RSS
SUPER BOWL
Showing posts with label Neal Brown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Neal Brown. Show all posts

Pizzology - Revisit

3:59 AM | Labels: , , , , ,

We hadn’t been to Pizzology and ages, and had never taken the kids there.  We had recently had some mediocre pizza experiences and wanted to go back and see if Pizzology could remedy that situation. It was Friday, and we didn’t want to get stuck in a wait (like I said, we had the kids with us), so we went on the early side.  By 6:00, there was a substantial wait, and when we left it was packed in there with people waiting to sit down.

I was tempted by the Northside Nights menu—it was a great deal, one of the few places that really seems like a bargain (I like that they include 2 glasses of Prosecco with the meal), but as soon as our server told us about the special gnocchi ($12), we knew were getting it.  It was their version of a carbonara-- black pepper and parsley gnocchi that were seared and served with seared sliced green olives, and little crispy dices of pancetta.  The whole thing was topped with parmesan and an egg yolk.  As soon as we got it, we broke the egg into it making a creamy, eggy, sauce.  I like carbonara in general, but I loved the slices of green olive in this to give it that extra slightly briny flavor that rounded out all the rich ingredients.  I think I liked this more than hubby though, who thought they egg was just a little too much for him, and made the dish just a little too eggy. We also got an order of breadsticks ($5)—there were 4 of them, and they were clearly being made in house of the same dough the pizza crust is made with.  They were slightly charred and had that lovely chewy, yeasty flavor I really like.  The kids really liked them.  I also liked that they gave you not only a tomato sauce, but a cream based (and slightly cheesy) Mornay type sauce as well.  But honestly, with the sprinkling of Parmesan on top of them, they were good on their own as well.
Hubby and I split “The Saint” pizza ($13) which is a white pizza (no red sauce) with roasted wild mushrooms, onions, peppadew peppers, provolone cheese and sea salt.  We enjoyed it and the crust was cooked perfectly.  I think hubby missed his red sauce a little though.  I liked the salty kick from, well, the salt, and the peppers and onions added a little spice to the rest.  The provolone was a little heavy in spots, but I loved the mushrooms—there were plenty of them and they really had a nice deep roasted flavor. The crust is the thing here, and we appreciated it so much more after eating some not so flavorful crusts elsewhere lately
The kids just had a red pizza with mozzarella (we couldn’t get them to vary) ($11).  Honestly, I think I would just get the 4 cheese for them next time and not tell them, because this one wasn’t quite cheesy enough for them or me.  But again, the crust was cooked perfectly, and other than wishing it had a little more cheese, it was pretty much perfectly executed.  Exciting? No.  But that is my kids and food for you.
We also got the special dessert form the Northside Nights menu—the zeppole ($5).  I found these kind of addicting once I started eating them.  They were basically another version of the dough, in smaller pieces than the breadsticks that are baked and then covered in cinnamon and sugar and a bit of honey.  Again, I really like the flavor of the dough anyway, and then you go and make it sweet and you can’t really go wrong.  It is certainly a large enough portion to share among several people as well. Sadly, they couldn’t guarantee they were nut free (not sure why) so my son couldn’t eat them.  Apparently they were a hit in the restaurant though, and have since been added to the regular menu.

Anyway, it was nice to go back to a pizza place and have a good solid meal—like I said I have had some not so impressive pizza lately, and this redeemed my faith.

