Beholder

Hubby and I finally got out to Beholder the other night. I have been hearing a lot of things about it from several friends and we were anxious to go. I didn’t really have it in my head exactly where it was, but it’s on the near eastside, not far from Irvington. It’s an old garage I think, that has been renovated. It still has a sort of industrial feel, but it’s very modern inside. Plain grey walls with only some flower arrangements as décor. It would be a great space to highlight some local artists. Just my two cents.

Ok, so we had heard the portions were small, so we went full in with our order. Between the two of us, we started with three smaller plates and ordered two of the larger plates. I loved the way they sort of just paced them all out one at a time to make for a leisurely meal that didn’t feel like they were just trying to turn over the table. The first course we had was a special that evening—the heirloom tomato salad ($13). It was delicious. Local tomatoes, feta cheese, pistachios, some mixed greens and a wonderful vinaigrette with oregano oil. Seriously, everything together here was so good. Just the right balance between the slightly salty, creaminess of the cheese and the acid of the tomatoes. I appreciated the greens that were more of an accent than a major part of the dish. The next dish that came out was the eggplant tartare ($11). I had been told by several people how good this dish was, and they weren’t lying. It is more of a dip than a tartare—a creamy eggplant dip with Middle Eastern seasonings. They serve it with this delicious fry bread that you could happily eat on its own, it has so much flavor itself. It’s rich and buttery tasting with a little kick of salt. Not crunchy, but not super soft either. You could really taste the cumin throughout this dish. Really good. I could see this being one of their classic dishes. I hope it is. Our final small plate was the Kampachi sashimi ($19). This was the one I was most excited about to order, and to be honest, was my least favorite. Although it was still very good. Just the intensity of the flavors of the other dishes were better. The dish had a little mound of sticky rice on the bottom, which was soaked in brown butter. How could you really go wrong with brown butter? It gave the dish not only richness, but a nuttiness as well. The fish was thinly sliced and then topped with local tart cherry garnish. A really interesting flavor combination as well.

The next two dishes they brought together (it was a nice touch that the chef seemed to be delivering most of the entrées personally). We had the skate wing (which is the wing of a ray), which was served with potato skin aioli and a green curry sauce ($23). I love skate. Many restaurants offered in in San Francisco, and then when we moved to England, it was everywhere—it was like catfish is here—available in every local seafood counter. It’s light and flavorful, and you don’t have to worry about bones. So Beholder’s version was awesome. Very light dusted and floured and perfectly browned. I loved both sauces together with the fish. And I think I can safely say it was the first time I have had potato skin aioli. A cool flavor with a hint of potatoes. They actually gave a fair amount of the skate here—two filets, but if you’re a person who wants a starch with every meal, then you might think it wasn’t filling enough. I thought it was perfect.

We also had the Iberico pork secreto ($43), which was a splurge, but extremely delicious. If you’re familiar with Iberico pork, you know it’s usually served sliced and cured like prosciutto. This was more like a steak that had been cooked and shaved. It had a bit of chewiness from the high fat content, but was so good. Hubby can’t stop talking about it. The meat was so well seasoned, and the dish was served with pickled spring onions, walnuts and some lightly grilled greens. Loved the combination of crunchy textures in this dish, the slight chewiness of the pork and the crunch of the walnuts. It was only five ounces of meat but was rich and tasty. You’re not going to feel overly full maybe just from this dish, but I think you will feel satisfied.

Desserts are a whole other experience here, as they have Pete Schmutte as the pastry chef, formerly from Cerulean. In my opinion, he is maybe one of Indy’s top 2-3 pastry chefs. His desserts are as lovely as they are tasty. Hubby and I shared the gjetost cheese custard with oats and plum ($10). I will tell you, hubby was doubtful when he saw it, but man, was this good. Underneath the crisp cookie-like piece and the super thin sliced fruit, was this mixture of cheesy bits and crunchy oat bits that were kind of like the top of a fruit crumble. Seriously, I know it sounds weird, but it was altogether super delicious. And look how pretty too. Also, Beholder has one of the best dessert wine lists by the glass in Indy. Oh, and they bring you a nice little end of meal plate of sweets that rival many of our best candy makers as well. We had a little disc of dark chocolate and mint, and a berry flavored pate de fruits. Both were outstanding.

