (I hardly ever do). I think the only other place I did it often was the Slow Club in San Francisco (man, they could cook some mean chicken). But back on topic, one of my dining companions did order the chicken and she and her husband both really enjoyed it.

Hubby had the sardine appetizer for his main dish. They were grilled whole sardines with sweet cherry tomatoes, arugula and lemon-thyme vinaigrette. This was probably the only let down of the evening. Hubby ate a whole lot of whole grilled sardines in Europe and generally really likes them. Unfortunately, these were a bit too small and the bone to meat ratio a little high. The flavors were good, but it was hard to get the meat off the bones easily.

I had the chocolate cake “cappuccino” for my dessert which was a warm molten chocolate cake served in a coffee mug with a mocha-brown sugar crème fraiche. It was pretty tasty and a unique way to serve it. But I have to say, the standout dessert was the rather large cheese board we ordered. We asked the chef to put together a nice plate (we generally like the stinkier ones) when we ordered our appetizers so that they cheese could come to room temperature. I applaud Euphoria for being the only place in town with such an extensive cheese menu. And now, it is expanding even further with the addition of new cheeses from a new purveyor. I can’t even begin to tell you all the ones we had, but suffice it to say, they were good. And gooey. My only gripe was that the crackers were too flavored and detracted a bit from the cheese flavor. I like mine plain. Or maybe a little sweet. So I asked for some bread, which they nicely toasted for me, and I was set. Oh! I totally forgot about the bread thing too. One of the things that Euphoria in its current and former incarnation has struggled with (in my opinion) is the bread service. But they have started baking their own bread, and it is really good. Nice and soft with a good crust and a slightly sweet edge. Kudos to that. Come to think of it, if they could slice it super thin and then toasted it, it would be amazing with the cheese.

Ok, one last little gripe…what happened to the pasta? I love the pasta at Euphoria (and the half orders) and I miss it. What I really wanted was an order of the papardelle with local corn, pancetta and Parmesan cream that came as a side with the one side seared beef. That sounds awesome.
I do appreciate the fact that almost every dish utilizes fresh items from local Indiana farmers--if you read through the menu you will see many local farms mentioned. I know Chef Gates hits the farmers market regularly to assure fresh produce on the menu. It really makes a difference.

Hey, I just noticed on the website they are extending the devour menu through Labor Day. Now’s the time. I tell you, for $30, this menu is a steal (I mean the scallops a la carte alone are $27!). And this is a devour downtown menu that is, in fact, showcasing what this kitchen is all about.

Euphoria
337 West 11th Street
Indy, 46202
317-955-2389
http://www.indycanal.com/ (glad to see they're working on their website...although it still doesn't fit on my screen right).

Euphoria-April Revisit

***As of June 5, 2011, Euphoria is closed as a restaurant and is only open for private events. The chef has also left the restaurant.****

Wow, I have been doing well lately with some amazing meals . Ok, I know I review this place more than a lot of places, but well, it is one of my favorite places, and hey, it’s my blog right? And seriously people, if you haven’t been, go and give it a try.

First though, in the interest of my complete honesty and total full disclosure, I must tell you all that this is a restaurant where I know, and am friendly with, much of the staff, so my meals there are in no way anonymous. Not that I think they treat me any differently from anyone else, and not that I would ever be anything but truthful in my review, but I thought I should let you know.

Ok, enough of that and onto the food. Overall, this is one of the best meals I have had (in Indy) in awhile (well, that and my last R Bistro meal, but you already know about that). So I had seen on the web that Chef Gates had put morels on the menu, so I needed to get in there (oh how I love morels). The menu had already changed, but the morels were still being used—of course, I ordered the item containing them for my starter. It was a spinach salad with bacon-Sherry vinaigrette, nice hearty hunks of blue cheese, red onions and of course, the aforementioned, crispy fried, morels. This salad came together beautifully. The dressing was pleasingly tangy and in proper amounts. Simply, I loved it. Hubby had the duck confit for his starter (seriously, that was a starter?). It was huge and hubby loved it. He was literally sucking the meat off the bones at the end, manners be damned. It was served over roasted asparagus and according to him, was perfectly cooked.

For our main course, we shared the skate (have I mentioned lately how much I love skate?) which was done in the classic Meuniere style (with lots of yummy lemon butter and capers on top) and served alongside house made linguine in a very light tomato sauce. I have also mentioned this before I think, but the Chef does fresh pasta so well, I am always happy when I get something with a side of pasta. You know it will be good. We also got a small order of the mussels from the bar menu which are also always good---I have told you about them before, but they are served with sliced garlic and topped with roasted tomatoes. And they are fresh, unlike certain restaurants around here apparently. Also, new to the bar menu are the skate fries which are fried strips of breaded skate, that sounded quite intriguing. Have I mentioned how much I love skate? I will say that entrees here are certainly big enough to share, and I find you can easily make a dinner of two appetizers.

We were so full that we passed on dessert (even the cheese) and just sat and digested with an extra glass of wineto share. I am happy to report though that not only was the food top to bottom outstanding, but the service was more polished than I have ever experienced while eating in the dining room. We happily recognized our server as a former L’explorateur server and service was attentive without being obnoxious. The wine was cold, the service good and the food amazing. Seriously, overall, this was one of the best meals I have had in since living in Indy. And this is a place with an ever-changing menu with amazing seasonal creations. Support our creative, inventive chefs who are still passionate about what they are doing and go have dinner!