Pizzology
13190 Hazel Dell Parkway
Carmel, IN 46032
317-844-2554
www.pizzologyindy.com




  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS
Read User's comments(0)

The Libertine-Revisit

3:37 AM | Labels: , , , ,

So, if you have been following me lately, you know I am a fan of The Libertine.  I have been excited to see they have been pretty well fully booked with reservations a couple of times when I have tried to make a reservation lately (so happy they are taking reservations now). It makes me happy to see a place I really like be successful, even if it means I can’t go that night. 
But the other night, we did get a table reserved and went in to try out the latest menu.  We started with the artichoke fritters ($8) and the famer’s cheese and olive tapenade crostini ($10).  Both were good, but the artichoke fritters were our clear winner of the two.  There were 5 little crispy fried balls that were chock full of artichoke and artichoke flavor.  There was a distinct lemon flavor as well and a wonderful cilantro aioli to dip in.  We really liked these, to the point we had to cut the last one in half to make sure we were exactly even (often hubby eats more than I do).  This was something I don’t think you would want to split between more than 2 people.  If I only got one of them, I would have been very, very sad.
The crostini was also good, but is something that I actually could have handled a little less of—it would be a good thing to split with a larger group.  It was toasted bread slices with substantial dollops of olive tapenade and the cheese scattered around.  It was topped with blood orange oil and fried capers.  I enjoyed several pieces, but there was something sharp, almost bitter (the blood orange oil perhaps) that made me only want to eat a few, and not lick the plate clean.  I loved the fried capers though—that was a nice touch to add some crispness to all the soft toppings, as well as more saltiness.
For our main dishes, we shared the one-eyed jack ($8) and the chicken thigh confit ($16).  If you read my first review of the Libertine, you know I love the one-eyed jack, which is bread cooked in fat with an egg cooked into the middle of the bread.  There is roasted garlic on top (which we had to exactly evenly divvy up as well) and fig butter on the side.  This was once again, executed perfectly. I only use a teeny bit of the fig butter, because I think too much of the sweetness detracts a little, but I love this dish.
The chicken thigh confit was something I have wanted to try since I saw it on the menu.  It is nice pieces of dark meat chicken (no bones) served with celery root hash and a little bacon for flavor as well as a nice handful of fresh parsley on top.  I liked it quite a bit, but a few of the pieces of chicken had some tough edges—the celery root hash and the divine rich dark stock in the bowl were my favorite part of the dish actually.  And this is exactly why I like the Libertine so much, the dishes are thought out with several different ingredients but that work as a team. They aren’t putting a piece of chicken on your plate with a side of potatoes and some wilty veg. 
I also like that even though they  have changed the menu format somewhat from the opening to reflect a more traditional menu style (there are starters, small plates and large plates), you can still do what we did and mix it up and share what is basically a combination of smaller things. We did also get a dessert this time, which was their chocolate ricotta pie in a jar and was quite tasty—it was like a slightly lighter cheesecake .  There was a bit of a crust on the bottom and the chocolate layer and then a creamy top layer.  I liked it a lot.  It wasn’t overkill on the chocolate and it wasn’t ridiculously large, but still enough to share.
It’s obvious I like this place, and will continue to look forward to future meals there.
The Libertine
38 East Washington Street
Indy 46205
317/631-3333
www.libertineindy.com

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS
Read User's comments(0)