Overall, this is the best new thing happening in Indy right now. Some may scoff and say the portions are small, but I say, who cares when the food is this good. You can get a lot of different flavors all in one meal, and I personally can’t wait to go back. And it may be expensive for Indy, but after having just returned from NYC and the prices there, we should appreciate the artistry of this food, its sophistication, and the price point compared to other cities. It might not be an everyday place, but it is worth a splurge. I just hope it can last.

Beholder

1844 East 10^th Street

Indy  46201

317/419-3471

www.beholderindy.com 

MIlktooth-- Revisit

Hubby and I had a rare day off when the kids were still in school just before Christmas and decided to hit up Milktooth. Wowza, it was packed. I guess other people had the same idea. Anyway, we waited about 30 minutes but it was actually one of those sunny days and we sat outside in the sun.

We had already looked over the menu when we did get seated, so we ordered right away. While there were several things that sounded good, this was a menu that wasn’t as compelling as some I have seen. But it changes all the time, so this will happen sometimes. We were intrigued by the Indiana hot wings, but the warning that came on the menu that they were extremely hot and that no refunds would be offered scared us off so we decided to pass on those. If they have that kind of warning, we figured they must be really hot. And I’m not the type to love super fiery hot stuff that destroys my taste buds anyhow.

So we ordered the burger ($14), because, let’s face it, it is usually one of the best burgers around these days. They vary it up and this one was different and extremely tasty. It was a thin beef patty topped with asiago, shitake mushrooms, cream cheese chive aioli. Oh, and of course, we added an egg. Part of what makes it so good is that Amelia’s Pullman bun too. It’s just perfect. Light but exactly right to hold up to the stuff inside. Seriously, we split this (as well as everything else) and hubby really wanted to order a second one for dessert. We were both savoring every single bite.

We also ordered the Dutch baby pancake with Manchego, grapefruit, shaved Brussels sprouts, Sherry vinaigrette and chopped hazelnuts--oh and we added the meat option ($16). I want to say it was morcilla? I was glad we added it though—although it was a bit chewy, it added a nice smoky hearty flavor. I liked this better than the last Dutch baby I had at Milktooth because it was pretty much purely savory. The acid and intensity of the grapefruit was a nice contrast with the cheese. The Brussels sprouts were very tasty too and overall were sliced very thin. There were a couple that were just a little too thick for me, but overall, this was a dish that was super interesting and really good.

We tried to get the ham and cheese croissant, but sadly they were out of it, so we decided to get the latke ($5) instead. They usually have some sort of latke on the menu, but they mix it up as to what’s in it, and what’s on it. This one was potato and rutabaga and was topped with acorn squash butter and green harissa cream. I loved the harissa cream—it was tangy like it was made with sour cream. I didn’t really like the acorn squash butter as much, but it didn’t really matter because I just pushed it out of the way and ate all the rest. 

Ok, we had some wine, and in order to prevent hubby from ordering that second burger, we decided to try a pastry for dessert. We got the twice-baked pumpkin/chocolate croissant ($4). I was suspicious because pumpkin flavored things aren’t typically my first choice, but this was really good.  Decadent.

The only downside was the service was pretty slow. But like I said, they were really busy, so I think our server might have been a little overwhelmed. But we had nowhere to be and had wine, so we were generally pretty happy. I’ve said it many times before, but we are lucky to have this place and I am glad to see it still living up to the hype. There’s always something new to try, and always a twist on an old favorite as well.

Milktooth

540 Virginia Ave

Indy  46203

317/292-2280

www.milktoothindy.com

Milktooth - Revisit

A couple months ago I posted about Milktooth and my friend who has recently moved from Indy to Austin saw the post and requested a trip there when she was returning to Indy to visit. Of course, I was more than happy to oblige.

And guess what?? They were featuring soft shell crab on one of their dishes. And guess which one I got? This dish was so unique, and so delicious. So it was this savory French toast—which was so tender and absorbed the deliciousness that came from the sunny egg that was on top of it. The crab was then fried and laid beside it all. There was a miso turmeric broth that everything sat in. Even without the crab, which was cooked just right, I would have been happy with this dish—the bread and the egg with the sauce was great. Add that crisp crab and the pickled veggies and capers and it was perfection. A bunch of things I never would have thought to put together, but a bunch of things that should be together. Sadly, the soft shell season is fleeting, but this is a dish I would order any day. I will say, they also had skate wing on the menu on this day, another of my favorite things that you don’t see enough on menus, so I am hoping to get to try it there one day too. My point is, when you eat there, don’t be afraid to try something totally out of your comfort zone or something that might sound like a weird combo. For instance, one of the friends who was with us also ordered the soft shell crab even though she had never had it before and really enjoyed it.

