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10 Feb 23:04

Chef’s Kiss: Chowing Down with Tony and Rosa Hanslits

by Terry Kirts
 

Perhaps no name has been as synonymous with Indy’s food scene for the last three decades as Tony Hanslits. From his early days at the groundbreaking Peter’s in Fountain Square to jobs at some of the city’s most innovative and polished supper spots (including Something Different, Snax, Malibu on Maryland, and 14 West) to heading up his own Italian-inflected eateries and markets, Hanslits quietly had his hand on nearly every culinary trend that passed through town and trained some of our most talented chefs and restaurateurs. In the midst of all that was a decade-long stint as the director of culinary education at the now-closed Chef’s Academy, where he taught dozens of culinary professionals who went on to push Indy’s dining scene in new directions. Along with his wife, Rosa, whom he started dating while working at South Bend’s Carriage House in the 1980s, he operated the innovative Italian trattoria Tavola di Tosa and Tosa Euro Cafe in the early 2000s, and for more than a decade, the pair has held court at Nicole-Taylor’s Pasta + Market + Back Room Eatery, known for its hard-to-source gourmet products, as well as a private dinner series that always sells out of a year’s worth of reservations in hours. Now, with grandchildren in North Carolina and retirement on the horizon, the Hanslits are taking some time for themselves and training their staff to do the heavy lifting. While Tony and Rosa aren’t hanging up their aprons just yet, they won’t be getting them quite as dirty. Recently, the pioneering husband-and-wife team sat down with us to look back on the rewards of a life lived so deliciously.

You’ve both been in Indianapolis since 1985. What was the food scene like way back then?

Tony Hanslits: In 1984, I came here to interview for a job at the Canterbury Hotel, which was essentially just working a full day’s shift to show them what I can do. Afterward, we went out for drinks near what’s now Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and we came out and saw the rock-and-roll legend Prince dressed all in red with a full entourage of bodyguards. I knew I wasn’t in South Bend anymore. But on Sunday when we looked around for a place to have brunch, we practically saw tumble-weeds rolling through the streets of downtown. Sadly, with an offer of $6.40 an hour, I just couldn’t justify relocating the family to Indy. It wasn’t until Peter [George, longtime Indianapolis restaurateur] brought me on at the original Peter’s in Fountain Square that I thought I could really make the move.

Hanslits wowing fans at 14 West in 2005 and during an up-close chef’s table dinner at Nicole-Taylor’s.Photograph courtesy Julia Spalding

What were the challenges of cooking in Indianapolis at the time?

Tony: It was pretty much a blank slate in Indianapolis, and it was difficult getting diners to try a lot of things they weren’t used to. We wanted to serve veal sweetbreads, which were a classic French delicacy, but they wouldn’t have it. We had to grind them up into a forcemeat for other dishes and get them to try it that way. For a few years, Peter wanted us to go all Midwestern, which was the trend at a lot of Chicago restaurants. So that meant only lake fish and produce from the five states around us. That made things nearly impossible at times, but we were pushing the envelope and trying things that no one had seen in this city. It was such an education for my other restaurant jobs at Something Different, Snax, Malibu on Maryland, and 14 West.

When did you know that the time was right to go it alone?

Tony: Honestly, I was happy working for others, and I wasn’t dying to have my own place. I didn’t want to handle the payroll, the finances, and all the orders. But we got the opportunity from some investors who approached us, and we really couldn’t pass it up. So that led us to Tavola di Tosa in the early 2000s, which was a true education in the restaurant business. We put out some great food, but, in many ways, there were a lot of things we weren’t prepared for. We essentially had two restaurants at one location. Although I could look out the pass-through and see the cafe [Tosa Euro Cafe], that was too far for me. It really divided my attention. I’ve never been like a lot of chefs who want to franchise out into a bunch of locations. I wanted to keep my eye on doing the best I could at one spot. Having to hire and manage the lives and careers of nearly 50 people was something I hadn’t dealt with before.

Nicole-Taylor’s first tiny pasta maker, left, still sits on display, a reminder of how far the restaurant has come.Photograph by Tony Valainis

Was Italian food always in the plan?