The Libertine

2:12 AM | Labels: , , , , , ,

So the Libertine calls itself a “Liquor Bar.”  And they have a lovely large bar all along one wall and specialize in the whole trendy old fashioned/classic cocktails from days gone by.  Ok, so don’t be mad, but screw the cocktails.  The food at this place is the reason for going.  Everything I have been reading about this place is about how great the cocktails are or how cute the bartenders are (seriously? That’s what we’re talking about?) but I am here to tell you, the food is where it’s at (not to say either of the other statements are not true).  I don’t know, maybe everyone gets too drunk to remember the food or something, but if that’s the case, you need to lay off the booze and focus people.
The interior is beautiful—modern and calm.  While it is a bar, there is a certain grown up sensibility—not your typical loud raucous bar scene.  Of course, it wasn’t full when we stopped in midweek, so I am sure it is noisier when you go on a Friday night.  Ok, so I did have a cocktail (the screw & bolt, $11). I felt like it was sort of an obligation.  It was fine—gin, grapefruit, violet, bitter orange and tonka bean (apparently a bean that is soaked in alcohol and used as an aroma enhancer).  It was pretty, and very aromatic, but I was more than happy to move on to wine—and they have a great wine list (thanks to Lindy Brown).
Ok, enough about that, let’s talk about the food.  This was one of the best meals I have had in Indy in awhile.  We had a lot of different items and I am just going to talk about them in the order we ate them.  The first thing we had was the roasted mushroom salad ($8).  Hubby went nuts when he tasted this.  THIS is what a roasted mushroom should taste like.  They had a deep mushroom flavor, but the outsides of the mushrooms were slightly crisp from the heat and they were served with crispy little fried chickpeas which gave a true crunch to mix with the earthy, dark mushrooms.  It was served over a brown butter cauliflower puree that was rich and buttery.  What a great combination.  There is no way we could not order this again.
The next two dishes we had came at the same time—the chicken liver pâté ($9) and the duck meatballs ($12).  I love the play on chicken and waffles with the chicken liver pâté.  There were two waffles topped with very generous slices of the pâté, and they sat on top of a hot pepper sauce.  Bourbon maple syrup was brought out alongside.  Our server poured some on top and left the bottle in case we wanted to add more (which I will have to say, we did—it was really delicious).  I liked the blend of flavors between the hot pepper sauce underneath, the sweetness of the syrup (and slight sweetness of the waffles) and then the pure, smooth intense liver flavor.  Really nice.  As for the meatballs, well, as I told someone recently, I have never met a meatball that really stole my heart-- and these weren’t really an exception to the rule.  I ordered them because I was intrigued by the crispy gnocchi underneath them and the egg yolk on top, but all in all, this was probably my least favorite thing I had all evening.  But it wasn’t bad at all; it just didn’t blow me away like some of the other things.
At this point, we were torn about ordering more, but when I asked about the one-eyed jack ($8), I was sold.  Wow. Wow. Wow. I loved this thing.  It was basically a fancy egg in the hole, but it was so good.  It was buttery garlicky airy bread that was cooked in fat (hmm, was it duck and pork fat? I can’t remember).  Think of like the most amazing garlic bread you could ever have.  And then cut a little hole in it and put an egg in there and cook it, but just enough that the yolk explodes when you cut into it.  It was served with some soft roasted garlic alongside and a small dish of fig butter.  The fig butter was good, but honestly, I didn’t even need to add it to make this dish spectacular. 
Ok, now we were sort of on a food high and were really excited so we figured, let’s get one more thing.  A dessert of sorts.  I don’t think they have any actual dessert items (at least I didn’t hear of any) and since we often like cheese for dessert, we went with the Stilton cheesecake to finish ($9).  Wow. Again.  This was really unlike anything either of us had ever had.  It was almost more the consistency of an exceptionally light quiche and then deeply flavored with the blue cheese.  And alongside was the perfect accompaniment—and apple-thyme chutney with some crunchy pecan bits on top. There was also a fresh apple salad on top giving it just a bit of tartness.  I love fruit and nuts with my blue cheese.  And I loved that they got all the flavor profiles into this one dish. Again, not sure hubby would let me pass on this one if it is still on the menu when we go back. And not sure I’d want to.
Our service was exceptional, which is another thing I have heard mixed comments about from friends and readers.  Not sure if it was just because they weren’t that busy or if maybe the other people I talked to went when it was more newly opened, or maybe we just got lucky, but we didn’t have any complaints along these lines.  Our server was also exceptionally friendly and took the time to chat with us about the food and the business.  He was down to earth and knowledgeable about the menu.
Here’s the thing.  They are getting ready to change the format of the menu to more of a traditional dinner menu with salads, apps and entrées which I am sure will be just as good food-wise, but I have to admit, I was a little sad to hear it.  I love eating in a small plates way, sharing lots of things.  If you do too, I would get over there in the next two weeks.  Although, from the way it was described, I think you will still be able to make a small plates dinner on the new menu if you are so inclined.  All I know is next time, I want to take other people with us so we can try even more things.  I really feel the need to try everything. 
So, go, have a fancy cocktail and then start hitting the food.  You won’t be disappointed.  If you have been avoiding it because you think it’s “just a bar,” don’t (that’s what hubby’s problem was and now he has informed me I can get him back there anytime I want). And I am so excited to have another great (there ARE a few) restaurant (I am calling it that even if they don’t) in downtown Indy.  Things are looking up.
The Libertine
38 East Washington Street
Indy  46204
317/631-3333
www.libertineindy.com (although nothing really on the website last time I looked)


