Open Society -- Revist

I met some friends at Open Society for lunch the other day. I heard they have a new chef and I looked at the menu online and was intrigued. It has been changed a bit since the last time I was there, which was quite a while ago.

smash burger?

So I was torn between breakfast type items and lunch, but when I saw they had something called the society burger, which is further described as a “smash burger,” I got even more interested. Could it be a nice thin burger? I mean what else could “smash burger” mean right? Well, I don’t know why they use that term, because this was actually more like a meatball than any type of patty. I was kind of sad about this. Also, it was a very well-done meatball, which was also a bummer (they didn’t ask how I wanted it). It came topped with cheese, arugula, pickles and a special sauce. I enjoyed the flavors of the toppings, but sadly, the meat was disappointing. And the bun was also quite round in shape. The whole thing ended up being like the opposite of a thin burger. The fries here are quite delicious though. I particularly like the crunchy end bits. I like a nice crunchy fry, and these hit the spot. They serve them with ketchup though, which is kind of boring.

I also had a couple of bites of my friend’s avocado toast ($12), which visually looked amazing. How can you go wrong with avocado, egg, and cheese right? Well, the whole plate, salad and asparagus included, was strangely under seasoned. I guess because avocado and eggs both cry out for salt, but we kept salting it (which we had to ask for) and still were not getting it right. Same thing with the dressing on the greens. It was kind of sad for something so beautiful to be lacking such depth. Especially since the description described Aleppo oil (Aleppo is a type of pepper) as an ingredient, which we thought would liven it up, but we struggled to find the flavor of it. 

The final thing I had just a bite of was ‘nduja sandwich ($15). It came topped with local ‘nduja, avocado, roasted red pepper and Havarti on Amelia’s bread. It also had chips on the side. This sandwich had a distinct spicy flavor to it, unlike the others. It must have been the ‘nduja, but it had a kick to it for sure. It was not like ‘nduja I had had before—not as soft and spreadable, but still the sandwich was pretty good. I liked the thin cut bread. This is the type of bread I really enjoy on a sandwich. I can’t say it’s a sandwich I would repeatedly order, but I enjoyed the bites I had.

Overall, I was a little disappointed with the food I had, particularly my “smash” burger. Hopefully one day I will find out what it has this name.

Open Society

4850 North College Ave

Indy 46205

317/999-8706

http://www.opensocietyindy.com/

Noise rating (at lunch): 1 bell out of 5.

Open Society - Revisit (lunch edition)

I guess some of those marketing emails work because Open Society has sent me a few of them (not sure how I got on the list though) and made me intrigued to try it for lunch. They call it brunch and serve it just about every day. They do have breakfast items and lunch items as well.

So my friend and I split the soft scramble ($10) and the Cubano ($10) and a side of fries ($3). The soft scramble was scrambled eggs with truffle Gouda and served with a side of cauliflower, dressed greens, and a big slab of toast. This was a tasty dish. The eggs were softly scrambled and still on the runny side, which if you ask me is how they should be—I don’t like them when they are super dry. And they had a light truffle taste from the cheese and some extra creaminess from it as well. The roasted cauliflower was somewhat unusual to see on a breakfast plate, but I liked it for a change of pace. And it was cooked nicely. I enjoy dressed greens with eggs as well.  The toast they use (which was also on the Cubano) is very tasty. Thick cut, but a nice crusty country bread. It was a somewhat unusual combo of items, but it worked.

The Cubano is an interesting take as well. So, it’s not a thin pressed version like Cuban sandwiches, but I will forgive this fact (I do like a thin pressed Cuban sandwich) because the country bread used has an egg cooked into it. Yes, it’s an “egg in the hole” as part of the sandwich. This is a genius idea. So when you cut into it (I split it in half to share), the runny egg yolk breaks and makes the sandwich extra decadent. Inside the sandwich is smoked ham, carnitas, Swiss cheese, pickles and yellow mustard. I wished for a little more of the pickles and mustard to balance out the decadence of everything else though—especially with that thick bread. It was a tasty sandwich though, and I enjoyed it. The egg with the pork definitely gives it a breakfast-y feel. This was also served with a side of greens (mostly arugula)—I wished for a touch more dressing though.

I thought the fries were fine-nothing really special here. Maybe if they were cooked a little crisper. I did ask for a side of the chipotle aioli to dip them in (it comes on the turkey club). Confession: I often search a menu for any type of flavored aioli/mayo and order a side of it if I am getting fries. So much more interesting than ketchup to me. It was also just fine, a little flat or something. I’d skip the fries next time. Both of the entrees we shared were very enjoyable though, and I like that they have some interesting things and variations of dishes on the menu. Lunch and brunch can sometimes get kind of boring, but this was good. And it makes me want to come back and try dinner again, since I really wasn’t wowed the first time. The menu looks like it has been changed up since that visit.

Good to see one of the newer places in town still open though—they had a decent crowd, although not super busy. The service was good and the food fairly quick. I am already planning a return lunch visit.

