Si (aka Scholar's Inn) - one more time

*****SI IS OUT OF BUSINESS*****

I was headed to a show at the Murat the other night with a friend and we weren’t sure exactly when we could get downtown and where we would eat. Before it closed, Elements would have been my go to locale, but had to figure out something else. We decided to go back to Si (aka Scholar’s Inn) because the menu had changed a bit and there were a few interesting things on it.

Because we sort of just got down there when we could, and because it was a Wednesday, we decided to just wing it without a reservation. Upon entering, and meeting the hostess, we were given the eye roll/heavy sigh when we told her we didn’t have a reservation. Have I mentioned how snooty host/esses are one of my big pet peeves? They are literally the first human impression in a restaurant. And nothing gets me in a bad mood faster before I have even put a bite of food in my mouth than someone who seems annoyed by my very presence. If you can’t accommodate us, I understand. Tell us. We’ll go somewhere else.

Anyhow, we got seated, and ordered some wine. We decided to share one of the flatbreads for a starter because I have never had one here and was intrigued. We got the Zesty BLT flatbread with Applewood smoked bacon, manchego cheese, heirloom tomatoes, arugula with lime cilantro yogurt. It was pretty good—particularly the parts with really crispy crust (the four middle pieces). The end pieces were thicker and not as crispy. The arugula was nicely dressed with the yogurt. And the bacon was yummy. I hate it when you get dry tasteless bacon, but this was nice and properly crisp and chewy at the same time with good flavor.

Strangely, although there are 3 steaks on the menu (and I was in the mood for steak), they were out of 2 of them (the filet and the N.Y. strip steak) which was sort of a bummer because I liked the sound of the sides with the strip. (Wondering how a restaurant is out of both their high end steaks, but oh well) So I sort of had to settle for the skirt steak which I think I had the last time I was there. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. It was a generous portion (4 pieces of meat) served with corn, sweet pepper, black bean and cucumber relish. The meat itself was marinated in a lime, cilantro, and cumin marinade. You could taste all the flavors and I appreciate that. The meat was just a little too tough for me (hence why I would have preferred one of the others). And some starch would be nice.

So my friend got the mushroom ravioli which was described as goat cheese shallot ravioli with a shitake and oyster mushroom sauce. I had a bit of this as well, and it was also just ok. “Meh” was how my friend described it. What I didn’t understand was where the shitakes were. All I saw on top (and there were lots of mushrooms) were brown button mushrooms. And I wasn’t aware of oyster mushrooms either. There was also some flavor in the seasoning that couldn’t be placed exactly, that my friend was not a big fan of.

Si does have a nice bread service, with a nice warm loaf of bread and good better. One of the benefits of having your own bakehouse I guess. As I have said before, I do like the interior of this place physically. It is very modern and stylish. I have had some issues with the staff at this place (one example noted above), which seems to be a problem at many restaurants around here. Our server was fine, a bit distant, but she answered all our questions and was attentive enough that our glasses never ran dry. The menu only changes slightly from time to time as far as I can tell, and I get bored with the same stuff all the time.

Overall, it was just an ok experience, with the flatbread being the best thing we had. Well, that and the concert after.

Scholar’s Inn/Si
725 Mass Ave
Indy, 46204
317-536-0707
http://www.scholarsinn.com/

SI/Scholars Inn -- once again

****THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED****
So in the interest of full disclosure, I want to start by saying that we were invited to SI by the restaurant because they were concerned about my last review and wanted me to come give it another try—so they provided us a meal to give them another opportunity. I have since given this practice a lot of thought, spoken to some fellow bloggers and have decided to discontinue accepting free meals. From here on out, I want my posts to be totally unbiased in any way (well, they are anyway, but I want to avoid any appearance of bias). Thus, I am posting my new policy in this regard in the following post.

Anyway, I will start by saying that I am happy I did go back, as this meal was much better than the last (and closer to the way it was the first time we went). The chef de cuisine, Josh (who cooked our meal for us this night), brought us 2 starters—the marinated calamari and the chicken wings which are a new item on the menu.

Ok, let’s get this out of the way. Here’s the thing with the calamari. We had it the last time and didn’t like it—I didn’t know if it was off or what, but we had it again and we both still didn’t like it. I love calamari in general, prepared in most any way, sautéed, fried, whatever (unless it is chewy) but the flavors here are too over the top for me—it is a strong sesame and ginger flavor and is served cold. I asked the server if this was a popular dish and he said it was probably one of their two most popular appetizers, so there you go. Obviously my tastes are different, and maybe you might like it, but I do not.

