Inhaltsverzeichnis für April 2020 in Indianapolis Monthly

I’m going to do something that has gone out of fashion over the last decade: praise someone else’s expertise. In a world where everyone tries to be something they’re not and professes to be a professional [fill in the blank], without, you know, actually being a professional, Julia Spalding is the real deal. Julia, who wrote, edited, and ingested this month’s “Best Restaurants 2020” package (p. 75), has been IM’s dining editor for over a decade. This is her second tour of duty here. For her first stint, she was—hold on to your hat—our dining editor. Eating and writing aren’t her only skills, of course. But she is damn good at both, and though everyone thinks they can eat food and write about it (hello, Yelp!), I challenge you to…

“I’m a little biased working at UIndy, but I can attest that Grady The Greyhound, who you also featured, is a sweetheart.”—JEANIE NEAL, via Facebook “And I thought my kid on the cover of the Shops magazine was the cutest.”—KELLY LAVENGOOD, via Instagram “I want that dog’s autograph.”—COLLEEN FANNING, via Instagram “What a cute cover model!”—DEVON DEAN, via Facebook WHAT’S THE CUTEST DOG IN INDY? LOOK FOR OUR NEXT POLL ON TWITTER. FOLLOW US @INDYMONTHLY FOR DETAILS. 1% Turbo Roo. Adorability on two legs. 89 % Butler Blue IV. That puppy is a charmer. 2% Garth The Golden. 138,000 followers can’t be wrong. 8% Mine, of course. Arrested Development Having attended three events to hype the GM Stamping Plant site project (February), I find this whole deconstruction fascinating as a type of modern morality play. Missing in the…

Rainbow MINIATURE POT-BELLIED PIG When this 6-year-old porker debuted at last year’s Mutt Strut, she partook in a few IMS traditions—including kissing the bricks. But Rainbow preferred being escorted in her stroller rather than hoofing it. Diana SKUNK This stinker named after Princess Di was there to support IndyHumane and educate visitors on Indiana Skunk Rescue, founded by her owner, Julie McLaughlin. For a $1 donation, you could pet Diana and learn about her species. Frog CAT Frog, a certified therapy cat, has attended Mutt Strut several times. IndyHumane asks that non-canine animals be contained for their safety; Frog cruised the track in a stroller. Tater Tot MINIATURE HORSE With a hair bow and booties, Tater Tot was one of the more stylish animals at the IMS. At about 2…

THE THREAD We can’t all go wardrobe-shopping in Europe, but luckily Rebecca Hanson of 14 Districts Weekend makes the time. One of her latest finds is Essential Antwerp, a Belgian resortwear label full of joie de vivre, like this reversible one-size-fits-all kimono ($368). Fresh designs like high-waisted flowy shorts and a hot-pink maxi dress are available for pre-order now (for May delivery) through the Carmel boutique, one of the few stores in the country with access to the collection. Ready, jet set, go. Carmel City Center, 317-805-1857, instagram.com/14districts…

TOM HAROLD was, well, moved. During a visit to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis years ago, he was captivated by George Rhoads’s kinetic sculpture Science in Motion, with its colorful balls hurtling along multiple motorized tracks. Although the machine did nothing practical, it delighted Harold. “I thought to myself, I really want to build something like that,” he recalls. With no formal welding experience, it would be a couple of years before he finally could. Harold took metal-arts classes. He bought a welder and began practicing on his own. To speed his progress, Harold traded a desk job for a stint working second shift as a shop welder. “I learned the basics about machining, and they let me pick a lot of metal out of the scrap bin,” he says.…

Trends Combining the best parts of a coffeehouse, a craft brewery, and a base-ment rumpus room from the 1970s, two new businesses are bringing board games into the light. Doughnuts & Dragons At this spot in the Clearwater Crossing strip, owners Blake Dollive and Mitchell Kunkle bake up daily batches of gourmet sinkers. A row of 36 beer taps lines one wall, and nearly all of the others are filled with board games to be checked out back at your table. No need to pause your hunt for Colonel Mustard with the candlestick to go for refills: Tables have call buttons so servers can deliver drinks mid-roll. 3838 E. 82nd St., 317-288-0554 Hitherto Coffee + Gaming Parlour Specialty coffee aficionado and board-game fanatic Kevin Kerkhof’s game library includes his favorite,…