Libertine on Urbanspoon

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS
Read User's comments(0)

Pizzology - Revisit

3:27 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , ,


Sometimes you just have to go back to places you like so you don’t go totally insane you know? So it was a Saturday night, and we had just finished my son’s birthday party with like twelve 4 and 5 year olds running wild. We needed wine. Fast. Luckily, I had planned ahead and realized by the end of this day, we would certainly need some adult time, so I had wisely planned for a babysitter. We were so brain dead we couldn’t decide where to go but we knew we wanted something causal and good. We decided Pizzology sounded like a plan.

I really enjoy the wine list at Pizzology. I know I don’t usually talk about the wine, but Pizzology has a great menu of Italian wines that you don’t often see in restaurants (thanks mainly, I think, to Neal Brown's wife Lindy who is a Certified Sommelier). We knew we would be happy in this regard and we weren’t disappointed. We quickly ordered a bottle and began the debate over what to eat.

We started with “Tony’s Fritters.” These were something that, up to now, we hadn’t tried, but always meant to. They are zucchini fritters with fresh parmesan grated over the top and served swimming in a little bath of truffle oil. These were superb. We really liked them. The zucchini flavor was delicate and nicely highlighted by the truffle oil. There wasn’t so much of the oil that you were annoyed by it overtaking the other flavors and the fritters had just the right amount of crispness on the edges, but were still moist and light in the middle. These little fritters would be hard to pass up in the future.
We also shared a large chop salad (we were informed you get much more “bang for your buck” sharing one large ($8) rather than getting two smalls (at $4 each)). So I really enjoy the acidity in this salad mixed with the ingredients that come together to make what is essentially an ideal chop in my mind (because I really like the ingredients). There is chopped romaine, prosciutto, blue cheese, shallot, olives, and roasted tomatoes with a citrus vinaigrette with a nice kick. I will say though, this salad is not always super consistent. While 75% of the time, this salad is dead on, I have had one that was so acidic I couldn’t finish it and I have also noticed a change in the proportion of other ingredients to lettuce. It used to be that there was almost too much of the other ingredients as compared to the lettuce. Now, there is a lot less of everything else (other than maybe the blue cheese) and much more of the well dressed leaves. I don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing; I am just still trying to figure out exactly where the salad is going to end up.

Anyhow, it was also a tribute night to Jimi Hendrix at Pizzology. Certainly something I can get behind, so we went with the special pizza created in his honor. It included Purple Haze goat cheese with lavender and fennel pollen, purple basil, and two kinds of mushrooms... roasted trumpet and portobello I believe. It sounded interesting so we went for it since it was only offered that night. It was good. Maybe not my favorite pizza toppings ever, but quite tasty. I liked the way you got a kick of the goat cheese along with the mellow richness of the mushrooms. The purple basil added a super fresh herby crunch. But really, the real star of this show is the crust. The freshly baked, slightly irregular and a little charred crust is what makes this pizza for me. It is chewy and crunchy at the same time. The pizza is consistently good at Pizzology.

So the place was quite busy, although we got a table as soon as we walked in (one of the last though). The service was a little stressed, but ours did not suffer too much. But like I said, sitting with our bottle of wine, we were perfectly content after the day we had. As we sat there though, we discussed the fact that hubby had not yet been to Napolese (the other Neapolitan style pizza place in Indy) and that I really needed to do a revisit there as well. So guess what? That is exactly what we decided to do. Look for my revisit to Napolese next week. But in the meantime, what are your favorite Pizzology menu items or pizza toppings? I was so glad I expanded my horizons on this visit, I want to try something else new next time.

