Restaurant Review: Blaze Pizza

"It's the Chipotle of pizza, right?"  That's what one of my friends asked me when I mentioned I'd been to Blaze over the weekend.  He was absolutely correct.  Blaze is a chain that prides itself on "fast-fire'd custom built artisanal pizzas."  In Indy, it's located near IUPUI and has a blend of hipster-approved Radiohead and Hinds (formerly Deers) playing.  It's loud and looks like a Chipotle or Qdoba, but with pizza.  You walk down the line and select the things you want.

Why Blaze?  I miss pizza.  I'm trying very hard to eat as close to a dairy-free diet as possible.  I Googled vegan pizza and Blaze and WB appeared to be my options in Indy.  WB was about 30 minutes away.  Blaze was a walk, bike ride, or quick car trip away.

We arrived at Blaze at around noon on Saturday and the place was packed.  The wait was short though to move down the line.  They're very efficient.  The first choice is a standard or gluten-free pizza crust.  Next, a choice of pizza sauces--standard red, spicy, or white.  Then the cheese--a variety of really nice options ranging including mozzarella, goat cheese, and vegan cheese (for an upcharge).  I'd love to have gone for the goat cheese.  But I selected the vegan cheese.  I noticed that they've thought this through--as a person who worked at Domino's in high school, I know that the toppings and cheese get mixed in the little wells during a busy shift.  Little bits of cheese are in the pepperoni.  Little bits of green pepper get in the onions.  The vegan cheese was neatly covered with a lid, protected from its animal-ingredient neighbors.  It was a nice touch.  Well done.

After selecting a cheese, the staff either prepares your pie by some of their suggested combinations, such as "Art Lover" with artichokes, ricotta, garlic, and mozzarella cheese or "Simple Pie" (it's just cheeses).  Prices vary based on whether you want a Simple Pie ($5.00), one topping ($5.95), house menu pie ($7.25), or to build your own ($7.25 plus any upcharges).  The upcharges I noticed were gluten-free crust (+$2.00) and vegan cheese (+$1.00).  When they say build your own, they mean it.  There are seven cheese options, six meats, and eighteen veggies (technically seventeen since one is pineapple).  Papa John's gets weird when you start adding seven or more toppings.  They talk you out of it since they say the pizza will be soggy.  No one at Blaze tries to talk you out of indulging.  I was particularly happy when no one batted an eye when I ordered a vegan cheese pizza then promptly added bacon and pepperoni.  Props.  I then added green peppers, green olives, black olives, and mushrooms.

After you select your veggies, they ask if you'd like oregano or sea salt.  I opted for oregano.  If you get the vegan cheese, get salt.  Or both.  The vegan cheese left me wanting just a pinch.

Next up, they pop it in an oven with a big fire inside and shuffle it around.  My husband was a little jealous--my pizza had more charred edges than his pepperoni pizza.  After 180 seconds in the oven, they take it out, chop it into six slices, and top it with arugula, olive oil, BBQ sauce, or pesto if you ask.

Our pizzas in this oven baking for just three minutes.

We sat at a hi-top table with metal stools.  The pizza wasn't bad.  A little thin and greasy for my taste, but I was so happy to have pizza that I was pleased.  My husband's pepperoni needed some blotting with napkins.  After this, and meals in the last year at Pizzology and Napolese, I've decided that I'm over the thin artisan style pizzas.  I want some doughy crust to sink my teeth into at this point instead of all these thin, trendy pizzas with charred edges.

My vegan cheese pizza.  All the toppings were tasty.  The vegan cheese needed a little salt.

Bottom line: great options.  You can get all the pricey stuff--goat cheese, pesto, bacon, arugula--for the low price of $7.25.  You can't leave McDonalds for that price anymore or have something nearly as fresh or with as many fantastic options.  But if you want some crust to hold up all those ingredients, this isn't it.  This is like a Neapolitan style crust, but less puffy.  You can't fold it or hold it with one hand because it's too floppy.

If they had a thicker crust option, I'd be here every day.  Until then, I'll probably be back when I'm too lazy to drive up to WB to try their pizza with vegan cheese.