Rosa Hanslits: I knew that I wanted to do a market where you could get the kind of Italian and Mediterranean products I could find back in South Bend. There, you could go to Italian butcher shops and bakeries. Here, you couldn’t get real quality Italian olive oils or cheeses, so I had this idea to provide a source for those ingredients I loved. We planned Tavola di Tosa around that.

What advice would you give anyone starting a restaurant?

Tony: Never get things that you don’t need, and never sign on the line unless you’re sure you can pay for it. With the buildout and the expenses at Tavola di Tosa, we were still paying that off for several years after we closed the restaurant. And we didn’t really overextend ourselves or buy lots of new things. Here at Nicole-Taylor’s, we’ve really learned to wait until we can afford something. I had a range hood for our main stove in storage for almost a year before we had the money in hand to pay someone to install it. But doing that meant that I didn’t have to borrow for it. When we went from owning a restaurant to making pasta for local farmers markets, we had this old vintage pasta maker that could only do about 7 pounds of pasta in an hour. You could go out to dinner and come back between batches. But we made it work for the time being because we had it. We have that on display in the back just to show where we’ve come from.

“ I’ve never been like a lot of chefs who want to franchise out into a bunch of locations. I wanted to keep my eye on doing the best I could at one spot.”
Tony Hanslits

When you had the opportunity to pivot to culinary education in the mid-2000s, what things changed for you?

Tony: Giving back my knowledge and seeing my students grow was rewarding. But it was eye-opening. I saw that in the rest of the world, people went home at 5 p.m. and got time off and paid sick days. It was so interesting to see how things worked outside of restaurants, and it was an education knowing that the students had lives outside of the kitchen and classes. These days, when we are trying to hire new employees, they almost always want weekends and some nights to be with their families. That’s great, but it’s not how I started out.

Rosa: Suddenly, Tony was coming home in the evenings, and it sort of upended my usual routine. I’ve talked to a lot of wives of chefs who say the same thing. Of course, it was great to have Tony home, and even to have him cook at home, but it was an adjustment. It had been a big challenge to raise kids with Tony working such long hours. But Tony’s hard on himself, and he sometimes says that he wasn’t there enough for our girls. But he was a great dad. Our girls went to Bishop Chatard High School and were really into volleyball. He hardly ever missed their games. Sometimes, he would come to see them play between reservations, then go right back to work.

What does it mean to finally step back from some of the day-to-day duties at Nicole-Taylor’s?

Rosa: Our grandkids are still toddlers, and we don’t want to miss out on seeing them grow up. And the job doesn’t get any less tiring as the years go by. We love the dinners, but sometimes after a dinner and cleaning up, we get home and take a breath, then we look around and say, “We have to do this all again tomorrow.” That never gets easier, so being able to let someone else pick up some of the slack will be a relief.

Tony: Being able to scale back to teaching and small dinners, rather than doing hundreds of covers a night, has really saved my life. Especially with what I’ve been through healthwise and my kidney transplant [the Hanslits are both cancer survivors], not having the rigor and hours of a full-scale restaurant has really made it possible for me to have a career that has spanned four decades. But there’s a point when you just have to say that you’ve done so much, and there’s a point when you take time for yourself. But I’ll still be cooking and planning. I just finished my next seasonal menu for Back Room Eatery this morning.


Tony Awards

Here’s the shortlist of Indy culinary heavy hitters trained by Hanslits in the kitchens of Tavola di Tosi, the classrooms of the Chef’s Academy, or at Nicole-Taylor’s. 

Neal Brown

Legendary chef/owner of L’Explorateur, Pizzology, The Libertine, Stella, and One Trick Pony.

Micah Frank

Former chef of R Bistro, Black Market, Duos, and The Inferno Room.

Ben Hardy

Longtime pastry instructor and founding co-owner of Gallery Pastry Shop.

Joe Kalil

Former chef of Woodland Country Club and Rick’s Cafe Boatyard, as well as the current chef de cuisine at Nicole-Taylor’s.

Alison Keefer

Former enrollment specialist and nutrition instructor at The Chef’s Academy who is currently owner of Gallery Pastry Shop.

Erin Kem

Former sous and executive chef of R Bistro, Cannon Ball Brewing Company, Scarlet Lane Brewing Company, and now Small Victories Hospitality.

Erin Gillum Oechsle

Former executive chef of Spoke & Steele who is now a culinary instructor at Area 31 Career Center.