Euphoria (and hey, they even have signs outside now!)
337 West 11th Street
Indy, 46202
317-955-2389
http://www.indycanal.com/

Update: 4/24: did another visit (after seeing Elements go under we wanted to be sure and support our faves) for dinner tonight and had a great meal and great service. Yummy steak tartare and the halibut with morel nage and spring veggies. Delish! The best patio in town too.

Euphoria-Winter Revisit

***As of June 5, 2011, Euphoria is closed as a restaurant and is only open for private events. The chef has also left the restaurant.****

Well, after L’explorateur’s unfortunate closing, hubby and I agreed we needed to put our money where our mouth is (no pun intended) and get back out to one of our favorite local restaurants/chefs and visit Euphoria again. We also went with hubby’s parents. It was so uplifting to see just how busy this place was! The first few times I went to the Tavern (before changing names and management) the food was always great, but the place was lacking in customers. This time, they had nearly a full house by the time we left and the place had a great vibe.

The food was also great as well. I shared/tasted several items and had several remarkable things. We were served a fabulous amuse bouche of fried artichokes with some of the tasty Puttanesca that is mentioned below. A great way to start the meal (and as I have mentioned before, I am always more impressed by a warm amuse, it takes some effort). As for what we ordered, we went with a few favorites we have had before and a few new items. The things we had had before, the beef tartare (off the bar menu) and the sweet potato gnocchi were good. The tartare is a great dish served with all the traditional garnishes on the side to mix in with the beef and housemade potato chips. The gnocchi are served with shaved Brussels spouts, braised pork and parmesan. They were maybe not quite as good as the first time we had them (I’m not sure why, maybe not as much of the Brussel Sprout flavor) but still very tasty.

I also tried the shrimp curry for the first time which was quite tasty, even for me, and I am picky about what curries I like. They are served with Laughing Bird shrimp, which are small, sustainably raised shrimp and were really great. I hope to see these shrimp in other dishes in the future—they had much more flavor than many of those super sized shrimps I keep seeing on menus around here that are always too firm. Anyway, there was a light curry sauce with avocado, pineapple and green onions that tasted slightly sweet from coconut milk but also had a bit of heat to it. This was not the kind of bright yellow curry you might picture from certain Asian restaurants. This was a light, creamy and spicy sauce on the shrimp served over perfectly cooked steamed rice. It was really quite good.

I also had part of the Scallop entrée which were large sea scallops served over baby spinach with cod cheeks, granny smith apples and a bacon sherry vinaigrette (with nice sized chunks of bacon). There were 4 large scallops and this was easily an entrée that could be (and was) shared. I enjoyed the saltiness of the bacon mixed with the tanginess of the vinaigrette and apples—right up my alley.

My father in law also ordered the one side seared beef which was served with a great fettuccine Puttanesca. It was also outstanding. Chef Gates really does pasta well—much better in fact then most Italian restaurants in this city in my opinion. The meat is also perfectly cooked, and everyone at the table had some and loved it.

The evening we were there was the last night of Devour Downtown and Euphoria had a great prix fixe menu set with several choices. They have decided to keep a $30 prix fixe on the menu for the time being. I think this is a great idea in our current economy. The menu has changed this week to my understanding, and after having a peek at the new one, the new prix fixe gives some great options (a great sounding soup or salad to start, trout or shortribs for a main, and a trio of desserts that includes my all time favorite banana tart).

The rest of the new menu (with some of the same items from the old one including the Scallops) has some great sounding additions, I for one am anxious to try the deconstructed Dungeness Crab starter. Oh how I love Dungeness Crab. We were also told that once they get to more Spring-ish menus, we will see some changes the wine list as well, which will make for a nice variety.

I noticed the steakhouse menu that I mentioned in my last review of Euphoria is gone which I for one am happy to see. We have enough steakhouses (we counted what like 10 downtown alone?). We do not have enough eclectic menus like Euphoria’s. Enough said.

As for the service, which has long been the Achilles’ heel of this place, it is certainly more friendly and welcoming. However, I think maybe they are (or were this night anyway) a bit short staffed, as the more crowded it became, the more overwhelmed the service staff seemed. But they kept up a warm front and did their best, and it was good to see them all so busy!

Euphoria is certainly one of the top restaurants in Indianapolis and I hope to see it prosper. Even if you are on a tight budget, there are great choices both on the prix fixe and the bar menu (in which everything is around $10 or less--be sure and ask for it) and you will certainly get some great food.

Euphoria
337 West 11th Street
Indy, 46202
317-955-2389
http://www.indycanal.com/

****2/9/09 update: Just thought I should share that on Monday nights the bar at Euphoria is open for an happy hour with all bar menu food items at 1/2 price as well as certain drinks. (The restaurant is closed, just the bar is open). They are also offering a seafood buffet with oysters, crab legs and shrimp cocktail, all you can eat, for $10. This is seriously one of the best deals going --you can get some amazing food for ridiculously low prices at one of the best restaurants in the City. Get yourself in there and see what they have to offer. I think you'll be hooked (and I can't believe these great deals are going to last forever.)