My friend who requested we go there was set to get the Belgian waffle ($13), which I am sure is delicious with its salted butter and parmesan combo and she asked what I thought. I told her she could eat a Belgian waffle anywhere, so she decided to try the Dutch baby pancake with strawberry rhubarb topping and toasted almonds. She seemed to enjoy it and the bite I had was very good. I don’t tend to order sweets for any meal, but this was a more original take on a sweet breakfast item, and I love strawberry rhubarb anything. The pancake itself has a nice crisp exterior and a soft airy interior.

Ok, I told you I can’t really go to Milktooth anymore without ordering those Korean chicken wings ($12) and I wasn’t lying. So I ordered a plate for the table. Just as delicious as always. So crispy underneath that delicious sweet/hot sauce. Squeeze of lime—perfection.

This is certainly one of my favorite places to eat right now, and every time I go, I am excited by the new items on the menu. And the chicken wings.

Milktooth

540 Virginia Ave

Indy  46203

317/292-2280

www.milktoothindy.com

Milktooth - Quickie Revisit

Hubby and I have had a couple of visits back to Milktooth over the last few weeks when appointments brought us downtown together. We got to try several different items and enjoy one of Indy’s most inventive and consistently good places to eat. I love that they’re a breakfast and brunch only place because as hubby said, “You know they’re bringing their A game.” This is their thing and they’re rocking it.

Both trips we had the Korean BBQ wings ($12) and these things are just spectacular. Extra crispy even though they are coated in that slightly sweet, just barely spicy sticky sauce. Add a squeeze of the lime that comes with and you’re in heaven (even if you’ll need the wet napkin they brought afterwards to wipe up).

Another amazing dish that I could happily eat any day was the rye bialy with big eye tuna salad ($12). It was served on the delicious and soft bialy (smallish bagel type bread without a hole) and under the tuna salad was whipped cream cheese and red onions. On top were little shoots and lots of capers. This dish had so much good acid, and so much good fresh crunch, it just made me so happy.

We also shared the milktooth double burger ($12) with two lamb and beef patties, American cheese, steamed onions, “fancy sauce,” and shredded romaine. Kind of Milktooth’s version of a Big Mac I guess, but so much better. A nice solid burger.

On each trip we ordered a side and while I enjoyed the celeriac and potato latke ($5), hubby was not as big a fan—I think because of the onion marmalade, which had a bit of sweetness. I agree I prefer the more savory latkes I have had at Milktooth, but I scraped off the onions and enjoyed it. They get their latkes so, so crispy. The twice-fried tostones with chili ketchup ($6) didn’t really wow either of us though. They were just kind of soft and just fell a little flat. We only ate a couple of them.

Overall though, this place continues to be one of Indy’s stars. I don’t care if it’s hipsterish, they can do whatever they want as long as they keep putting out this level of creativity and deliciousness.

Milktooth

540 Virginia Ave

Indy  46203

317/292-2280

www.milktoothindy.com

Milktooth - Revisit

Here’s a quickie post—because well, Milktooth. I have written about it a lot. It’s no surprise that I am a fan of this place—I know there are some people that think it’s a bit precious, but I am not one of them.

Lunch with the ladies—we were treated to some uni spoons—not something I would normally order, but really good. Sometimes uni is a bit over the top for me, but these were perfect little umami bombs. A spoon, the uni, a bit of a soy-based sauce and a touch of wasabi on the end. Nicely done.

I have a thing for the lamb frita ($10) with pineapple pickled jalapenos, chile ketchup, white American cheese and tostones—oh yeah and add a fried egg ($2.50). I’ve had it before, written about it before, and will likely eat it again should the opportunity arise. A damn flavorful burger-type sandwich.