Carlos Salazar

Former sous chef at Oakleys Bistro and Pizzology, chef and co-owner of Rook, executive chef at West Fork Whiskey, and chef/owner of Lil Dumplings Noodle Bar.

The post Chef’s Kiss: Chowing Down with Tony and Rosa Hanslits appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

12 Sep 20:27

How To Develop Good Taste, Pt. 1

by Derek Guy

Marcel Duchamp once noted in a 1968 interview with Francis Roberts, “If your choice enters into it, then taste is involved—bad taste, good taste, uninteresting taste.” For those fortunate enough to live in post-industrial societies, where choices are now nearly limitless, taste is everything. Taste shapes what we purchase, the cultural artifacts we consume, how [...]

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The post How To Develop Good Taste, Pt. 1 appeared first on Die, Workwear!.

22 Apr 18:09

Beyond Brutalism: What Do We Lose When We Demolish a Meaningful Megastructure?

by Tian Wang

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletter   

The brutalist megastructure Cumbernauld Town Centre in Scotland is to be demolished and replaced with a new one. Many historians deem the demolition damaging to architectural heritage while supportive comments about the demolition are widely heard from the town residents.

The town center was part of a plan that founded the new village of Cumbernauld, Scotland in a bid to diffuse the population from Glasgow to surrounding towns. The building, designed in the 1950s aimed to provide convenience to the community living by bringing apartments, retail, healthcare, a hotel, a skating rink and even educational facilities altogether under a single roof; it was at the forefront of the defining the new typology that later became known as a megastructure. Construction continued from the 1960s to the 1980s in different phases and later refurbishments painted the form colorful.

Cumbernauld Shopping Centre, By Ed Webster

The idea driving the design was to an urban one. When planning for the new town of 50,000–80,000 people, urban designers came up with a scheme where the community’s shops and amenities would be concentrated within a single building, sot that the residents of the high-density housing that surrounded it would all be required to converge under a single roof. The various neighborhoods would be connected to the structure via pathways (covered and uncovered). Notably, the design was completed and the design had began before the term ‘megastructure’ had even been coined (in 1964). The concept would play a leading role in architectural discussions — especially those led by radical architecture groups like the Metabolists, Archigram and Superstudio — over the subsequent decade, though few were ever built.

The Cumbernauld Shopping Center served as a case study for megastructures in many university classes. Yet, as time passed, the already complicated form became even more visually fragmented. Aside from those with a nostalgic appreciation for the original design, hardly any positive comments could be made on its aesthetics. Meanwhile, it is difficult to recognize its brutalist identity from its current appearance. Looking at the photos, one is more sympathetic to the town center’s crude two-time title as the “most dismal” place in Scotland.

The Unfashionable Style

robinhood gardens_exterior

Robin Hood Gardens (1968-72) by Peter and Alison Smithson, image by stevecadman via Wikimedia Commons.

Cumbernauld Town Centre is just one of many brutalist buildings to be abandoned by the 21st century; however, as a megastructure, it is rather unique. The 1.5-hectare estate Robin Hood Gardens in London by Peter and Alison Smithson has been under demolition since 2017. Two campaigns were mounted to save the massive Brutalist residential complex from demolition but failed. Only a three-story section will be preserved by the Victoria and Albert Museum for historical records, including two maisonette apartments, their facades and a walkway. Even listed structures are not 100% secured, as their listed status could be revoked to make way for redevelopment.

Brutalist architecture was not only fashionable in the UK but also gained widespread international favor after WWII. The massive, straightforward forms and honest, intensive use of concrete were avant-garde at the moment not only for the style but also for the idea of bringing multiple facilities together in one complex. Concrete was often the language of build megastructures. The elimination of decorations and the use of cast-in-situ concrete allowed for fast establishment or re-establishment of communities in the post-war recovery period when resources were generally short and the need for build space overwhelming. The material and the new typology were also free of historical baggage; just what was needed in the wake of a war that seemingly marked the end of history.

Yet, many of the buildings were done in hurry or lacked sufficient budgets for their upkeep; they therefore required careful management and regular maintenance to ensure they remained useable. Indeed, while the concrete structures are strong enough to stand for decades because of the tough nature of the material, the softer parts like lighting, electricity, interior finishing etc. are easily damaged and degradated, influencing the quality of living and use-value.