WHENEVER I GET depressed, I think about the things that make me happy, like buying a new car. I rarely end up buying one, which makes me happy that I’ve saved all that money, and then I’m no longer depressed. I’m hoping I don’t get depressed anytime soon, because this time I might actually succumb to temptation and buy a new vehicle, since my current ride, a 2013 Ford Flex, has more than 170,000 miles on it. When I glance at the odometer, I hear my Grandpa Hank’s voice warning me to sell my cars when they cross the 75,000-mile mark. I’m 95,000 miles past his benchmark, and I keep expecting the engine to seize, the axles to break, or the transmission to grind down to metal shavings. Instead, it…

HOME OF THE MONTH WHEN JOYCE BUTTERWORTH brought her construction-savvy brother to check out the English manor she had fallen for in Meridian-Kessler—the one with trees growing out of its chimneys—he had one question: “Joyce, have you lost your mind?” The beautiful home had sat vacant for some time before Joyce toured it, and yes, it needed a little TLC. In her eyes, though, a few trees were nothing compared to the palladium windows, intricate brickwork, and regal appearance. She bought the home with her late husband, disregarding her brother’s warning. Some 16 years later, Joyce laughs at the memory. “He’s normally a calm, cool, collected guy,” she says. Looking back, she admits that she had no idea what she was getting into, or the sheer magnitude of the work…

DOWNTOWN INCLUDES Fletcher Place, Fountain Square, Mass Ave, Mile Square, Windsor Park Bazbeaux PIZZA As some of Indy’s most celebrated restaurateurs open pie places all over town, we haven’t forgotten where we first found artichoke hearts and goat cheese on our ’za. Bazbeaux has changed little since 1986, when it opened in Broad Ripple, and it hasn’t really needed to. Flat crust baked crunchy. Toppings you won’t find at Domino’s, like pine nuts and prosciutto. And the cheese—mounds of mozzarella blended with provolone and pecorino. 333 Massachusetts Ave., 317-636-7662, bazbeaux.com Beholder CONTEMPORARY A former car-repair shop just outside Woodruff Place sets the stage for a daring piece of performance art that has featured pig-skin noodles, granita-topped uni designed to melt on the tongue, grilled cucumbers, and other transfigured meats and…

“My dad had a several-year suspension in our house from playing Taboo, thanks to unnecessary verbal roughness against his own teammates (including my mom) whenever they couldn’t guess his clues fast enough.”—KELLY KENDALL, MANAGING EDITOR “Does it count that I have a scar above my left eye as a result of beating my sister at Space Invaders?”—ANDREA RATCLIFF, SPECIAL SECTIONS DIRECTOR “Just about any board game will ruin my evening if my oldest son (age 7) doesn’t win decisively.”—DANIEL COMISKEY, DEPUTY EDITOR “I can’t stand it when people play Trivial Pursuit and don’t put the wedge tokens in their game piece in the same order as they appear on the board. Nihilists.”—MEGAN FERNANDEZ, DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL OPERATIONS…

Getting Warmer Indianapolis joins the rest of the country in observing the 50th annual Earth Day this month. Just as the environmentalist movement has evolved, Indy is looking to revolutionize the way we celebrate it. Earth Day THE INSPIRATION FOR EARTH DAY CAME FROM SOME UNEXPECTED SOURCES. The first Earth Day was organized by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin in 1970 after a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara wreaked havoc on the ecosystem. What he was truly inspired by, though, was the passion of the anti-war protests taking place across the country, especially among students. He wanted to harness that energy, and decided to recruit the help of a few student organizers. As a result, 10 percent of America’s population—20 million people—participated in the protests and marches Nelson envisioned.…

YOU’VE DONE QUITE A FEW STOPS ON THIS NAPOLEON DYNAMITE TOUR. WHAT’S THE NO. 1 QUESTION YOU’RE ASKED? Believe it or not, it’s “What’s the No. 1 question you get asked?” Honestly, it’s often the first thing we hear. PLAYING NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, AN ICONIC CHARACTER, WAS PRETTY MUCH YOUR FIRST PAID ACTING GIG. AND IT WILL PROBABLY FOLLOW YOU ALL YOUR LIFE. ON BALANCE, IS THAT A GOOD THING OR A BAD THING? Ultimately, I think it’s a good thing. I love the movie, and the role is very personal to me. To still be recognized, possibly for the rest of my life, for something I’m proud of is undeniably good. It’s not like it was some fleeting job that I just took for the paycheck and now just want…