One friend had the Korean bbq wings ($12). Wow. Crispy fried wings in a wonderful, slightly sweet, slightly savory sauce. A nice sesame flavor and served with a lime. Hard to not want to order these again too should the appear on the menu. These things were slightly addictive.

A doughnut was also shared—served with a distinctive citrus glaze and some granola on top as well. I enjoy the sweets at Milktooth a lot, but am more easily lured by the savory options…. Although a salted rye brownie ($4) sounds good about now.

This place gets written up in some national publication like every other month—you should go try it if you haven’t already. It really is like nothing else in Indy.

Milktooth

540 Virginia Ave

Indy  46203

317/292-2280

www.milktoothindy.com

Milktooth - Revisit

After hearing so much about Milktooth lately (I mean they can hardly get more good press right now can they? Did you see them in Bon Appetit?), I was itching to go back, so I made a date with my friend @indyfoodswap to meet there. We were both starving when we got there and wanted to order everything on the menu. We restrained ourselves somewhat, and just got 3 different things—one was technically listed as a side, so that really doesn’t even count.

We had the Cuban lamb frita ($9), which is the current version of the lamb patty melt I had (and loved) in the past. This is seasoned differently (hence the “Cuban” part) and was equally delicious. The lamb patty is served on a bun and topped with white American cheese, pineapple, pickled jalapenos and chile ketchup. You can add a sunny side egg up for $2.50. Is there any doubt that we went for this as well? It had a delicious blend of flavors with the briny but spicy jalapenos and the richness from the cheese and egg. The brioche bun holds up well here. They also season their eggs nicely, which is good since there’s no salt or pepper on the table (more on that in a minute).

The other thing we ordered, as it turns out, was a perfect dish to combine with the hearty burger. It was the blue cheese and baby red potato salad ($12). The red leaf lettuce, tender whole potatoes, and thick sliced marinated matsutake mushrooms were a nice balance to the sandwich. The lettuce was sort of stacked on top and was covered with super thin red onions (one of my favorite garnishes on nearly anything). The blue cheese aspect was in a thick rich dressing sitting underneath everything else and it was amazingly dense and blue-cheesy. The light acid that coated the lettuce and that was in the mushrooms was perfect with it. I really enjoyed the salad, even if it seemed a tad on the small side for the price. 

The only slight disappointment was the quinoa grits ($4) that we had topped with bacon, scallions and an egg for an additional $3. Nothing wrong with the bacon here, but the saltiness just wasn’t enough to carry the egg and the large bowl of quinoa. They made the quinoa into what really was a nice creamy pile of grit-like goodness, but the whole dish was under seasoned and could have benefited greatly from a salt and pepper shaker on the table. 

But, oh, my, we also shared a "boozy campfire chocolate chip cookie." ($4). I am always a sucker for a s'mores type anything, and this cookie was no exception. It was super chocolately and topped with a wonderfully charred marshmallow. There was a sprinkle of salt on top which just added a little pop to everything else. Totally worth ordering.

I’m always impressed by the amount of creativity going into the menu at Milktooth. I love how they mix things up and are constantly surprising you with new menu items. I’m happy for them that they are getting so much good press. It’s nice to see great place in Indy getting attention for a change.

Milktooth

540 Virginia Ave

Indy  46203

317/292-2280

www.milktoothindy.com

Milktooth - Revisit

I’ve been back to Milktooth several times since my last review. There have been some ups and downs for sure on those visits, and I wanted to do an update about my last couple of visits since they have been open for awhile and are more settled.  They have settled into a new menu format—it changes a fair amount I think and I like that there seems to be new stuff on the menu every time I go. One complaint I have, now that I have sat in several seats around the restaurant—many of the chairs, while comfortable to sit in, are extremely low compared to the tables. It makes you feel like your chest is just about even with the table. But something to know--the long community tables are a good height with the chairs and that is where I always try to sit now when I go if at all possible. 

On both of my recent visits, we had good service—both times were pretty busy, although I never had to wait to be seated—our drinks were a little on the slow side on my second visit, but once our order was placed, the food came out quickly.

The first of these visits, we shared the fried bologna okonomiyaki ($14) with broken udon noodles, cabbage, housemade Sriracha and hoisin. There were also some nice strips of crispy bacon on top. This one was really interesting and the favorite of the meal on this trip. The noodles were formed into a kind of patty with all the other ingredients. Big hunks of the fried bologna were mixed in. I liked the crisp, salty bacon bites the best though. The dish had a nice spicy flavor as well. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff going on here, but it’s good stuff. Interesting stuff.