Living With Brutalism

Boston City Hall

Boston City Hall Renovation by Utile Design, Boston, MA, United States.

Fashion changes every season every year so does the preference for architecture, although less frequently. Taking the outdated ones down and building new ones on top of them is the easiest way to execute while also favoring the market with trending styles. However, we should not wipe off traces of urban history for trends that are eventually going to change again. It is the rich history of a city that makes the city stay unique under globalization and it is the collective memory associated with every corner of the city that makes our city special to us.

Take, for example, the Boston City Hall — a typical brutalist structure that, being typical, received criticism over years. Instead of demolition, surgical interventions are employed to make the building civic again. The design team improved the security system, redesigned the navigations and lit up the space with brighter and more energy-efficient LEDs lighting to make the building more welcoming. A coffee kiosk and seating areas are added to improve visitors’ experience. The urban landscape around the city hall is also under renovation with the aim of neutralizing the cold concrete buildings and inviting visitors with more vegetation, seats and areas for gathering.

The Grade II listed Barbican Estate in London is another great example of a “living” brutalist building, which is also a megastructure. Unlike the suburban Cumbernauld Town Centre, the Barbican stands on a bombed site of 14 hectares within the tight urban context of central London. It includes some 2,000 residential units, galleries, schools, a theater, a conservatory, a library, water gardens and elevated pedestrians that connect everything. Refurbishments, including one in 2007 which spent £35 million, were carried out to meet contemporary needs. Its brutalist appearance has been honestly preserved — much to the chagrin of some loud voices. Meanwhile, there are plenty of those who embrace the form and the idea of living in a community held within one complex.

The “Notorious” Megastructure

Compared to its successful contemporaries, the refurbishments of Cumbernauld Town Centre were not critical enough for it to catch up with nowadays standards, either functionally or aesthetically. As one of a few megastructures ever built, is there a historical argument to be made for restoring this rare building? After all, the Cumbernauld Town Centre represents more than just brutalist aesthetics; it is a concrete implementation of innovative urban design concepts from the post-war period. (This is not to mention the environmental argument: it is a waste to demolish the massive concrete structure, which consumed a considerable amount of resources to build. One can only hope that it will be recycled into secondary materials.)

On the other hand, even though the “notorious” megastructure is going to be replaced by a new one of nothing recognizable in design and style, one could argue that it is unfair to maintain a dysfunctional building that is not improving life quality in any way for the locals. Perhaps a good renovation could save the Cumbernauld Town Centre, but we are probably going to miss it forever.

Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work through Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletter   

The post Beyond Brutalism: What Do We Lose When We Demolish a Meaningful Megastructure? appeared first on Journal.

16 Jul 19:56

Tech Workers Who Swore Off the Bay Area Are Coming Back

by Kellen Browning
Critics said the pandemic would make the industry flee San Francisco and its southern neighbor, Silicon Valley. But tech can’t seem to quit its gravitational center.
16 Jun 17:18

Indianapolis Has A Hip-Hop Supergroup Now

by Ben Price

Last summer, in the heat of the pandemic, Indy hip-hop artists Sean “Oreo” Jones, Sirius Blvck (aka Niq Askren), and Sedcairn Archives (aka David Adamson) joined forces to create the group 81355.

Although they had worked together in the past, 81355 (pronounced “bless”) gave them the opportunity to make their first start-to-finish collaboration: This Time I’ll Be of Use. Recorded in just three days, the album is simultaneously electronic and hypnotic, danceable and mystical. It’s a I-don’t-think-I’ve-heard-anything-like-this sound that Archives describes as “something kind of alien” and Blvck calls “haunting.” And then there are the lyrics—no-holds-barred reflections on the pandemic, Black struggles, and capitalism. “We talk about seeing cars on fire in the street, but it wasn’t like we went into the process wanting to touch on those things,” says Jones. “It wasn’t intentional, but we wrote this last July. The country was scorching, and you couldn’t escape everything. It was right in front of you.”

