10-01 Food & Drink

Sure, there is that prime Monon-adjacent real estate along Broad Ripple Avenue, an address so enviable that it begat the name of this handsome tri-level featuring more tinted plate glass and stacked fieldstone than the Brady Bunch house, with a raised patio for summertime people-watching. But a restaurant cannot survive on location alone—and might, in fact, stumble out of the gate, as did owner Natalie Wolfe’s version of “Midwestern comfort food with a culinary twist” until she brought Meridian vet Dan Dunville onboard a year after its 2011 opening. Under Dunville’s watch, the open kitchen finally turned out masterful takes on the most approachable dishes: a succulent appetizer of pan-roasted steak bites scattered on a swoosh of spicy steak sauce; sweet tomato bisque that is the essence of summer; and house-smoked brisket wedged inside Texas toast. The essential order, though, is a heaping plate of fried chicken, piping hot and crunchy atop a mound of mashed potatoes doused in mushroom-studded gravy. Our licked fingers are crossed that 10-01 will hang onto that recipe card, even after Dunville’s March departure (for a test-chef job at US Foods).
SALT OF THE EARTH: The 10-01 Margarita, made of Herradura tequila, Cointreau, fresh lime juice, and Grand Marnier, will knock you out of  your flip-flops.
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1001 Broad Ripple Ave., 317-253-1001, 1001fooddrink.com

 

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This article appeared in the May 2014 issue.