Restaurant Review: Verdict is still out on China Bistro in Greenwood

Every once and awhile, I leave the I-465 loop in Indianapolis.  Granted, it's not often.  Pretty much everything in my life is inside this circle around the city, so there's no need.  Today, I found myself on a work-related trip to Greenwood.  On my way back towards the city, I decided to try China Bistro.  Right now, the link to their website appears to be broken, but maybe they'll fix it soon.  Why China Bistro?  Recently, I was craving squid.  Not the typical Italian restaurant, fresh from the freezer bag of calamari rings.  The kind of calamari that is chewy, grilled or fried, and where you actually taste the squid.  I'm particularly fond of Asian preparations.  I searched Google for it, and found just a handful of restaurants with it.  China Bistro was one of them.

I drove past China Bistro at first, looking for a stand alone restaurant or something in a nice, mixed use space.  Instead, it's smack upside Walmart in a really generic strip mall.  It's kind of sad since inside, you find something much nicer than "Walmart" and "strip mall."

The China Bistro space is expansive.  There's a huge chandelier in the entry.  The main dining room has many booths and tables and decorative vases on shelves with lights.  The space is relaxing and comfortable.  It was much more than I expected from strip mall Chinese.  One Yelp reviewer named Joseph nailed it when he wrote that China Bistro "is much too nice of establishment to be located where it sits."  My favorite spot in SoBro to grab a Chinese lunch, Bamboo House, is the kind of place where you'd rather eat in the car.  The dining room is dirty and usually stacked with boxes.  The restrooms are downright scary.  It's definitely a take out kind of place.  But the food makes it all worth it.  China Bistro puts that interior to shame.

Entry at China Bistro.  You weren't expecting this in a strip mall by Walmart, were you?

But anyway.  The China Bistro menu is expansive and varied, with Thai entrees like Tom Yum soup and Japanese fare like seaweed salad.  I ordered tea, seaweed salad, and the salt and pepper calamari.  The server came by after I was seated, and without asking for a drink order or any pleasantries, just looked at me and said "you know what you want?"  So perhaps they sacrifice some of the chit chat for efficiency.

The tea was loose leaf tea in a large pot.  The seaweed salad was a generous portion, fresh, glistening with sesame oil, and icy cold.  All as expected.  Served quickly.

Seaweed salad and tea.

The salt and pepper calamari didn't hit the spot I needed today though.  The little nuggets, with the occasional piece of tentacle chopped up and mixed in, were soggy and heavy.  Also dark, like perhaps it was time to change the frying oil.  While not as light and crispy as a great preparation, it tasted authentic.  It wasn't anything that came from a bag in the freezer.  So I do give credit where credit is due for that.  And it was on a pretty paper doily.  Usually I expect a lighter coating, with visible black pepper.  There was no discernible pepper.  And no photo of it on my phone when I got home.  Oops.

Recently, I gave Formosa Buffet a shot on the northside.  While the food wasn't anything amazing, their salt and pepper calamari was spot on.  It was light and crispy, with the visible pepper.

And an on point fortune.

The total for my one-person lunch of tea, seaweed salad, and appetizer portion of salt and pepper calamari was $14.05 before a sufficient tip exceeding 15 percent (but not overly generous given the shortness.)

The bottom line: gorgeous spot to eat Chinese.  But curt service and soggy calamari left me wanting more on this visit.  I'd give it a second chance though, just not for the calamari.  It's not often I eat Chinese in a spot so aesthetically appealing.  This is a Chinese place you could take a date.  There aren't a lot of those in Indy.  Verdict is still out on the food though.

Fountain Square Area Donut Throwdown: Rocket 88 Doughnuts versus General American Donuts

If you recall, last July I went to the first day General American Donuts opened.  I wasn't exactly thrilled.  I waited in line over 25 minutes, didn't get a donut (but did get a parking ticket), and felt lukewarm about the place.  Yet I keep going back.  I've found what I like there--the coconut donut is fantastic (crack-level addictive quality!) and the lattes aren't bad; and what I don't--I've gotten two under cooked donuts now.  Even with my mixed feelings, I find myself craving the coconut or the hippie donut (chai tea-flavored with granola on top).  And the people are genuinely nice--they offered me a dozen free donuts as an apology for the donut that was runny inside.  I went back and changed my urbanspoon from "doesn't like" to "likes" because General American Donuts has steadily grown on me, and I like having them in the neighborhood.

Coconut donut from General American Donut Co.  This is my kryptonite.

