After last week’s trek to Barley Island in Broad Ripple, we slid several blocks south on College Avenue—an
area local restaurateur Neal Brown has dubbed the “gourmet ghetto”—to the much-praised Taste Café
and Marketplace.
Launched in 2004 as a hole-in-the-wall breakfast/lunch spot, Taste (5164 N. College Ave., 925-2233)
has since expanded both its footprint and its food, adding dinner a few nights a week in its newly enlarged space.
Topped with fresh strawberries and a touch of syrup, Taste’s Belgian Waffle was fluffily delicious. (IBJ Photo/ Perry
Reichanadter)Since I’d heard so much buzz about the breakfast, we stuck with the tried and true. The morning
menu was more basic than I expected: bagels and fixings, a handful of egg dishes and a couple of standards like oatmeal ($6.95)
and biscuits and gravy ($5.95). Diners order and pay at the counter, help themselves to coffee ($1.75), grab a table, and
wait for their meal to arrive.
Ours started with a Southwest Burrito ($7.25), a delightful concoction that delivered
a surprisingly flavorful punch. You know breakfast burritos have hit the mainstream when they’re available at McDonald’s,
but Taste’s version is anything but ordinary. Sure, the scrambled eggs and potatoes are fairly standard. But how about
chunks of hot chorizo sausage, pepper jack cheese, avocado and black beans? Ronald doesn’t even come close. Served with
house-made salsa, this generously portioned burrito would satisfy at any time of day.
While I devoured that,
my friend all but inhaled her Belgian Waffle ($6.95), which was topped with a mound of sliced strawberries. The waffle was
deliciously fluffy, a nice contrast to the slightly under-ripe fruit. And the miniature carafe of syrup provided just enough
sweetness to tie everything together. Our only complaint: the sausage patties ($2) she ordered on the side were a little bland
for her liking—and for Taste’s reputation.
Somehow overlooking the bakery case packed with goodies
like bread pudding and hummingbird cake, we filled out the meal with what amounted to a mini version of Taste’s C.B.
& G. meal ($5.95): a cheddar biscuit (50 cents) and dish of gravy ($2.50). What’s not to like?
I broke
apart the cheesy biscuit—crunchy on the outside, heavenly moist on the inside—covered it with the creamy sausage
gravy and made sure there was no room for dessert. Because dessert with breakfast—that would have been decadent, right?•
—Andrea Muirragui Davis
__________
Third in our month-long series of
reviews of College Avenue eateries.
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core element or our arts and entertainment coverage. I hope this helps answer some of your questions:
--Our goal is to experience a restaurant as an average customer would. As such, we never announce our presence as reviewers
nor do we accept comp meals for review. Because of the
nature of our publication, we tend toward lunch reviews although we do make exceptions. The notion that we would review
a restaurant without actually dining there is just silly.
--Occasionally we will make reference to a restaurant's history or that of its location or chef, but unless we need some
clarification of our experience, we do not interview the parties involved. We leave that to our reporters should a separate
news story arise.
--We avoid daily specials so that there's a better chance that whatever we write about will be available when the review
is published. We try to avoid desserts that aren't made in-house.
--After the piece is written, we send a photographer,who has no knowledge of our reaction to the food.
--We try -- and usually succeed -- in publishing a review within two weeks of visiting the restaurant.
--We do not limit ourselves to new restaurants, seeing value, too, in revisiting established restaurants and shining
light on lesser-known ones.
--We offer honest reactions to our dining experiences and make a strong effort to present them in fresh, engaging, fair
ways.
--We welcome responses to our reviews as letters to the editor, as postings here at www.ibj.com, or as not-for-publication
notes. We prefer these to phone calls since it's
easier to share your written thoughts with our staff and/or readers.
I'm happy to answer other questions.
Thanks for reading,
Lou Harry
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Indianapolis Business Journal
lharry@ibj.com
I would also like to include, however, that I question the integrity of reporting and wonder if Ms Davis has indeed dined at Taste. Perhaps she left off at Barley Island. To say options are minimal and "more basic than I expected" is to also ignore the entire left side of the menu board with "today's specials" listed (somewhere around 10-20 additional items to the standard menu items offered daily). If Ms Davis had stopped by the windows and glanced into the kitchen, I think she'd find the operation and the culinary outcome a little stronger than "basic" (unless she handmakes all of the sauces in her pantry, pickles all of her cucumbers and peppers, and daily develops rotating flavor combinations based on items at hand and seasonal ingredients... if this is the case, I certainly digress).
Finally, nowhere mentioned are owners Marc's and Diedra's names, suggesting no attempt at contact or perhaps an attempt to fly under their radar; indicating to me a very "basic" fallacy in reporting.
Since hearing the phrase a few months ago I have used it several times to describe my neighborhood. Never has it been met with anything but a positive response. My friends, upon hearing it, completely understand the meaning that Neal intended.
Neal, please don't stop using the phrase!
I hope it encourages more non-pretentious dining options to pop up.
52 & College has always been a stable corner patronized by well-to-do neighbors. This is where Atlas grocery was located. This is why TASTE, which has always been upscale since the day it opened its doors has thrived. There is nothing "ghetto" about this block.