Open Society

4850 North College Ave

Indy 46205

317/999-8706

http://www.opensocietyindy.com/

Open Society

I am always as excited as everyone else to try the next new place. I have been patiently waiting for Open Society to open up (seems like it took forever!) and recently hubby and I enjoyed our first date night alone in weeks and weeks, and checked it out. It’s diagonal across the street from Recess and is nice because there is plenty of parking around.

We were greeted warmly by the host and even though we were early for our reservation, were seated promptly. The first thing you notice about this place is the giant coffee bar that dominates the middle of the room. The second thing you notice is the roar of the crowd—even when it wasn’t totally full, it was very loud (I look for some noise-deadening retrofits in their future—at least I hope so). We were seated along the wall beside the bustling coffee bar, which was a little awkward because you’re basically face to face with people’s butts waiting to order coffee, but good for them that they are doing such a good coffee business.

We decided to go with all tapas, as the small plates menu was larger and sounded a bit more interesting. Our server recommended four to five, so we ordered five. So, the first somewhat annoying thing was although we ordered them at the same time, I did not expect them to bring them out all at once, which is what happened, and not particularly quickly either. So I recommend if you don’t want it that way, either order them one or two at a time, or tell them to space them a bit. They could barely fit all of ours on the table.

The first item we had (and really the only offering with red meat unless you include duck) was the albondigas ($10). These were lamb and chorizo meatballs served in a rich chipotle marinara sauce with a sprinkling of queso fresco and herbs. These were the best item on the table, and I am not normally a meatball person. Hubby really enjoyed them as well. They were tender meatballs with a nice little kick and saltiness from the chorizo and I really enjoyed the smoky sauce—much more interesting than a traditional marinara. The cheese offered just a touch of creaminess.

My next favorite item was the torta ($8) although hubby was not as big a fan. It was dense corn cake (nice bits of corn in there) and was served on top of a little salad/garnish type thing with arugula and balsamic. There were asparagus spears on top. It was served with chipotle-avocado emulsion. I liked the corn cake dipped into the sauce (as unappetizing as it appears in pictures) but the greens and asparagus seemed a little disconnected to me—almost like they don’t really follow the theme of the cuisine. And this garnish type salad was repeated in another dish as well—and pretty much the same sauce was repeated as well.

The croquettas ($13) were the other dish with the same greens (although on the menu described as micro greens). These were meant to be lump crab cakes (well with the name croquettas, I assumed there was more than one). There was one crab cake and we both thought it was pretty disappointing. It was mushy in texture and hubby kept asking me if I was sure this was the one that was supposed to have crab in it. The only evidence was a slightly fishy taste. And the avocado emulsion made its second appearance. I did like the little crispy fried onions served alongside it, you really needed something to break up the mushy factor. I would take a pass on this one. (And please change the name to croquette if there’s only one).

I had high hopes for the risoles ($8), which our server described as fried dumplings. They are made with artichoke, chickpeas, scallions, queso fresco and garlic. I love artichoke and I will say, these had a nice strong artichoke flavor to them. Unfortunately they were fried so much that they were really just a crispy shell with nothing really inside them. I was hoping to bite into a light creamy interior, but it was pretty much the same throughout. They were on top of a lighter lemon-based sauce that you really needed because they were so crunchy, but there wasn’t enough of it to go around to each fritter. I’m not sure if there was an execution problem or if this was what they intended them to be, but I feel like they could have been better. Again, I did enjoy the intense artichoke flavor though.

We also had the Marioscos ($11). This was their version of fried calamari and shrimp—it was described on the menu as corn tempura battered, so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. It was kind of a cross between a traditional tempura and cornmeal crusting—it was interesting and the seafood itself was very tender. I liked that they served this one on top of something different—a chili-green papaya salad—and that it was served with a different sauce—a cilantro lime vinaigrette. Dressings like this get me excited. Sadly, there wasn’t enough of it here to really dress the seafood in any meaningful way, it was really more like a garnish under the calamari and shrimp—so the seafood came across as dry. 

We decided to see if we could save what was becoming a rather disappointing meal with dessert. We both had read several people discussing how good the flan was. The caramel flan is beautifully presented—much more refined looking than any of the tapas. Someone is taking care in presentation here. Too bad it was pretty bland. We ended up leaving much of it because it was just hard to get excited about eating it. I did like the slices of caramelized bananas. We did enjoy the dessert wine they had though—Ben Rye from Donnafugata.

Overall, we were pretty disappointed in our meal. The service was off to start (I really don’t think serving all the dishes at once is the best plan) and the food was lackluster. There were messy garnishes and sauces repeated on several dishes, which to me, shows a bit of lack of creativity.

After the dinner I went back to read yelp reviews (something I don’t do very often) and I realized many of the very high marks were coming from people who only went for coffee. So, it sounds like they have a strong coffee bar. And I can see how the neighborhood would appreciate having a local place to get a good cup of coffee. I just hope they improve the food. The menu has a lot of potential, but the execution was pretty lacking. I am expecting a lot of people to disagree with me, but I really want to hear from those of you who have eaten a full meal here. What were your thoughts? Who knows, maybe it was just an off night when we were there. I hope so.

Open Society

4850 North College Ave

Indy 46205

317/999-8706

http://www.opensocietyindy.com/