Recently, when Rocket 88 Doughnuts opened, I was ready to try something new.  For months, I'd been aware of their Kickstarter campaign that raised over $10,000, and there was a steady buzz about them coming to Fountain Square.  I was excited and ready.  I walked up with my husband one Saturday shortly after they opened.  There was a short line--we were served in less than 10 minutes.  The place has much more furniture than General American and magazines, and is somewhere I'd actually want to hang out for awhile.  General American's furniture is more sparse, and in the summer, it's really hot inside.  There's a big fan inside General American to try to cool things down, but it generates gale-force winds.  I usually grab my donuts and go because it's not very comfy.  And my house is close enough that I can walk or drive in a flash.

Donuts in rows at Rocket 88 Doughnuts.

Plenty of places to sit inside the cozy Rocket 88 Doughnuts.

We picked four donuts and an order of lemon ricotta fritters, and walked home to dig in.

The standout was the vanilla chai donut ($1.50).  It was sweet and pleasant in both its scent and taste.  This was the only donut I'd want to eat again.  It's also the only donut we finished.

The lemon ricotta fritters (2 for $1.00) were okay, if you're expecting really moist.  They seemed wet to me.  I have an aversion to soggy food, so it was a miss.  My husband was pretty ambivalent--he didn't really like, but he didn't dislike.

Lemon ricotta fritters from Rocket 88 Doughtnuts.

The Old Fashioned ($1.50) was pretty standard--slightly crumbly vanilla donut.

The Maple Pecan ($2.50) had that bourbon-scent to the icing that's enticing.  But the donut itself was dense and not memorable.

The Orange Sprinkled ($1.50) was the biggest disappointment.  I love orange anything, so I was really excited.  It smelled nice and orangey, but the outside skin was tough.  It was not a tender donut.  And compared to General American, I felt like I had been cheated on sprinkles.  General American coats their donut in sprinkles.  This donut looked sprinkle-anemic by comparison.

 

Left: General American sprinkle donut (from http://bigcity.littleindiana.com/food-trucks-of-indianapolis-general-american-donut-co/); Right: Rocket 88 orange sprinkle donut.

My soy latte was very nice--the espresso was smoother than the espresso at General American.

Bottom line: I'll probably go back since I'm all for second chances and the coffee is good.  It makes me happy to support local business, and most new places need to get the kinks out early on.  General American is a prime example of this--I think they've worked out many of the issues I saw in the beginning.  But I hope Rocket 88 makes the donut skin more tender, the inside lighter, and don't skimp on the fun part of the donuts--the frosting and toppings.  The clear winner of this throwdown is General American Donut Co.  While the donuts are about $1.00 more each at General American, the flavors are more creative and they never skimp on the quality ingredients that make their donuts special.  

Our sad box of butchered donuts from Rocket 88.  The only memorable one was the vanilla chai.

Restaurant Review: Nothing Glowing at Ember Urban Eatery

There’s a moral of this story…it’s to trust your instinct.  And to never tolerate being served an $85.00 dinner on plastic ware.  But anyway, on with the review…

Recently, it was my husband’s fantasy football draft.  We were looking for a casual place to grab a bite to eat and use free wireless for the draft.  We immediately thought of Ember, a little restaurant in our neighborhood.  According to Yelp, there’s free wireless.  The menu looked completely appropriate for bringing a laptop to dinner—wings, sandwiches, salads, beer.  There was even a patio.  It was the makings of an enjoyable, laid back night.

When we arrived, we were promptly seated on the busy patio.  Busy is a good sign, right?  But I was instantly confused.  The menu was just one page of prix fixe meals as part of Devour Downtown—not at all like the $8.75 barbecue pork sandwich I’d already eyed up online, or the $10.50 smoked in house wings that received a few nods on Yelp.  Instead, we were looking at $30 per person for a half portion of an appetizer, an entrée, and dessert.  When you go to Recess, you anticipate multiple courses selected for you.  You don’t expect that at your neighborhood casual eatery.  I asked the server for the regular menu and she said it wasn't offered during Devour Downtown.  Immediately, I was uncomfortable.  After all, I wanted a sandwich.  But the draft was starting in minutes so we needed wireless, we were hungry, and we wanted to support a local spot.  We stayed.  But instinct should’ve taken over to leave.

