Jonathan Byrd's: A Cafeteria Juggernaut

I hesitate to post anything about Jonathan Byrd's on Sheek Road in Greenwood,  because it is such a giant place it's almost like reviewing a chain,  and almost everyone I know has eaten there at least once, so what's the point, right?  We hadn't been there in ages, because back when I was a Big Eatin' Man, cafeterias were just not cost-effective for me--  I had to eat so many of those ala-carte items to be satisfied that inevitably the price was equal to that of a much fancier restaurant.

Two things have changed, though:  These days I be old, so I don't eat as much, and most cafeterias now have package deals, although not the meat-and-three like they have in the South, but usually an entre and two sides for like $8.99, which fits my $$ sensibilities.  I had the Fried Chicken, which was not the Indiana style to which I'm accustomed-- it had a light sort of partial coating rather than one of  the usual thick, crusty types. It was tasty but not highly seasoned, as is almost all cafeterias' food, I suppose, since they seem to cater to a lot of older folks who are probably on low-salt diets and such, so it was a good thing that I brought along some No-Salt (since I'm subject to the low-sodium torture myself) to flavor things up a bit.  Everything was decent if not outstanding, and we were treated to an almost-deserted cavernous dining room at 2:00 p.m. on a Tuesday.  A bus full of blue-hairs arrived shortly after we did, though, but we never saw them again--I believe they were swallowed up by the banquet room in the back....  There is also a small cafe, JB's, which has things like box lunches and pies to-go and has a drive-through window, too.  All things considered, it was very good even though I rather prefer the more down-home comfort food at Gray Brothers' Cafeteria in Mooresville, but there is the advantage of not having to stand in line forever like you do at GBC.  Heck, I think you could fit all of GBC inside Jonathan Byrd's, so even if there is a wait it likely won't be long. ...Only 9 more years 'till I get the Senior Discount!  Yee-ha!

Milano Inn - Atmosphere or Food: You Decide.

Milano Inn, 231 S. College Avenue, has been in business in the same location since 1934, when Indianapolis' neighborhoods were largely defined by ethnicity.  It was originally on the border between the Italian-Danish and Irish Hill neighborhoods, although both are mere remnants of what they used to be due to downtown office and condo developments having replaced much of the produce terminals and old houses there, thus the Milano sits on a little hill pretty much by itself overlooking the Farm Bureau and Anthem Blue Cross buildings, which is good for us today in that there is ample parking available.

The first floor is all Little Italy decor, heavy dark wood with stained glass windows and a large bar with brass rails.  You can almost imagine two Mob dons having a sit down there to settle their respective organized crime territories, if Indy ever had such operations.  The atmosphere is elegant but cordial and very comfortable.  I must admit I've eaten downstairs only once, and the Italian flavors they served then were more subtle than you might expect: my Fettucine Alfredo was smoother and more creamy than the gloppy-butter stuff you get at Olive Garden.

Most of my visits to the Milano, however,  have been for the lunch buffet laid out upstairs in the 3 connected banquet rooms every weekday between 11:00 and 3:00 (I think).  For $9 you get an outrageous number of entree and side item choices, a salad bar, and a large dessert bar to boot.  If I recall correctly from my visit there yesterday, they had Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin, Fried Chicken, Eggplant Parmesan, Spaghetti with meat or Marinara sauce, Lasagne, Potatoes Au Gratin, Bacon & Chive Mashed Potatoes, green beans, corn, and Baked Potato soup.  It was all delicious, although as I said the flavors are more subtle than some folks might like, but heck, there are salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and crushed red pepper shakers available if you feel the need to spice things up. Get there early or late for lunch, because the Eli Lilly Co. and Anthem crowds usually fill up the noon hour.... !Quello che un affare delizioso!  !Mangia!

Angler's Cove - A Surprisingly Good State Park Restaurant.

Angler's Cove is the restaurant inside the Lodge at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park near Greenup, KY.  We stayed there on a little mini-vacation in October, and the lake was absolutely beautiful, nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians and bracketed by trees blazing with fall color.  We ate the free breakfast for guests, and it was quite appetizing, although lacking any meat except for sausage gravy on the biscuits. Someone in the kitchen there really knows his/her way around an egg, serving light n' fluffy cheese omelets one morning and light n' fluffy scrambled eggs the next. 