The chicken wings were more enjoyable—they were fried with a sweet bay mustard glaze. I am not sure exactly what that means but it was sort of a sweet very mild mustard glaze that tasted like it may even have some honey in it. There was a nice creamy blue cheese fondue drizzled on top. An interesting take on chicken wings. I probably would not order chicken wings normally (at least not in a restaurant like this), but these were meaty and not too bad, if not a little sweet for my taste.

Next we were brought what was clearly the star of the evening; a salad the chef prepared for us that isn’t on the menu. I think this may be one of SI’s problems. This salad was fantastic. It needs to be on the menu. It was fresh spinach with sliced red onions and sliced fennel with orange segments and light vinaigrette served with 2 amazing and perfectly cooked sea scallops. They were caramelized exactly the way they should be on both sides and were still medium rare in the middle. Items like this could take this place to another level. A lot of the appetizers seem a little one dimensional, but this salad was one of the best things I have eaten around here in awhile. Get it on the menu guys! (When I asked about this, I was told that the chef does try to have fresh fish specials, but keeping such things on the menu all the time was tough).

For our mains, I had the lime and cumin marinated skirt steak with sweet chile sauce and charred corn and black beans. It was good—I liked that you could really taste the marinade and it gave the meat a unique and fresh flavor. I could have done with a bit of starch besides the beans to go with it, but that’s just me. It was huge I will say, and by this point, we were getting pretty full. Hubby had the short rib with tamarind glaze and scalloped potatoes. He had the short rib the first time we went, loved it, had it a second time and was really disappointed. This time he was very happy and thought it was back up to the high standard of the first time. Apparently this is something that Chef Brenchley considers a specialty, so it was nice to see it back up to its original high standard.

We ordered off the half off wine list which is being advertised and were quite happy with our selection. The weird thing about the list is it doesn’t have prices on it so it is hard to know what it is half off of.

We also were seated upstairs for the first time and I really enjoyed this atmosphere better than downstairs. I appreciate the interior of this place for a classy modern feel, but some of the tables leave you feeling almost too isolated. I do like to feel like I am eating out amongst people when I am eating out. Upstairs, even in a pretty private booth, you can look out at other people at other tables, but they aren’t so close that you have to listen to their entire conversations.

I am glad to see the menu being changed up a bit, and I hope to continue to see more changes. And maybe take some of the old standbys off and make people try new things. I know this is a risky move in this part of the country where people are so resistant to change, but other chefs are doing it in Indy, and are doing it successfully. There is some inspired cooking going on here, and there is clearly talent, let’s see it shine.


Scholar’s Inn/SI
725 Mass Ave
317-536-0707
http://www.scholarsinn.com/

SI (aka Scholar's Inn)-Reprise

****THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED****
One word on this one: bummed. The first time we went back to Si (aka Scholar’s Inn) after its transformation to Si, and its new chef, and new interior makeover, we were quite excited. The food was really good. We were looking forward to going back. It took awhile, because I was waiting for the menu to change. Finally, it looked as if it had changed (while actually, I think they just added additional items to the menu). It was not good. Not good at all I am sorry to say. I am worried they are falling back into the trap that they were in back when they were Scholar’s Inn, and I went there for the first time. The menu was huge, and nothing was done well.

I am all about changing menus, but you have to actually replace things on the menu with new items, not simply keep adding to it. People will adjust, even if their favorite thing gets taken off--it inspires them to try new things. This time, we got the shrimp cocktail with gazpacho, lemongrass creme fraiche and crispy pancetta (so it said). It was shrimp cocktail. Period. It was decent shrimp, but very uninspired. The gazpacho wasn't even as flavorful as cocktail sauce. There was some creme fraiche in there, but if there was crispy pancetta involved--I am not sure where it was. Hubby ordered the cured calamari which we were told last time was their house specialty. The waitress made sure we knew it was not fried (must be a problem), and we assured her we liked calamari prepared in various ways. Some of my favorite I have ever had in fact, was sauteed, not fried. Anyway, it was done in a ginger sesame reduction and served with a tomato-type paste. It was a definite Japanese flavor, but so strong, it could've been shoe leather and you wouldn't have known the difference. I really didn't like it. Normally, I like Japanese flavorings, but this was overkill.

