sörenberg bahnen

This past Sunday hubby and I attended the 2 nd annual Dig In at White River State Park.   I’m excited that we have gotten to go to Dig In since its inception last year ( here’s my post from last year).   I now have a goal of collecting a nice set of Dig In glasses from each year. I was very impressed to see that the organizers certainly paid attention to how things went last year and made some great improvements.   First of all, last year the food booths were all lined up next to each other and as people walked in, they just started going to the booths in order causing a giant line going out the front entrance.   This year they set up separate little groupings of tents that had 6-9 providers (food and beer/wine samples).   Then if you wanted to purchase a glass or bottle of anything to drink, you went to a central tent to do that.   Last year the beer and wine were sort of crammed into one tent, making it hard to get to some of them.   I was amazed h...

 Asado de Puerco  On our way out of Chicago on our most recent trip, we also stopped to have breakfast at another of our friend’s favorite places, Restaurante Nuevo Le ón.   He had told us how good the Huevos Rancheros were and the homemade flour tortillas.   It was perfect timing for us and an easy stop on the way to the highway (it is located in the Pilsen neighborhood, which is full of many Mexican restaurants). We were seated right away in this bustling, extremely busy little restaurant.   The servers were nice, although a bit gruff and quick, but after ordering, we were brought the usual chips and salsa (two salsas, a verde that was more roasted and mild, and a hot red salsa) as well as a complimentary sample of their Asado de Puerco (who would have thought you would get an amuse bouche at a little Mexican place where the breakfast entrées average about $5?).   The thinly sliced pork was really good too—it was super flavorful, marinated in an ancho chili sauce...

I met a friend for lunch the other day at Mesh and was interested to see if their lunch menu was different from the dinner menu.   Lunch is fairly entrée salad and sandwich-heavy with a few larger entrees.   I have eaten at Mesh a couple of times since my last review and have always been fairly impressed with their food.   It isn’t amazing, but seems pretty consistently good.   One other consistent thing I have experienced there unfortunately though, is some serious attitude from some of the people at the host/ess stand.   The last time I was so pissed by the time I left, I didn’t know if I would go back.   Luckily, this time everything went well, even when we asked to be moved into the bar where it wasn’t as dark and freezing as the table we did get (I was a little nervous about asking just because of previous experiences). Once we got settled in the bar, we had a very enjoyable experience.   Our server was very friendly and when I asked him, “what wa...

 Hubby and I have been in the mood for barbecue lately, and now that we have started trying them, we are hoping to go to several in the near future so that we can compare them without forgetting them.   Squealers has been on the list for quite awhile, and recommended a lot, so we thought we would start there.   Several people told me the original location in Mooresville is the best, but is quite a hike for us, so we just went with the one out on West 86 th Street. So we ate a lot of stuff, and I will get to it, but man, the fried biscuits?   Freakin’ awesome.   Seriously, I have been thinking about those biscuits ever since.   They are super light and fluffy inside and fried just right to be a little crispy on the outside.   A teeny bit of sweetness, but not much.   I called them extremely tender, but not as sweet, doughnuts.   I want to go back just for them. Ok, let's get to the real reason we were at Squealers-- the barbecue. ...

I stopped back in for lunch at Monon Food Company with a friend the other day because it was super convenient.   After my first visit, I planned a return trip, but this was actually my first time back.   The first thing I noticed when I walked in was that they now do table service, which is something I mentioned in my first review—that I thought that table service would be nicer if you are sitting down to dinner.   However, our service was so slow, by the time I left, I was rethinking that position. My friend and I shared the Hawaiian fish tacos (because last time someone had recommended them) and the jerk chicken tacos (we had one of each).   (The jerk are $6.95 for 2 and the Hawaiian are $7.49 for 2).   Seriously, these things have only gotten larger since my first visit, and they were quite large then.   Now, you physically cannot eat them like a taco.   They are so overstuffed you pretty much have to eat them with a knife and fork. I preferred the ...