We also had the potato latke ($5) with vanilla bean applesauce and sour cream. There’s a reason I repeatedly order this dish and it’s because they fry these potatoes up so well. They are nicely tender at the core, but the outside and the edges are super crispy. I preferred the more purely savory harissa ketchup and aioli of this dish the first time I had it, because I tend to not be as big a fan of sweet tastes, but I was pleasantly surprised with the sauces here—they weren’t so sweet as to diminish the hearty, very savory, buttery taste of the potatoes themselves. It was still a good balance. (Side note, I tried the sorghum glazed bacon on an earlier visit and wasn’t a fan of the super-sweet flavor there either).

The other dish we had on this visit was the Dutch baby cornmeal pancake—they have two versions—based on the menu descriptions, one seemed like a sweet version and one savory. I was intrigued by what I thought would be a taste similar to a crepe with City ham and gruyere ($14) but the pineapple mostarda and grapes on top were the dominant (sweet) flavors and even the pancake itself is pretty sweet, so it wasn’t our favorite. We left probably half of it. For some reason, even with that nutty cheese and ham, it couldn’t hold up to the fruity tastes. Honestly, I couldn’t really get much ham taste. 

The next time I went with hubby, who had never been, and we ordered some new things I had never had before. The star of this visit, and maybe the star of several of the visits, was the lamb patty melt ($14). The patty of lamb is on Amelia’s semolina bread with white American cheese, and nice runny egg, and harissa special sauce. I loved pretty much everything about this sandwich. The lamb was juicy and tender, and has just that little extra flavor that beef doesn’t have. The sauce was spicy, but because it was made with harissa, it had more than just heat—you get flavors like garlic and cumin. That bread was toasted and buttery and delicious. I tried to not eat all of it because it was very thick, but it was hard. They also serve it with French fries, which I am pretty sure are more standard foodservice fries, but they were cooked just right and were nice and salty. They had a side of harissa ketchup to dip them into, which I liked with the fries—just a ketchup with a little deeper taste, but I didn’t like that it made my bread a little soggy and I didn’t really want it on the sandwich because it was so perfect as it was. There were also some nice lightly pickled onions and cucumbers alongside that I really liked with the sandwich—especially the onions. The cukes I just sort of ate on their own because the sandwich didn’t need them. Hubby has declared that this is a dish that must be re-ordered on any subsequent visit.

We also got one of the other things that have been on the menu since the restaurant opened I believe. It’s the uova al forno ($12). It’s more of the Amelia’s semolina on the bottom, with an egg baked in the spicy tomato sauce. There’s an option to add grilled Merguez sausage on the side (+$5) and we did. This is a nice dish—they make a nicely seasoned, chunky marinara sauce. Honestly, I would love to have it on pasta, but I digress. My only complaint about this dish is that the bread just turns to mush at the bottom. I would rather have it on the side and toasted like that patty melt. That sausage was really good—hubby absolutely loved it. It had more of those North African seasonings. We both liked the firm, but not overly firm, casing. It was really nice to have a bite of the sausage with the egg, bread and tomato sauce. It added even more heat—and that touch of fat that made the dish more complete for us.

We also shared one of the newer side dishes (at least for me)—the “ya mama’s handpie” (or something like that) ($3). I wanted order the latke because I like them so much, but hubby talked me down and got me to try something new. This was a pastry filled with veggies, sausage and rice. It was interesting—we both were saying, “this is pretty good.” and then by the time we finished it, we really liked it. It really grows on you—the crust was nice and flaky but had a good dense crunch to it as well. It was hearty and a nice thing to have on the side. One of the other dishes they have had a version of since the beginning is the fried chicken with biscuits and gravy—I am not as attracted to the chicken wings they are using now though—I really preferred the boneless thighs from the original menu. Wings are just too much work.

Overall, I think Milktooth just continues to grow. Not everything blows me away, but the creativity and uniqueness of the place is a great thing for us to have in our city. I wish there was some way to fix the seating issues, but maybe I’m too picky. Also, good to see that Chef Jonathan Brooks has been asked to cook at the James Beard house with several other Indiana chefs. It’s an honor for them all and exciting to see new restaurant’s chefs being recognized this way.

