Food & Drinks

Meatball-and-roasted­–pepper pizza with fresh mozzarella at Thr3e Wise Men Brewery (1021 Broad Ripple Ave., 255-5151). French toast—planks of baguette swimming in a mixed-berry syrup and topped with a berry coulis—on the brunch menu at Mesh on Mass (725 Massachusetts Ave., 955-9600).

The well-behaved kids coloring on butcher paper at the next table didn’t clue us in to the culinary aspirations of chef Craig Baker’s kitchen. Nor did the plasma screens streaming basketball scores—though one TV in the bar was tuned to Rachael Ray perkily whipping up another quick weeknight supper. Mixed messages aside, we’d been tipped off to the ambitions of Baker, who honed his skills in several Portland restaurants before heading up the kitchen at Casler’s in Geist and working the pizza station at Napolese. We hadn’t driven out to Westfield to a restaurant called The Local just to nosh on humdrum pub grub, after all.

If you’ve spent the last decade pining for Atlas Supermarket’s famous Chicken Salad Veronica or Grandma’s potato salad with plenty of crunchy bits of celery and sweet pickles, then you might not know they’ve been lurking in one form or another in Carmel all the while. Now you can buy selected favorites, including hummus and tabouli, on Saturday mornings at the Broad Ripple Farmers Market, as well as at the Fishers and Binford Farmers Markets.

It may have moved to its new digs because of growing pains at its original location, but customers are already lined up out the door and filling every seat at the new Boogie Burger (1904 Broad Ripple Ave., 255-2450). If that address sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the landmark home of the old Wild West-themed Tin Star, known by Indianapolis children for decades as the place whe

You might be a Hoosier if you know the location of a secret backroad persimmon tree that supplies you with free, foraged fruit for baking. Charlotte and Kent Waltz of Persimmon Pleasures in Bedford are most definitely Hoosiers. They’re so Hoosier, in fact, Charlotte’s cousin is said to have discovered a variety of persimmon on his Southern Indiana farm some 50 years ago. He used it to win the 1957 Mitchell Persimmon Festival (which still exists) and subsequently named it the Morris-Burton persimmon. That’s what you’ll taste inside one of Charlotte’s persimmon-chocolate-chip cookies newly available at Conner Prairie (13400 Allisonville Rd., Fishers, 776-6000). The persimmon pulp that gives the treat its chewiness carries the Indiana Artisan seal of approval.  

Before agriculture emerged, hunter-gatherers ruled the world. That foraging instinct is kicking in again with the modern-day push toward sustainability inviting us back to nature to love our yard enemies.“Weeds are just a term for plants that people don’t want where they are,” says Constance Ferry, a teacher and master gardener of organic herbs. “Foraging is seeing that all plants are useful.” Instead of cursing the curly dock in your sidewalk cracks, pull it u

Another food truck is about to hit the streets of Indianapolis. Edward’s Drive-In (2126 S. Sherman Dr., 786-1638) is preparing to take itstenderloins, onion rings, and root beer (which have been featured on Adam Richman’s Man v. Food), on the road at the be

Lead server Chad Hosier is leaving R Bistro (888 Massachusetts Ave., 423-0312) for Chicago and a job at The Girl & the Goat ... Zing at the Canal has closed ...The old-school New Orleans cocktails such as the St. Charles, the Vieux Carre, and the Rossignac have disappeared from t

On Saturday, we snacked on Idaho Nachos—seasoned waffle fries loaded with bacon, tomatoes, and Colby Jack—at Granite City Food & Brewery (150 W. 96th St., 218-7185). Of course, we didn’t stop there. We dipped ciabatta into onion-spiked spinach-artichoke dip and indulged in one of the signature items, grilled salmon presented Oscar(esque)-style with crabmeat, asparagus, hollandaise sauce, and broccoli. Bla