I find Mexican food in this town to be a tough one.   Not that I have tried a lot of places, and still tend to hit the local place by my house frequently because I like their margaritas and chips and honestly, could pass on most of the food, but el Sol de Tala is one of those Indy institutions that has been on my list for awhile. I was actually there once for a large group meal, but hubby had never been, so we decided to finally go together. It was a Saturday night, and the first thing I noticed was that there was no one in the place. It is quite large in there and there were seriously only probably 4-6 tables full the entire time we were there.   Now I know this place has been around for 32 years (check the sign outside), but I would be a little concerned by this kind of business.   And despite the fact that there was hardly anyone there (or maybe because of it, who knows), the service was a bit gruff.   Our server was quite impatient that it took us awhile to figur...

Avenues is set in the upscale Peninsula hotel, where the Chef, Curtis Duffy, was awarded 2 Michelin stars in 2010.   He was previously at Charlie Trotter’s and Alinea before going to Avenues.   So we’re talking an impressive pedigree.   The dining room is quite formal and quiet, tables are spaced a good distance apart and the wine list is literally as big as a phone book.   There are two 8 course tasting menus and that’s it. You choose the vegetarian menu or the non-vegetarian menu (we went non-veg at $135 per person).   Each plate is placed in front of each diner at precisely the same minute. OK, you get the drift—it was the other end of the spectrum from Avec . The food is also quite the opposite of rustic.   The food here could only be described as quite complex and really, kind of fussy, and visually beautiful.   Now don’t get me wrong, I appreciate complexity in food, but there was so much going on in a lot of these courses, I will certainly strug...

One of the great things about this blog, and my connection with all of you guys is the way I can ask for a recommendation somewhere (usually on twitter ) and get an answer back really quick.   I also love it when people ask me for help and I can help them (sometimes also with help from you guys).   I usually get a couple of emails a week from people asking for recommendations for some specific occasion or location—often people from out of town.   I love that. Anyway, I am rambling on because the other day I needed to be in Zionsville in the afternoon with my kids and figured it would be a good time to try something new for lunch.   I posted a tweet and after two different people recommended the same place, we set out to find it.   Amore is set in a little strip mall (I sort of expected it to be in downtown Zionsville for some reason) and is your classic New York pizza style set up.   Lots of pies behind a glassed-in counter.   They heat up a slice of w...

Tomorrow starts this Summer's Devour Downtown (wow, time flies).  As usual, lots of great downtown restaurants are participating but I am starting to become a little jaded about which places are really a good deal.  So many of them are close to the three courses for $30 price point anyway.  So this week I am going to hit up one of the steakhouses I think--I know they are usually a good deal (and I appreciate the slightly reduced portions).  I do like that there are some new places and ideas this year-- Sensu is new to Devour and is actually doing 4 courses .  Harry & Izzy's is doing a separate vegetarian option .  Several places are also doing lunch specials. What are your plans?  Do you still think Devour Downtown is a good deal?  Where are your top choices for dinner (or lunch)?  I want to hear where you plan to go, and how it tastes afterwards.

I recently had two dinners in Chicago that highlighted two ends of the dining spectrum for me.   They were both good and were such a great way for me to really appreciate and analyze two trends in dining and realize that I think maybe my favorite cuisine falls somewhere in between.   But these were both meals that were true dining experiences—the kinds that won’t easily be forgotten. Our first dinner was at Avec.   If you haven’t heard of Avec, it is a very casual, small place specializing in what I would call rustic, homey food with little twists.   The restaurant is made up of a long bar along one side where you can eat and watch the food being prepared, and a long banquette of about 5 tables on the other side that seat 8-10 people, depending on how much they cram you in.   So it is pretty communal feeling.   Everything in there is wood—the benches, the chairs, the tables, the walls.   Again, keeping with the rustic but with a twist theme in my mind....

I had another opportunity the other day to hit up the City Market for lunch, and I had a single goal in mind.   The “ My Dad’s” Sweet Corn chowder at Circle City Sweets.   I had gotten the email update from them saying they would have it and I love love love “My Dad’s” corn (I buy it weekly when it is in season at the Broad Ripple Farmers’ Market).   I figured I would also get something else to go along as well. It just so happened, that I was also there on Thursday, which is often “ beignet day” at Circle City Sweets. As I was waiting in line, I heard someone get an order, and was told there were only a couple left.   So, of course, not wanting to miss out, I got an order too.   I also got a Caprese salad to go along with my soup (there were some great sounding sandwiches as well, but I didn’t think I could eat that much!).   Starting with the soup, it was truly the pure sweet essence of the sweet corn.   It was completely smooth though, not the chu...