Pizzology
13190 Hazel Dell Parkway
Carmel, IN 46032
317-844-2554


Pizzology on Urbanspoon

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS
Read User's comments(0)

Pizzology- Lunch

5:02 AM | Labels: , , , , ,

We decided to hit up Pizzology for a quick lunch the other day just to see if we still liked the pizza as much as we remembered. The short answer is yes—that crust still does it for me for sure. We shared the lunch special, which was a slightly smaller version of the Napoli pizza with a chopped salad and a drink for $7 and we also had a half order of the pasta carbonara.

Like I said, the crust is my favorite part of the pizza by far, it is perfectly thin and crisp yet a little chewy too. The Napoli comes with a tomato sauce (and not too much of it), fresh mozzarella and oregano. You could also add any extra ingredients for half the price listed on the menu. My guess is they use the Napoli as their lunch choice a lot because it is a great base for adding other things. I just went for it as is, to taste the restaurant’s combination of flavors. While it was simple, it was very good. And the generous amount of oregano added a nice flavor. And I like that the pizza isn’t over-topped, which would detract from that crust (although last time we had one that was maybe slightly under-topped, but that’s another story). I had to fight hubby to get my fair share of the pizza and I think I could easily eat a whole lunch pizza no problem.

The chopped salad (which came before the pizza) was really tasty too. This is the third type of salad I have had there and I think it was the best. (I have also had the grilled romaine and the spinach salad). The lettuce is chopped into nice bite sized pieces and served with chopped pieces of olives, roasted tomatoes, gorgonzola crumbles, prosciutto, onions, and sliced parmesan on top. The dressing was appropriately tangy (described as a citronette) and between the two of us, we certainly ate every bite (although it is appropriately sized for one person I think—which was what it is intended to be).

The pasta, I thought, was just okay. It was spaghetti with thick pieces of pancetta and more of the olives (both green and brown olives). I don’t think I have ever had olives in carbonara. Not that I mind, because I love olives, and they did add a zing of saltiness that was nice. But the sauce was just sort of runny and didn’t have a lot of eggy flavor, even with the pancetta. Carbonara I have had in the past has been a bit thicker I guess. It wasn’t bad. It was just okay. Hubby was disappointed because he liked the last pasta we had so much.

They are getting ready to open up their patio (they were working on it when we were there). It looks like it will be a great patio; it has huge garage door windows looking into it as well as being screened in, which is a nice added bonus in Indiana. I am wondering how much staffing up they are going to have to do. Our server told us it could seat an additional 50 customers which would what, double the size of the restaurant? Which is great for the fact that I have heard there can be a bit of a wait at dinner time, but I am wondering how the kitchen will handle it. Only time will tell I guess.

I tend to agree that Pizzology is serving some of the best pizza in town, and I think it is because of that crust. Lunch is a great option for a great deal and so far I have not seen a wait at lunch time.

Pizzology
13190 Hazel Dell Parkway
Carmel, IN 46033
317/844-2550
www.pizzologyindy.com

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS
Read User's comments(0)

Pizzology

6:43 PM | Labels: , , , , ,

I have been reading all the chatter about Pizzology both before and after it opened, particularly on twitter, and have been intrigued to try it naturally. Pizzology is the new project of Chef Neal Brown formerly of L’explorateur (which was one of my favorite restaurants in Indy when it was open). This is a totally different concept (pizza), in a totally different land (Carmel) and although pizza isn’t something that gets me terribly excited, I figured if some place could pull it off, it would be here.

So these pizzas are cooked in an 800 degree wood burning oven –there are pizzas with red sauce (rossa) and pizzas without sauce (bianca). They are all the same size (about 13 inches). There are several set pizza combinations or you can make your own from a list of ingredients. Certainly more cost effective to go with one of the house combos though. There are also several salads as well, and about 6 kinds of pastas and a risotto of the day. (Can I just say again how much I love that the pastas are offered in half order and full orders? Because if I was faced with a full order, I would be overwhelmed, but the half orders are a really nice size).

