| The House of NOM: Unexpectedly Extraordinary FOOD!
By Cassie Anderson, Apogee Consulting Group
As with many folks in Business Development, a large portion of role with my company is spent entertaining clients or prospective clients. Over the last 4+ years dining out on a daily basis, I’ve become quite familiar with Indianapolis’s food scene. As a self-proclaimed amateur foodie (defined as an informal term for a particular class of aficionado of food and drink), I will even go so far as to take pictures of outstanding presentation and foods while dining out and post them to various social media sites, including my own (sadly delinquent) food blog.
I digress. At my previous company, I had the oddest thing happen. I accidentally connected my LinkedIN profile and my Twitter account for a short time. As I would check into a restaurant on Twitter, my professional contacts would get a status update as well. (Hey this is why I’m in BD rather than Marketing)! Someone finally pointed it out to me, but not before I received a couple of great emails from clients and, now, friends. The first email was from a client wanting a ‘date night’ restaurant recommendation for he and his wife. How complimentary, that he thought to ask me!!! The second was someone asking that our next lunch be at one of my ‘dives’ of choice. My definition of a ‘dive’ is as follows: a small, informal restaurant with unexpectedly, sometimes inexplicably, wonderful food.
Food critics and writers tend to write on the newest and trendiest fares and hotspots, so in an effort to keep this reoccurring column fresh and fun, I’ve decided to write about a couple of my favorite unassuming restaurants in town; those joints you think are only good to quench your thirst at happy hour or over a game but actually have amazing food that you should indulge in while pounding that pint!
Twenty Tap – 5406 North College Avenue Indianapolis
One of my most favored spots for a beer in Indianapolis cannot be contested. With their 38 rotating taps of regional craft brews, you never know what they’ll be pouring at Twenty Tap located on the northwest corner of 54th Street and College Avenue. Now, I’m a light (color not calories, don’t be silly) beer drinker. You’ll typically find me with a Belgian Wheat or a tasty Saison in hand, but Twenty Tap never fails to have a healthy selection of stouts, porters, wheats, APAs, IPAs and all of the frothiness in between. As if that’s not enough reason to wait on a table or bar stool in this just over a year old establishment, their menu is out of control craftiness. Excepting one other, Rob Coate (head chef at Twenty Tap) has created my favorite burger in the city: The French Breakfast Burger. A beautiful all beef burger topped with pickled onions, shoestring potatoes, brie and bacon jam. Yes, you read that right…BACON JAM. Always order fries aside these tasty burgers, for two reasons: 1) They’re delicious with a side of TT’s Sriracha aioli and 2) you’ve already ordered this decadent burger, are you really considering ordering a side salad with it?
Other awesome Twenty Tap menu items include: The Wrath Burger (covered in an ale blue cheese sauce and bacon), The Cuban (same one they were making at Northside News!), pimento mac & cheese (add Bacon because what wouldn’t you?), the cheese curds, and the Brisket Sandwich. For you vegetarians out there, Rob is whipping up a Bahn Mi that I constantly hear rave reviews about. Now, I cannot attest to that since I can’t pass up meat, but even my carnivorous friends tell me its tops!
Maxine’s Chicken & Waffles – 132 North East Street Indianapolis
I already know what your reaction to this might be as it’s the same as everyone’s that I tell about this place, “It’s a restaurant in a gas station. NO!” Frankly, you’d be wrong. Maxine’s is not located inside the Citgo on the southwest corner of Ohio and East Street downtown Indy, but is just a few inches and a wall away. Honestly, after my umpteenth visit there for brunch last weekend and the crowd that followed, I’m not sure why I’m sharing this gem with any more people as it will surely just increase my wait time during my next meal.
The mission at Maxine's Chicken and Waffles is to provide a "taste of love in every bite." NAILED IT! Understanding the following statement might elicit some pushback, the fried chicken served at Maxine’s is the best I have found in the city. If you think that those are fighting words, please grab a table between the indoor fountain and Rubbermaid covered homemade cakes at Maxine’s and place your order. I anxiously await your rebuttals.
Nestled in the menu between chicken salad, fried green tomatoes, a myriad of sandwiches, catfish basket (which I must go back and try as soon as I can fit into my pants again) and a Fat burger is this restaurant’s namesake: Chicken and Waffles. Three jumbo chicken wings fried to a moist perfection and served with your choice of one of their signature waffles. Go with the sweet potato waffle and make sure to ask for the peach butter.
Although the décor looks more like they should be serving a Mexican fare, don’t be fooled. With impeccable service, Maxine’s will put you in a comfort food coma of epic proportions.
Cassie Anderson is the Business Development Manager for Apogee Consulting, a SDVOSB Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Design & Engineering Company. In her free time, she organizes philanthropic dining events as Vice-President of Twenty4Change (www.twenty4change.com) and writes a recipe blog (which doubles as the namesake of this column: www.thehouseofnom.blogspot.com). She is a huge advocate for the Farm to Table movement and loves dining out any place local. Email her directly for restaurant recommendations, but be warned that she will talk your ear off about the local food scene. Canderson@acg-pa.com |