For dinner the place was a little quiet on a Wednesday night in the off-season, and the young wait staff seemed a little less than professional (the waiter called me "buddy" once, and the hostess was deeply engrossed in her smartphone when we walked in, although she got up immediately and seated us), so I was not expecting the food to be anything to write home about.  I was WRONG, however:  I ordered the Hot Brown, a Kentucky specialty (which originated at the Brown Hotel in Louisville in the 1920's) that typically consists of toast points placed in the bottom of a baking dish, covered with slices of turkey and drowned in Hollandaise sauce, then baked only long enough to brown the Hollandaise, after which two slices each of bacon and tomato are placed on top.  The Angler's Cove version adds thin-sliced country ham on top of the turkey, which vastly enriched the overall flavor of the dish, and I hate to keep using the same adjectives repeatedly, but the Hollandaise sauce was THE lightest and THE fluffiest I've ever had, and I've eaten a lot of Hot Browns, yet another tribute to the kitchen's expertise with eggs....  We ate there one other time and it was decent, but my memory of that  is blotted out by the overwhelming sensory experience of that danged Hot Brown!  Oh,  and the bill was pretty reasonable, too.  I think it was, anyway... especially the price of that danged HOT BROWN!

The Goldfinch Restaurant- What the heck is AYCEFISH?

The Goldfinch Restaurant is, I'm sorry to say, on US52 in Brookville, Indiana.  I am sad to say that only because it is so damn' far away from my home that I won't be able to frequent it regularly.  We were ending a mini-vacation at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park in Kentucky by driving US52 from Ironton, OH all the way back to Indy, which is one of the most pleasant scenic drives I've ever taken in recent memory, although the string of small towns along the route meant that the most exotic restaurant you'll find is a Dairy Queen Grill 'n Chill, which was our first stop, in Aberdeen, OH, which was a bit of all-right in itself.  It was fun to split a Cheesecake & Caramel milk shake while listening to the group of retired old guys who inevitably seem to gather at such places in small towns, shootin' the bull while they sip coffee and maybe have a little breakfast.  We later ducked across I-275 into Kentucky to skirt our way around Cincinnati and continue back onto US52 on our idyllic journey through the boonies. There seemed to be 'nary an eatery between Lawrenceburg and Brookville, but as we approached that bodacious burg, we saw a plethora, a smorgasbord if you will, of signs for local restaurants, almost ALL of which were closed for the season!  

"The season of WHAT?"  I asked, my mouth watering for pancakes and steaks that I would now never have.  Being an insular Indianapolite (Indianapolitan?), I had no idea that the Brookville area is a popular area for whitewater canoeing and rafting, for those who have that particular death wish, and during the Summer the place hums with tourists (and fire-rescue squads, too, I imagine) all of whom need to be fed, but that was all done by the time we got there in the first week of October.  We were pleasantly surprised, however, as we got into Brookville proper and spied the Goldfinch's sign out front that shouted SALMON and AYCE FISH. AYCE FISH?  The term intrigued me almost as much as the prospect of actual seafood, or at least fish.  I grew up in a Southern city on the Ohio River which has numerous restaurants offering all manner of water-dwelling food animals, and I never cease to be disappointed by the dearth of fish and seafood selections in the Circle City, unless you want a) hoity-toity just flown-in from the coast stuff that doesn't taste nearly as good as it does fresh AT the coast but still costs you $$$$, or b) Buffalo fish, whatever that is, or some other mystery fish that is only $ expensive but is breaded so thickly and fried so hard you have to break it up and mash it with your fork to get to the actual fish part. But here in Brookville was a homey sit-down place of the type I'm accustomed to, offering several types of fish and seafood prepared several different ways.

We had to ask what AYCE FISH is, and it means, simply, wait for it...  "All You Can Eat."  DUH!  I shoulda guessed, and it was AYCE cod, I think she said.  Not wanting to pig out, I ordered the Salmon Patties with fries and She ordered a Whitefish Sandwich.  My patties were as good as Mom used to make, although they could've been cooked a litle longer (Mom always browned 'em in the pan), and Her fish sandwich was a bit overcooked, but it was one huge square fish patty on a big-assed bun with fresh lettuce and tomato.  I had a salad, too, and the lettuce and 'maters tasted like they'd been harvested that day, they were so fresh.  The fries had a light coating of an interesting batter, too.  At upwards of $10, Her sandwich was a little overpriced, I thought, but it was still delicious.  Like I said, I would go back there  the next time I get a craving for fish, if only it weren't in freakin' Brookville!  Sigh....