Carlos Salazar has a reputation for creating dishes that are equal parts complex and kitschy. His menus at Rook (where he has been the chef and co-owner for six years) include highfalutin fare like foraged milkweed salad and fermented black-bean butter, but you are just as likely to see Spam on the list of choices. There’s no better example of Salazar’s high/low mix than the oyaki cheesesteak dumpling at Lil Dumplings, his new food stall at Fishers Test Kitchen. Bread-like dough is filled with thinly sliced flank steak, caramelized onions, and Cheez Whiz, then the little pillow gets steamed for softness before it’s seared for a crispy exterior. Finally, it’s topped with a mixture of cream, salt, pepper, and, drumroll please … more Cheez Whiz, which is aerated in a…

TIM HANNON wanted answers. The freshman Carmel city councillor had just discovered that Hotel Carmichael, Carmel’s 122-room luxury hotel slated to open next month, was more than $18 million over budget. It was the latest cost overrun for a city-subsidized project that, at $58.5 million, was now 46 percent over its original estimate. As he walked into his third Carmel City Council meeting at City Hall on a Monday evening in February, another surprise awaited him. Henry Mestetsky, the executive director of the Carmel Redevelopment Commission who reports to Mayor Jim Brainard, revealed that the commission had known about the cost overrun for about a year—yet Mestetsky had continued to list the lower figure in his monthly reports to the council. Hannon was taken aback. Is this how things work…

Jeana Harris Freelance writer Jeana Harris’s family has told her she’s an old soul. “I love antiques, old homes, and gardening,” she says. That made reporting on a 93-year-old mansion (p. 64) a lot of fun. “The owners put so much thought into the home’s restoration,” she says. “The most jaw-dropping improvement was the transformation of their backyard into gardens that rival what you’d see in Europe.” Julia Spalding For months, dining editor Julia Spalding maintained a spreadsheet of contenders for “Best Restaurants” (p. 75). Actually, the “spreadsheet” took the form of nearly 100 tiny slips of paper taped to her window, each one labeled with the name of a Top 40-worthy restaurant. “The rankings changed daily until we arrived at the final list,” Spalding says. “It was stiff competition,…

Arrive good and early to check out the fun pink getups, but more so for the parade of breast cancer survivors. If you want fuchsia streaks in your ’do, hair mascara is the most temporary option. Pay attention to the kickoff speech by WTHR-13 newscaster Andrea Morehead. She still plays Uno on her bed with her son, which they did while she was bedridden after chemo. You don’t have to stick to running shoes. A group from Bounce Back Indiana, an eastside fitness studio, does the walk in springy Kangoo boots. Even if it’s chilly, you’ll warm up on the route. Dress in layers. And dress the part! This is the one day of the year grownups can wear a tutu and a tiara together.…

TENNIS’S STAID TRADITION received a burst of color and noise in 1974 with the formation of World Team Tennis, pushed by Grand Slam champion Billie Jean King. WTT featured the top men’s and women’s pros and a few lower-ranked players competing together on multicolored courts in front of some raucous crowds. “The biggest sports in the world are team sports,” King said then, “and I want to make tennis huge.” Indianapolis, which at the time hosted a men’s pro tennis tournament, joined the WTT circus in 1975. For four years, the Indiana Loves did their best to attract Hoosier fans to this new brand of tennis. Allan Stone, a doubles specialist from Australia, was the player-coach and, with team president Bill Bereman, an Indianapolis businessman, put together a team that…

NOW THAT IS AN ART TEACHER’S BRIEFCASE. One of my students [at Danville North Elementary] painted the beautiful land-scape. Her artist statement, written on the side, reads, “If you believe in your simple art, anything is possible.” NO WONDER YOU ARE THE 2020 INDIANA TEACHER OF THE YEAR. WHAT WILL YOU WEAR TO THE WHITE HOUSE THIS MONTH FOR NATIONAL TEACHER OF THE YEAR WEEK? My students are designing my wardrobe. Their job is to transform a white dress into a masterpiece that coordinates with my sequin shoes and sparkly earrings. DID YOU WANT TO BE A FASHION DESIGNER? I wanted to grow up to be Ms. Frizzle, a teacher from The Magic School Bus. Early in my career, I began wearing clothing that coordinated with my lessons. I wore…