It was a cold night, but we wanted a salad, so we started with the warm spinach salad. It was fresh spinach with basil, capers, fairly large dices of pancetta and a poached egg on top. The dressing was a warm pancetta and red wine vinaigrette. I really enjoyed it—I thought the flavors were great, and I loved the addition of the poached egg to add even more richness. (Ok, maybe a poached egg on just about anything makes me happy—I love a good egg) But the capers and the dressing (which was tossed with the salad, hallelujah) balanced it with the right amount of acidity. Most of the capers and pancetta sunk to the bottom of the salad though, so you had to make sure to spoon them all out to make sure you got all the flavors. I really enjoyed the salad, although hubby wasn’t as excited about it. He liked it, but he didn’t love it. I saw several of the chop salads come out as well—they looked nice and also come in a half order size, which is nice if you don’t want to split with someone.

So originally we were going to get two pizzas, one red and one white, but once we saw how large they were, we changed our minds and just added a half order of one of the pastas. So we went with the mushroom pizza, which was red sauce, wood roasted wild mushrooms, olives and cacciacavallo, which is a type of cheese, made in a style similar to mozzarella (sorry about the pic, it was my phone). The cheese was fairly mild in taste, but was good with the pizza. The only disappointment was the mushroom topping. They tasted good, but the mushrooms were pretty sparse (there was one piece that just had one 'shroom on it. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like an over-topped pizza, but I sort of envisioned a mixture of several types of mushrooms and a few more of them—I am not sure that there was anything other than diced portabellas on there, but I could be wrong. The olives were very good, and were cut into at least half, which I liked because you didn’t get too much in one bite, and they were strong cured olives, not the flavorless canned black olives you see on most pizzas.

The best thing about this pizza though, clearly, was the crust. The menu touts that it is made with wild yeast, spring water and Caputo Pizzeria “00” flour. I am not exactly sure how all that translates into good dough, but man, it does. The crust is thin, but not so thin that you don’t get a bit of the flavor with every bite. It is crispy on the edges, and still nice and chewy on the inside. Seriously, I can see why so many people were ordering breadsticks (I am assuming they are made with the same dough). I think my favorite part of the meal was taking the crust from the edges of the pizza and dipping it into the leftover sauce from the pasta we got. I could eat that for days.

Speaking of the pasta, we had the penne with artichoke, prosciutto, and olives. Hubby thought this was amazing. (“This pasta freakin’ rocks!”). I thought it was good—the artichokes were roasted (they are clearly making good use of that wood burning oven) and they make most of the cured meats in house I believe. The prosciutto was nice—and more of those olives—yum. I think some of the pasta is freshly made, but not the penne I don’t think. The sauce on it was not a heavy sauce, nice garlic-y olive oil type sauce that turned a bit creamy with the cheese on top. Like I said, dipping my crusts in the sauce at the bottom of the bowl was my favorite part of the meal.

I will certainly go back, and apparently a lot of people feel the same way. At just after 6 on a Wednesday night with the snow and cold weather, nearly every table was taken. We didn’t have to wait, but got one of the last tables. And they were turning tables the whole time we were there.

They have a great Italian wine list as well, with slightly more unusual wines—and the pours by the glass are generous the first go round, which is unusual in most places (you know how they always give you smaller pour on the first glass to make sure you order the second one, and then they give you a decent glass?). But not here. Both glasses were generous and there is a nice selection by the glass.

Next time I really want to try the white pizza with the clams…for sure. Or maybe one of my own combos with an egg on top—that was one of my favorite things in Italy. Or maybe those fritters….

Pizzology
13190 Hazel Dell Parkway
Carmel, IN 46032
317-844-2554
www.pizzologyindy.com

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS
Read User's comments(0)
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...