Dining

Serpentine lines waylaid our early attempts to hit downtown's new Punch Burger (137 E. Ohio St., 317-426-5280) for lunch. In the weeks immediately following the burger joint's early October opening, we would poke our heads inside the glass door, survey the scores of business-attired patrons queued up at the counter (with the line snaking down the center of the bustling dining room), and quickly go to Plan B. Holy cheese paper, it's just burgers. So we thought.

Including Spoke & Steele's seared sea bass atop charred-corn pudding.

The staff of Late Harvest Kitchen holds a late-night lunch once a month.

As we embarked on our own food-driven adventures for the October cover story on Destination Dinner, we couldn't help asking a couple of pros for their favorite meals worth the drive.

Including the Verlasso salmon swiped with ramp butter from Rail Epicurean Market.