MAKE IT A DOUBLE Cheers IF YOU NAME the cocktail, they will come. That was what Visit Hamilton County Indiana was hoping for when they partnered with popular Fountain Square spirits-maker 1205 Distillery on the official drink of Hamilton County in early 2019. The result was a refreshing shakeup of the distillery’s New American Gin and Rhubarb Liqueur, along with simple syrup, lemon juice, and mint. Little did partners Brad Colver and Nolan Hudson, who had no plans for expanding so quickly, know they would soon be opening a second location of their tasting room in Westfield, not far from where they went to high school in nearby Carmel. But when the city happened to have a 1,7000-square-foot utility building available just north of the main drag, it was a…

REPEAL Part of the Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich’s heat comes from Louisiana mayo—made with Tabasco and Sriracha. For even more firepower, there’s cayenne and chipotle in the batter of the deep-fried chicken breast. 630 Virginia Ave., 317-672-7514, repealrestaurant.com SHOEFLY PUBLIC HOUSE Soft milk bread from Circle City Sweets encases a Korean Fried Chicken Sandwich. Chili-flaked thighs get tossed in housemade honey-gochujang sauce and topped with fermented kimchi. 122 E. 22nd St., 317-283-5007, shoeflypublichouse.com ELLISON BREWING COMPANY Mounded with coleslaw, the crispy Nashville Hot Yardbird sandwich gets a liberal drizzle of Tabasco-flavored honey before it’s tucked inside a grilled bun. 501 Madison Ave., 317-390-4291, ellisonbrewing.com LITER HOUSE Don’t be fooled by the no-frills name. The Fried Chicken Sandwich at this “Bavariana” pub in SoBro has its share of working parts: fresh…

YOU WERE A MEDICAL STUDENT WORKING ALONGSIDE MARTIN KLEIMAN, A PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS-DISEASE SPECIALIST WHO TREATED RYAN WHITE AT RILEY. WHAT WAS IT LIKE ATTENDING TO A BOY WHO BECAME A CELEBRITY? It was a circus. Elton John would stop by. The press was always parked out front. I think some people were in awe of that. Yet, for many of us, this was just a child who we cared for. The impact he had on how HIV treatment for children evolved was not foreseen by anyone. WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE? The fear of AIDS and how it impacted Ryan’s life was crippling to watch, and we couldn’t do much about it. What’s more, there were very few medications for the disease—one, actually—and the data in children was not good.…

Black Market RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR 2020 IT HAPPENED this past summer, seemingly in the blink of an eye. Or maybe you haven’t heard? Your favorite farm-to-table Mass Ave spot is now the ultra-authentic Mass Ave Mexican restaurant you never knew you needed. Ask Esteban Rosas, the 30-year-old chef who ushered in the changes after a trial-run summer menu, why Indy needs another Latin restaurant, and he won’t mince words: “Because we’re doing it right. We’re cooking the food of our mothers, but we logged hours with classic techniques, and now we’re pushing ourselves in a different direction.” That direction means sourcing single-origin dried corn that Rosas and staff transformed into tortillas with the distinct terroir of Oaxaca. It means mole prepared with upwards of 50 ingredients, a three-day process…

VINTAGE: 1860s Resides at the Masonic Library and Museum of Indiana FOR A FARMER, George S. Frank clearly had a creative streak. The Parke County native fought for the Union during the Civil War, and after being captured by the enemy, carved this fantastically bizarre sculpture while in a Confederate prison camp. A Freemason, Frank included many of the fraternal group’s symbols in his only surviving work: the compass, the carpenter’s square, the gavel. “You can look at it over and over, and you see new things every time,” says Michael Brumback, president of the Masonic Library and Museum of Indiana. Although most of our state’s early governors and senators were Freemasons, not much is known about their brother Frank, who died in 1896. “He was just a folk artist,…