Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

I took some time off the past week to spend time away from this blog.  But doesn't mean there wasn't new restaurants and bites to sample.  Here are some of the things I tried this past week.

Rackz BBQ is located in Carmel Indiana.  In my unscientific analysis, it seems like central Indiana has more BBQ restaurant than any other place I have been.  I am sure there are other places in the United States where there are more individual BBQ "joints" - such as North Carolina, Texas or Tennessee.  But Indiana has so many that are either local or national chains.  City BBQ.  Squealers.  Big Hoffa's.    While I don't think Rackz is a chain (yet), it certainly feeds the great interest in BBQ for the people that live in this area.

Rackz is a small location that has seating for about 50 people inside although they have an area outside with a few tables that would be great in milder weather.  The menu has all the typical meats you would expect featuring pulled pork, pulled chicken, brisket and ribs.  I started with an interesting appetizer of Loaded BBQ chips.

Loaded BBQ Chips at Rackz in Carmel Indiana

This was a plate of kettle fried potato chips, topped with a meat and sauce of your choice and then cheese sauce and jalapenos.  Onions were optional and I elected not to get them.  It was such a smart idea to have the potato chips since they were able to stay crisp through the last bite.  I find when tortilla chips are used, the corn doesn't hold up as well and you end up with soggy, limp vessels about halfway through.  You need a sturdy chip to hold up to these types of toppings and Rackz did it properly.  The pulled pork was moist and smoky.    The cheese sauce had enough of that gooiness you expect from "plastic cheese".  I got the mild sauce which was on the sweet side.  It was a good compliment to the spicy jalapenos.  I would have like a little grated cheese for some variety but that not a complaint.  This was a well composed shared appetizer - which really could be a meal.

Next up was a brisket sandwich.  One of my favorite bites from any BBQ restaurant is the burnt ends.  These are the end pieces of the brisket which have had the most exposure to the heat and smoke.  They end up being succulent nuggets or umame with a very satisfying chew.  For my sandwich, it was made up completely with burnt ends creating a flavor bomb of goodness!!  It came with your choice of sauce and I went with the spicy sauce.  In hindsight, especially if I had known they would use burnt ends, I would have asked for no sauce.  The spicy sauce was really good, having a balance of heat (probably from habanero) and sweet, but it took away from the brisket flavor.  If (or when!!) I order this again, I will ask for no sauce.  As with most BBQ places, they have bottles of sauce at the table where you can add what you want.

My side was macaroni and cheese and for as good as the brisket was. the mac and cheese was a pedestrian effort.  Not terrible since the noodles were cooked properly and there was a mild cheese flavor.  I was hoping for something unique with a pop such as a sharp cheddar or maybe even a hint of horseradish to help complement the brisket.    Given that the brisket was so tasty, I could have been served shredded cardboard on the side and I wouldn't have complained.  At a BBQ restaurant you aren't going there for the side dishes.

Another place I tried was The Local which is located in Westfield Indiana.  The Local is a medium sized restaurant with a little more than a third of the space dedicated to a bar area with seating at the bar and several high tops.  That is divided from the remaining space which is table seating that can be configured into groups of four or more.  The menu is a lot of elevated pub food.

Our  table went with two shared appetizers.  First was the fried brussels sprouts.

I appreciated that the oil was hot enough to get most of the outer leafs crispy.  This helped keep the spicy miso sauce from making them too soggy.  I could have used a bit more spice. but I understand they want to keep the seasoning on the milder side to suit everyone's taste.  Next up was a soft bavarian pretzel.

I didn't try this, but my tablemates said this was everything you would expect in a soft pretzel.  Pillowy inside with a crisp, buttery crust that had just enough salt.    It was served with a yellow hot dog mustard.  I was surprised the menu didn't offer additional dips.  A sharp cheddar sauce or a horseradish ranch would seem to be perfect complements.

For my entrees I went with two pub staples.  If you have read my other blogs, you know my one test of a place serving pub food is to try their basic burger.  If a place can make a decent burger, which is one of the simplest dishes, then the rest of their food shows promise.  So I ordered their Plane Jane burger, medium rare, with American Cheese. Tater tots on the side.  Fries were also an option.

While it was not the best burger I have ever had, it was cooked well.  The menu stated the meat was aged 17 days so I expected there to be some additional beefiness which usually comes with aged beef.  That wasn't present.   It was a juicy, seasoned patty that was cooked to my order.  Very tasty and served with fresh tomato and lettuce.  I wish the lettuce had been on the bottom bun since putting it on top really serves no purpose at all.  Every burger needs something on the bottom bun to keep it from getting soggy.  This can be a oil based spread, such as mayo or aoloi.  Or what works really well is layer of hardy, crispy greens.  After a few bites, the bottom bun had lost all it's integrity.  It is such a simple thing to change and I wonder why more restaurants don't do it.  Maybe they think it looks better to have lettuce it on top.  While I agree that some of us eat with our eyes, that shouldn't supersede the structure of a simple cheeseburger!!

My pallet is also always attracted to chicken wings.  If a place has them on the menu, I am likely going to try them.  I always like to get them on the bone when available.  I know other only like "boneless" wings which aren't wings at all, just chicken pieces given that name.    What do you prefer?  Let me know in the comments.

While there are many places  that will serve you wings tossed in upwards of twenty different sauces, I prefer either a dry rubbed wing or no sauce at all on the wing.  One of the best parts of fried chicken is the crispiness.  You spend the 10 - 12 minutes frying the chicken to a perfect crisp and then add some sauce which adds flavor, but soon reduces that crispness to nothing but sogginess.  I will always try to order the sauce on the side so I can dip into it and get the right amount.  Here at The Local, they had dry rub wings and I got their homemade buttermilk dressing (essentially a ranch) on the side.

The wings were served hot and crispy.  The rub had a great taste which was very much like Lawry's seasoning salt bumped up to a six on the spiciness scale of 1 to 10.  I detected some Cajun notes as well.  If the spice was too much, it was easily cooled down with the creamy buttermilk dressing.

Another place I tried was Grindstone also in Westfield Indiana.  Grindstone is part of a larger chain of restaurants in Indianapolis.  This location is setup inside to look like an old mill.  They serve family friendly favorites as well as having some more adventurous items on the menu.    I tried the avocado BLT and some some wings!!

The  BLT came on toasted sourdough which was a good choice given all the ingredients awaiting inside.  I expected the avocado to be sliced, but instead it was essentially a guacamole that had been seasoned with some garlic.  In addition it came with what was called a smoked garlic aioli.  I didn't detect any smoky flavor in that spread and the garlic in it didn't compliment the garlic already in the avocado spread.  It was simply too much garlic which overpowered the whole sandwich. 

Avocado BLT at Grindstone on the Monon in Westfield Indiana

I had white cheddar mac and cheese on the side which was very creamy and reminded me of a great bechamel.  Well cooked noodles and the cheese sauce had a slight bite to it.  It would have been a nice addition for some crispy panko on the top for contrast. 

And the wings!!!  In this case, I went with the tangy peach BBQ sauce.  The sauce had a little heat but mostly sweet.    I appreciated  that they didn't drown the wings in the sauce so they still had some crispness.  And they were topped with a sort of slaw that also added some texture.  Overall a very good wing.

I hope you all had a Happy New Year and a great start to 2020!!  Here we go into another decade.  What food innovations and creations await us?