Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Indianapolis.

I went to visit my honey in Indianapolis last weekend. I had never been there before and didn't know much about what the city had to offer, besides Colts football and the Indy 500. As usual, I did tons of research. I also asked a friend who used to live there. Between her recommendations and my findings, I had a wonderful time there! Here's a list of Lindsay Loves It All suggestions next time you swing through Indy!


This cute cafe, with locations all over the city, had the most amazing breakfast!


Loved the decor inside! Complete with self-serve coffee bar, where I had chocolate fudge coffee!! 




The Bon Vivant.*
Ham, Swiss, Grainy Mustard, and Onion. Best one I've had in a while!
The fresh sourdough bread was cinnamon toast, which was to die for!


Broad Ripple was my favorite area of Indy, with tons of cute shops, boutiques, vintage stores, and restaurants.


Our first stop in Broad Ripple.


Second stop: breakfast at Three Sisters Cafe.  I got the Florentine, scrambled eggs with spinach, basil, tomatoes, mozzarella, and parmesan. Served with multi-grain toast.



Chris's breakfast. Multi-grain pancakes w/fresh strawberries. Both pancakes came layered on top of each other! This was ONE order!



One of the many cute boutiques in Broad Ripple.


This sushi place came highly recommended....and it did not disappoint! We loved it! Most any city Chris or I visit, we have to find a great sushi place.





The Playboy Roll was set on fire so the bottom would caramelize... loved the texture it gave. 


(front) Toro Tuna - the best thing you will ever have at a sushi restaurant! 
(back) The Corona Roll... amazing, amazing roll covered with a lime sauce!


Playboy Roll


Ok, I must take a break with all the pictures to set up this next place... This is possibly the coolest place I've ever been, in regards to wine tasting. The first day I walked around downtown, I noticed a place called Tastings. I immediately knew I would be coming here at some point during my stay. (It's a wine place...come on...you guys know how I feel about wine ;) ) This type of wine bar is a new concept in the U.S. Here's the skinny, according to their website...

Most bottles of wine can go bad or oxidize within a few days of opening.  However, with our innovative tasting machines we are able to preserve the condition of the wine for a much longer period of time. Our machines give you the customer the ability to sample a $10 award-winning bottle of wine or that $150 bottle you have heard about but never been able to taste.

Our unique method makes learning about a wine easy and fun.
Step 1:  Read the brief description of any of the wines at our tasting stations, noting varietal, aromas and flavors the winemaker feels you will experience.  When you find a wine that intrigues you...
Step 2:  Use our Tastings' Card to select for yourself a taste of that wine OR ask any of our Wine Hosts to help you with your selection.  Continue tasting until you find a wine you absolutely love.  Observe the letter and number associated with wine and then....
Step 3:  Learn more about your favorite wine in our Tastings' Wine Books.  We review the winery, winemakers, wine making methods, awards and recognitions, food pairings, etc.  You can choose to have any of the wines you sample by the bottle while you allow our Wine Hosts help you select the Perfect Food Pairing.

One of the many "tasting stations" where your card is inserted, deducting your total balance, and the machine gives you your pour of wine. GENIUS.


My favorite station.





Cheese plate w/special cheeses from all over the world!


That's all, picture wise. We also ate at St. Elmo Steak House, which was absolutely wonderful! We had Decoy Cabernet, which is made by the same people as my beloved Duckhorn Cab. Also, to good (and famous) not to mention is the St. Elmo Shrimp Cocktail. It is, by far, the best shrimp cocktail I've ever had! It comes with their homemade, very spicy horseradish sauce... you must try this if you go! Word on the street is that John Travolta has his jet stop in Indianapolis, anytime he's in or near the city, to get several orders of the shrimp cocktail! 

Hope you enjoyed the post with all my Indianapolis recommendations! Let me know if you go there and try any of these places out! Thanks for continuing to support my blog!! It means the world to me! xx


*bon vi·vant  n.  (bôɴ' vē-väɴ')  A person with refined taste, especially one who enjoys superb food and drink.





8 comments:

  1. Linds you and I need to open up a Tastings franchise in Nashville! I think it would be a big hit!!!

    Love your pictures from the trip!

    http://embracetheuncertainty.blogspot.com/

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  2. great pictures and recommendations! your breakfasts looks sooo yummy!

    I'm acutally going wine-tasing next week with my boyfriend, this post as made me even more excited about it :)

    xox Vicky
    Bikinis & Passports

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  3. Love everything about it!! That's why we love YOU, our Southern daughter xoxox

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  4. YAY!!! You got to experience Broad Ripple and some of my "spproved" placed! So glad you had a nice time...I swear, we need to tag-team and give recommendations to shops and eateries all over the universe!

    Addy

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  5. That all looks incredible!! I'm adding Indianapolis to my list of places to visit.

    What's crazy is I recently found a place in London similar to Tastings. Planning a trip there soon!

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  6. omg, the pics with pancakes with strawberries made me drool : 3

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  7. wowwww the breakfasts look so yummmy!!
    just stumbled across ur blog and its such an interesting and varied read! love it!

    xo

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  8. Despite the fact that I am trying to move out of this state, Indiana isn't so bad. :)

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