The Indigo Duck: Fine Dining in The Bodacious Burg of Franklin

The Indigo Duck, 49 E. Court Street in Franklin, is a really small fine dining restaurant in a historic storefront building on the courthouse square.  It has maybe twenty tables, but also has a full bar with stools in the front part of the space just inside the door.  It's rather simply decorated, with muted lighting that lends a relaxed atmosphere to the place, which bills itself as "come as you are" Southern style.  

I was able to order duck for the second time in as many weeks, woohoo! This dish was entitled "Gunthorp Farm Grilled Duck" (promoting their local supplier), and the manner in which was cooked suited me to a T, whatever that means.  The slices of duck were crispy on the outside edges and sort of medium-well on the inside.  To me it was 'way more tasty than the seared duck I had at Piper's lasts week:  I'm no chef, but I think maybe cooking it a little more caramelizes the fat marbled into the meat of the duck to give it a little richer, saltier flavor.  It was EXCELLENT....  The Little Woman had the Low Country Shrimp & Grits, which was unlike the Shrimp & Grits we'd had when we were actually IN the Low Country of South Carolina, but not in a bad way. The grits were flavored not only by the shrimp but also by small chunks of pork mixed in as well, which made it GREAT!  The portion served was quite large, so She let me have quite a bit of it, and I felt quite fortunate.  Thank you, my lovely Queen!

The service was fairly fast and efficient, too.   I wish I could afford to eat there all the time, but t's one of those $$$ places, and unfortunately I'm a $$ kind of guy.  Dinner for the two of us including two glasses of wine was $117 with tip, but it was, uh, er, um, well DANG, my cheapskate self won't let me say "well worth the price"....  Let's just say Grace and eat, y'all, and worry about payin' later.  www.theindigoduck.com

Piper's: Casual Elegance

Piper's, at 2130 W. Southport Road, is a casual-atmosphere fine dining restaurant.  It kind of puts me in mind of Eddie Merlot's but is a little less swanky (how's that for eloquent, articulate description, eh? eh?) My wife has a passing acquaintance with the owner, who has many years' catering experience although the restaurant itself is only about 15(?) years old.  I ordered one of the chef's specials, the Seared Duck.  I have a hard time finding duck at any of our regular haunts, so this was a real treat for me.  I reeeeally love roast duck, and I should have realized the implication behind the title "Seared" and maybe made a special request of our waiter to do more than sear it, but I didn't do either of those things.  My duck was tender and tasty, but it was a little underdone for my taste, but again, that was my fault and not the restaurant's.   Our meal was very good, and at a little over $70 for the two of us (including three glasses of wine), it was definitely a good deal for the price.  If I had more money than I knew what to do with, I would certainly eat here all the time.  www.piperscatering.com/restaurant   

Mallow Run Winery: A Victim of Its Own Success

Mallow Run Winery, 6964 W. Whiteland Road, Bargersville, is one of the nicest wineries you could visit in Central Indiana.  The gravel drive from the road back to the winery is picturesquely lined with grape arbors, and the winery itself is an old stone-and-wood barn in the side of a hill overlooking Mallow Run creek. There are tables inside and a deck outside with tables, as well as an outdoor patio down below the barn  with tables that is covered with a tent and heated during the winter. They have a limited menu of sandwiches and cheese trays which is relatively reasonably-priced for a winery.  There is usually live musical entertainment on the weekends, too, and during those events, patrons are encouraged to picnic on the lawn between the barn and the creek.  The only problem I have with the place is that it has become so danged popular on the weekends that it is often difficult to get a place at the counter for a tasting or a table at which to sit to eat and drink, so the lawn is sometimes your only option.  The savvy regulars thus usually bring camp chairs and a beach umbrella to create their own shade as the lawn has only a few trees. Still, once you finally get situated it is usually a great little experience. 

The wine, yes, let's talk about the wine!  Most local wineries here seem to favor sweet wines, although they all offer at least one dry red.  Mallow Run, however, has a number of dry red varieties, and I found their Chambourcin quite complex and tasty, and their Merlot ain't bad either.  You can buy wine by the glass, but there's something very satisfying about buying a bottle and spending the afternoon drinking it there at one of the tables.  Sante!     www.mallowrun.com