I love restaurant weeks. Another has just come to close here in Indianapolis. Chow Down Midtown and the like are great opportunities to get out and try a restaurant you've never been to. Perhaps you just never had it on a priority list, maybe it is a bit too expensive normally, or maybe you tend to not venture past the Applebees and Chili's chain signs. Whatever the case, it is a great time to sample and maybe find a new favorite restaurant.
This season, I tried two Chow Down restaurants. Binkley's was surprising, in a good way. I had honestly not gone in the past because the restaurant week offerings for vegetarians left much to be desired. They put some sort of meat on all options. My meal was very enjoyable. The humus was zesty, the pesto tortalini was rich, and the chocolate chip cookie sunday was just right. The ambiance was pleasing, tending to the more sophisticated but very approachable. The waitstaff was very attentive. My second trial was Taverna. This is a new restaurant and one that I was eager to try out. The menu appeared to be upscale and that appearance carried on through out the dinner. The caesar salad wasn't the typical caesar, but it was still savory, the roughy had a lovely pepper crust and was flaky, and the cheese cake was authentic and not soupy like you find in many places. If I had one unfavorable thing to say it would be that the cheesecake could have used a raspberry drizzle for a little complexity.
I'm looking forward to continuing to check out the cities newest restaurants and others that I have missed over the years. Sampling is one of the great things about living in a city. There are so many food options it is a shame that people just limit themselves to the chain spots that share the same menu and the same chicken strips.
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