Friday, September 30, 2005

I've been a bad, bad blogger!

O, the doldrums of summer! I've been traveling, and well, just lazy, but I'm back for the fall and posting again. Apologies for the long absence -- the good news is that I'm still eating!

Here was the best in my food world in August and September:

Dallas Restaurant Week -- Indianapolis has our own version every summer but it hasn't become nearly as popular as it is in Dallas these days. The concept is simple: about 30 select restaurants offer a prix fixe three-course dinner for around $30 often adding wine pairings for an extra charge. In Dallas, reservations are tough to get and subject to tough competition. (It gets cut-throat!) Let's hope that ours will be as popular in a few years! My fantastic hosts snagged reservations at the uber-hot downtown restaurant, Fuse. It's the best haute tex-asian fusion cuisine I've ever had. (OK, it's the only tex-asian fusion I've ever had, but it was still a funky and delish place.)

Best Wine Bar for my Vote: Cru in Dallas. Cru is everything a wine bar should be with lots of dark wood, a fantastic snack menu, reasonable flights wth good solid wines, edgy wines by the glass (no Kendall Jackson or Copolla on this list at least when I was there), and truly knowlegable staff. I love a wine bar who serves wine for its customers who love wine -- not for those who they're worried will be scared away if they don't see a familar chardonnay or merlot on the menu.

What to Eat in San Francisco when you're from Indianapolis? Sushi and/or Thai every day...for a week. Although, I was disappointed to see my old haunt Saji's in the Marina District, on Scott off Chestnut is now a tapas bar.

Best Missed Opportunity? Local chef Steven Oakley of Oakley's Bistro was cooking at Cakebread Cellars for two nights while I was in northern California. If I'd been better organized, I could have made it up for the Tuesday night wine dinner. Even at $175 a head, it would have been worth it for the rare treat of getting to Cakebread Cellars. I am ashamed to say I went shoe shopping instead. (It would have been cheaper to go to Cakebread!)

Best Recent Meal in Indy? Hotdog at last week's Colts game. I'm not kidding -- it was just the perfect food in the perfect setting and they won, natch. It was also the best hotdog I've had in a really long time. It was not even changed by the weird rule at the RCA Dome where the vendors have to pour your beer for you. Thank god our seats were on the end of a row!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Welcome back. We've missed you. I've been traveling too and have slowed down the blogging. I'm looking forward to being home for awhile.

Scott
http://scotthutcheson.typepad.com