Some background…Devour Downtown happens twice a year in Indianapolis.  Restaurants entice new diners with special menus and discounts.  For example, St. Elmo’s offers a three-course menu for either $30 or $40, depending on entrée selections, and it includes choices like their signature shrimp, filet mignon, and crème brulee.  If you don’t want to eat off the Devour menu, every restaurant I’ve been to in Indy still offers the regular menu.  The point of Devour Downtown is usually to save money while trying something new.  Instead, this neighborhood spot’s menu had truly been devoured by trying to go all fancy pants and pricey.

The appetizer selections ranged from four wings to a salad.  We both chose the wings.  Outside, they had great color and inside they were tender and moist.  The doneness was spot on, but the seasoning was weak.  They didn’t have that deep smoky flavor or a smoke ring.  They needed to be spun in a dry rub or sauce to have any kind of flavor.  The peppercorn ranch they were served with was heavy handed on the peppercorns—it had so much black pepper it was gritty.  My husband liked the dressing, I would have preferred plain ranch. 

Wings and wireless at Ember.  The wrought iron table was nice and sturdy.  The plastic chairs were not.  Not all tables have metal chairs, some have cheap plastic chairs.  The wings had a nice exterior, but no telltale pink ring of authentic smoking process or smoky flavor.  The ranch is acceptable if you really like black pepper.

Our entrees came—we both ordered ribeye steaks.  Mine was far from medium rare, but it wasn’t worth sending back at that point, so I didn’t have a new steak fired.  Nothing special, just a ribeye on a plate.  It could’ve used some seasoned crust, searing on a grill, or something distinctive.  The broccolini was acceptable—a little oily—but plain broccolini.  These two offerings were pretty much what my husband is capable of making at home with a skillet.  The standout was a mashed potato puff.  It looked like a hush puppy but was mashed potatoes rolled in breadcrumbs.  There was side of lemon aioli for dipping.  The lemon aioli didn’t entirely make sense (it was fine on the broccolini, fine on the potato) but didn’t really go with anything in particular.  I’m still not sure if it was dipping sauce for the potato puff or meant to be something else.  The potato puff was satisfyingly crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside.  I probably would’ve been happier if I could’ve had a few of those as an appetizer and then gone home and made myself a sandwich.

Nothing special.  Steak, some broccolini, and the potato puffs.

Evidently, this is what Ember considers "medium rare."  It was tan all the way through when I cut into the steak's thickest part.

The next, and most substantial disappointment, was dessert.  I chose the amaretto cheesecake.  A small wedge came, served on a tiny plastic plate.  Plastic ware.  Not even the thick, sturdy Chinet kind.  It was heavy and gummy.  My husband chose something chocolate.  It was the tiniest 2x2 inch square of dessert in history, and was hard because part of it was frozen.  It was also on a flimsy black plastic plate.

 

Dessert--I hope you like plastic ware.  Unremarkable cheesecake and brick hard, mini-square of partially frozen chocolate "something" bar.  Really disappointing.  This was the nail in the coffin for me being able to give this neighborhood spot any love in the future.

So there we were, we’d drafted a decent (but not as fantastic as last year) fantasy football team, but without purchasing a single drink, racked up an $85.00 dinner at a neighborhood sandwich spot.  And eaten off plastic ware.  The pain of the realization that we could’ve gone to St. Elmo and had their Devour Downtown menu, which I guarantee would’ve been executed spot on and not include plastic ware, hurt.  I’ve never spent $85.00 on dinner and it included plastic ware.  Heck, I threw a birthday party out on the horse farm recently and paid $.42 per plate to rent china because people enjoy eating food off real plates.

I really wanted to like Ember—it’s local and the server was pleasant.  I could walk there from home.  But I just can’t.  A wings, sandwiches, and salad joint should KISS: keep it simple, stupid.  I’d rather eat a well-executed sandwich seven out of seven days a week (and twice on Sunday!) than something trying to be fancy, but just flat and overpriced.  Not to mention, they missed the point of Devour Downtown.  The Devour Downtown menus are an additional option at other restaurants, not the only option.  Even when Devour Downtown is over, I doubt I’ll return.  Even if I wanted to go back for the pork barbecue sandwich I set out for, there’s something inherently tacky about a place that uses plastic ware for a prix fixe dinner and serves dessert that’s partially frozen.  I simply can't support that.