For my main, I got one of the new items, a pasta dish with mushrooms, artisan cheese, wilted arugula and truffle oil. Some of my favorite pastas involve just such ingredients, but this one did not stand out. It had a nice truffle aroma when it came out, but not much flavor. It was a huge portion and it was all in all just too bland. I could do better cooking at home I think.

Hubby had the beef shortrib because it is one of his favorite things and he really liked it when he got it here the last time. First of all, the cooking string was left on which seemed a little unprofessional (and somewhat unappetizing) and next, short rib should really just fall off the bone--it was pretty tough. He was really disappointed.

I am hoping this was just a fluke and that Si can make it back to the former glory of our first visit. I am not sure though, if I will be able to convice hubby to go back.

Si
725 Mass Ave
536-0707
http://www.scholarsinn.com/

SI (aka Scholar's Inn)

****THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED****
We were really in the mood to try something "new," so we ventured to the recently refurbished and re-Chefed restaurant, SI. Jake Brenchley has taken over the kitchen as of February. Up until a few months ago, most of us knew this restaurant as Scholar's Inn. Apparently, the new branding is not complete because the sign hasn't changed out front and some of the receipts still say "Scholar's Inn" as well. I was interested in trying the new version since the other two times I was there I was somewhat underwhelmed. (So the "SI" apparently stands for "Scholar's Inn" and "Sexy and Intimate.") (I leave any editorial comments about that to the reader.)

The first time I went, which must have been about 5 years ago when I was visiting from California. The menu was HUGE. There were lots of interesting things on it and I remember ordering a scallop appetizer that had some black truffle with it. The scallops were overcooked and somehow, inexplicably, the truffles had absolutely no flavor. Honestly, I don't remember the rest of the meal.

Fast forward to about a year ago when we stopped in for dinner before a concert at the White River State Park stadium (why are the calling it "White Lies" this year anyway?). Well, we sat outside which was nice as it was a very warm evening. I was happy to see the menu had been significantly pared down, as I don't think any kitchen could pull off everything that was on that first menu and do a good job. It was more like the traditional Indianapolis menu--basically a steakhouse menu plus a few other things. The food was good, but nothing to write home about. I had a steak and some shrimp cocktail I think (I told you it was steakhouse-ish).

Now, on to the new "SI." Simply, I loved it. The new atmosphere is very chic and makes you feel like you are in a nice restaurant in a more food oriented City. There were 3 or 4 really interesting sounding appetizers and salads. I ended up getting the scallop appetizer with blood orange, red onion, endive and prosciutto which was thick-cut and curled around the scallop. It was delicious. I was so pleased. The scallop was properly cooked and the sweet and tart sauced complemented both the scallop and the meat.

I was feeling a little iron-deprived and the sides sounded somewhat yummy, so I ordered the steak (which is somewhat unusual for me). It came with a red wine demi glace and Becahmel mac and cheese. It was really good as well. Honestly, the steak itself was better and better prepared than the Capital Grille one the other night. It was huge as well, and I only ate half.

Hubby had a frisee salad with shitake mushrooms and it was really really good too. We argued over whose appetizer was better. He had the short rib for his main and really liked it as well. He said it was the best short rib he has had in this City.

The desserts, much like most of this City, we very unmemorable. We ordered a chocolate cake thing and it seemed like it came from a box or some distributor. Does this City not have any pastry chefs??

The only other downside was the service. While everyone was very friendly, it took a good 10 minutes before anyone came and got our drink order. From there, it took another 10 minutes before our wine came. They were actually out of what we ordered, but that worked out well because we got a better bottle for a cheaper price. One note here, I found the wine list overpriced. I can't stomach paying $48 for a bottle of wine that costs me about $16 in a wine shop (and I am sure they get the wine cheaper than I pay in the wine store). Particularly in Indy.

We were very excited with the prospect of a new Chef and basically, what is a new restaurant, that is really, really good. I can't wait to go back and get one of the fish dishes. There was also a good crowd there, which is nice to see on a week night.

Incidentally, we were told the menu changes seasonally and the new one will be out in a couple of weeks. Try it, you'll like it!

SI
725 Mass Ave
536-0707
http://www.scholarsinn.com/