Also, I can’t wait to eat that lamb patty melt again.

Milktooth

540 Virginia Ave

Indy  46203

317/292-2280

www.milktoothindy.com

Milktooth

Of course I have been anxious to try Milktooth and as soon as I asked my friend Suzanne if she’d meet me, she said yes yes yes! She had been to both the preview brunches at Recess and really enjoyed them. I had been trying to wait my obligatory couple of weeks, but could barely stand it.

First of all, this place is pretty darn adorable. Very shabby chic—lots of reclaimed and vintage pieces throughout, mismatched china, etc. I thought the chairs at our table looked familiar and then was told they were from the library at IU Bloomington. I probably sat in those same chairs! Even the tables were made by the chef himself from reclaimed wood. I also liked that although cute, the chairs were comfy. Also, hallelujah for a parking lot. It may not hold all the cars when the place is full, but it holds a lot of them I’m guessing. Food-wise, they’re sourcing much of the ingredients from local purveyors.

It’s a brunch place so naturally, there are eggs everywhere and I was completely overwhelmed with deciding what to order. It all sounded good. We ended up settling on the sweet tea fried chicken and biscuit ($14) from the “Classic” side of the menu and the Chilaquiles roja ($14) from the “Divergent” side of the menu. Of course we needed to try something from the “Adjacent” section as well and chose the latkes ($5).

Ok, this place lives up to the hype (and there has been a fair amount). Everything was good. Really good. If I had to choose a favorite, it was probably the fried chicken. So, here’s the set up: really good, chunky, chorizo gravy on the bottom of the bowl topped with a freshly made biscuit, several pieces of the fried chicken (my piece was a boneless thigh) and a perfectly beautiful sunny side up egg. The egg was seasoned well and the flavor of the chicken was so, so good. Rarely do I eat an egg and not want to season it a little. This needed nothing. The spices in the chicken were my favorite part and I wanted to dole out a little bit with every single bite. The biscuit was buttery and somewhat dense and the gravy gave it just the right moisture. It was all perfect together.

We also had the chilaquiles, which were made up of hunks of lamb carnitas and collard greens. Normally when I have had chilaquiles in the past, crispy tortillas were part of the dish, and this was more of a saucy meat base, but quite good. I liked the slight bitterness from the collards mixed in and when you got just the right bite with the meat, some egg (another perfect sunny side up egg), a little of the guac and sour cream on the side and a few of those julienned (very lightly pickled perhaps?) radishes, it was a wonderful bite. I only wished for a bit more of the sour cream to go around with every bite. It was the kind of dish that could be very spicy, but this wasn’t. It had good spice flavors, but not in the hot kind of way.

The giant potato latke was fantastic. It was super crisp on the edges, but not in the least bit burned. It had a wonderful buttery taste to the potatoes and the drizzles of harissa ketchup and aioli were perfect. A little spicy kick to a familiar ketchup flavor and a little bit of tanginess from the aioli.

I am amazed at the amount of staff working here—they have got baristas making their special coffees (my macchiato was delicious although I did sorta want two sugar cubes vs. the one they brought me when I asked for sugar) and there was one person who looked like he spent most of the time pressing fresh OJ. We sat near the bar where you could watch every dish come out of the busy open kitchen and wish you had ordered that too. The place is lovely to look at and so is the food. And the flavors measure up to the presentation. I can see some people potentially complaining about the portion sizes being small though, although I found them just fine. I found the “modifications are politely declined” wording on the menu fine as well, but am a person who is happy to eat a dish the way the chef wants to prepare it. Others might be less so, but go in knowing this is not your average “2 eggs any style/choice of meat/choice of bread” kind of diner. Put yourself in their hands though, and I think you’ll be happy. I certainly was.

Milktooth is a great addition to Indy’s food scene. And how badly did we need a great brunch spot (and there’s booze too)? I hope maybe they add a night or two of service because I’d be happy having dinner here as well. 

I am anxious to hear what people think about this place and how your experiences have been (and what you ate!), so leave me a comment and let me know.

Milktooth

540 Virginia Ave

Indy  46203

317/292-2280

www.milktoothindy.com