Talent on Display at Restaurant Tallent

Once per year, my husband and I gather up friends and make a pilgrimage down to what he believes is the promised land...Bloomington, Indiana. Evidently his most formative and positive memories were formed at Indiana University. So I oblige and try not to hashtag anything #bbn for a few days straight. The trips have varied from tailgating food to Little Zagreb's. This year, we're getting older, wiser, and perhaps more demanding in what we seek out for dinner. We've steadily risen from pizza to elevated "Indiana cuisine." Restaurant Tallent prides itself on offering "what is available in the Southern Indiana region during that season."

Our first trip to Restaurant Tallent didn't disappoint. I only wish I'd taken more photos to share, but since we were in the company of friends in a cozy, dark space, I didn't want to be the tourist diner. There were a few other tables dining on Friday night. The restaurant was somewhere near half full. Half our dinner party had already arrived, so we joined them and promptly ordered wine. I wish I could remember what I ordered since I enjoyed it. I was debating between these three selections from the moderately sized (about nine whites to choose from by the glass) but thoughtfully composed wine list:

Santa Magdalena Pinot Grigio 2009 (Alto Aldige, Italy) $32/ $8.25
Ponzi Pinot Gris 2013 (Willamette Valley, Oregon) $36/ $9.25
Badenhorst Secateurs Chenin Blanc 2013 (South Africa) $36/ $9.25

Mostly, I was happy to see selections that aren't what everyone is serving...no overplayed Santa Margherita and Menage a Trois.   Someone had clearly curated the wine offerings lovingly, not based on what their distributor told them sells big.  This little detail set a distinctive tone for me--it represented the thought the owners put into making their restaurant special.

The amuse bouche arrived--tiny specks of fried okra that looked like black eyed peas. They were crunchy and fun.  Perhaps a little awkward to share among a table since it's like putting your fingers in communal bar nuts, but since we were all good friends, it wasn't too weird.  Over a work dinner, those probably wouldn't have been eaten.

We accepted our server's offer to bring bread given that we anticipated that, like any good trip to Bloomington, the night would end with at least one AMF or Hairy Bear. The butter was one of the many memorable parts of the meal. It was satisfyingly salty and at room temperature so it was easy to spread. It drives me crazy when restaurants bring you a frozen brick of butter.

I skipped the appetizer since I'd already indulged in two pre-dinner cocktails at the hotel. I'd checked the menu ahead of time, and the menu online didn't exactly match the selections at the restaurant. My husband chose the heirloom tomato soup and grilled cheese, which are not listed online. The soup was stellar...the most delightful rendition of tomato soup I've ever tasted. The color represented the heirloom tomatoes uniquely--it was red with a tie-dye purple cast. The soup was not the creamy bisque-like presentation you're used to, but instead, more gazpacho-like with the tomato's texture evident and lots of bright acidity. The sandwich was buttery and melty. If I didn't have a full-time job and they served lunch, I'd have to resist the urge to make a midday drive to Bloomington and eat this for lunch. Every day.

Our dinner companions ordered the heirloom tomato soup and the fish crudo as appetizers. The fish crudo was artfully prepared with tiny pearls of melon to resemble caviar.

I selected the scallops as my entree. Again, the preparation offered Friday was not identical to the online menu but it was similar. The three scallops were accompanied by fried green tomato and succotash. Each scallop was pleasantly browned on the outside and buttery inside. The succotash was heavy on the sweet corn, but that was fine by me. Nothing says summer like sweet corn. The wafer of fried green tomato on top was crispy without the grittiness of some fried green tomato preparations. For a particularly hungry adult or a man, the entree may have been a bit small, but it was perfectly sized for my appetite and recent attempts at having more restraint in portion size.

Scallops with succotash and fried green tomato at Restaurant Tallent.

My husband ordered the fried chicken.  It was not traditional buttermilk chicken, as described on the online menu.  Instead, it was a hot Asian interpretation.  It was presented like wings--very small pieces spread across the plate.  The heat wasn't overpowering.  He ended up regretting ordering something fried since he felt uncomfortably full afterwards--with a heavy belly not conducive for drinking like he was still in college.  This one might be a better choice for cold weather or a night when you can go home and curl up with a glass of port and fall asleep.  I think he had scallop envy.  Hot weather plus fried chicken equals sleepy time.

Overall, I could deal with watching IU football more often if each trip involved a visit to Restaurant Tallent.  Although I think eating there just made it impossible to go back to Bloomington and be satisfied eating pizza somewhere like Nick's.  And get the heirloom tomato soup if you go.  I'm hoping I'll be back again soon.