Jones, a gifted lyricist, likes to say he “makes hip-hop for people with unreasonable expectations of what hip-hop can and should be.” This Time I’ll Be of Use is no different. It’s genre-bending and uncategorizable. Is it hip-hop? Definitely. Rap? Yes. But “Anointed” is reminiscent of electronic music, and the beginning of “Thumbs Up” sounds like the default ringtone on an iPhone buried somewhere in your purse. And then there’s the opening track, “Capstone.” Blvck likens it to Jumanji, the book-turned-movie-turned-board game. “It sounds like what could play when someone finds the Jumanji game. Like, you find it and you just hear ‘Capstone’ in the back.” 

After 81355 recorded the eight-song album, their manager, Michael Kaufmann, sent out the demos to a few record labels. Before starting his own artist consulting company, Kaufmann managed Asthmatic Kitty Records for a decade and helped develop Sufjan Stevens’s career. He knew how to work with globally recognized artists, so when he distributed the demos, he aimed high—and the label 37d03d (pronounced “people”) took notice. Cofounded by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner, 37d03d represents more than 100 artists, including Irish singer Damien Rice. 81355’s unique blend of sounds—and the spelling of their name—appealed. Just a month after the demos went out, Kaufmann texted the group: “Yo, Justin Vernon wants to sign you guys to his label.” 

Backed by a well-known label, 81355 has the potential to transcend the modestly sized local hip-hop scene. But as we learned when we sat down with them this spring, Jones, Blvck, and Archives don’t plan on leaving Indianapolis anytime soon.  

So, 81355. Why the numbers? 

Sedcairn Archives: The name “bless” was something I had been thinking about. I had a son recently, and I was looking for something to describe being grateful for life despite all the stuff that was going on. When I looked up “bless” and saw some other bands had used it, I went with numbers. It was the one name I tossed out, and it kind of stuck around.

What were some of the rejected names? 

Oreo Jones: Some of it sounded like emo stuff. Like, early-2000s emo. [laughs]

In addition to collaborating with each other, all three of you have released your own music. What encouraged you to do this album? 

Illustration81355's album cover

Sirius Blvck: Our manager, Michael Kaufmann, presented the opportunity. He put a bug in our ear and said, “You all should just get in a room together and make an album. I think it’d be really cool.” We had always wanted to do a full record together but hadn’t had the opportunity. So when this idea came about, we all jumped at it. 

OJ: It definitely helped that we were so familiar with each other. We know each other’s tendencies and sound.

SB: Yeah. I think, musically, we all have our own signature approaches. I think bringing all three of those together sounds so original because it was like a stream of consciousness. The creative process was natural and freeform and effortlessly collaborative.

How did the opportunity to work with 37d03d start?  

OJ: We made the demos in late July, and we planned to record just one or two songs. But we ended up in the zone and churned out eight joints right off the bat. In three days. Michael was like, “I’m gonna send these off and see if anything transpires.” It was probably a month or so later when he told us Justin Vernon wanted to sign us to his label. I didn’t believe it. It was sort of crazy.

SB: Yeah, getting that text was really cool. I’ve been a big fan of Justin Vernon for so many years, so it was like an affirmation for me. Over the years, we’ve had a lot of opportunities that have fallen through the cracks or just didn’t pan out. It was great to hear that such an amazing artist listened to our record and actually understood it. Not only understood it, but wanted to support it. 

OJ: It’s kind of serendipitous that our name is spelled numerically as well. 

SB: Yeah, Kevin—one of the label managers—even said the spelling of our name was one of the things that attracted him.

Do you think Justin Vernon and the other record label managers “get” hip-hop? That’s not the genre they typically produce as musicians. 

SB: Yeah, I think they do. Justin collaborated with Kanye on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. He has always approached his music with a hip-hop aspect. On his last few records, he has had some hip-hop producers that produce for, you know, Lil Wayne, which is really dope. 

Do you think people in Indianapolis understand that getting signed to this record label is a big deal? 

OJ: I don’t know. The thing about Indianapolis is there are so many cool artists who are doing amazing things here that people don’t have any clue about. There are artists that are on national platforms and making absolute noise globally. But the average guy sitting down for breakfast at Broad Ripple Bagel Deli probably doesn’t have a clue. I don’t feel like the three of us have ever written any music that tries to get people to recognize us. That’s dope, but that’s not why we do what we do.

What’s the scope of the hip-hop scene here in Indianapolis? What should people know? 

SB: In my opinion, Indianapolis has one of the strongest hip-hop scenes in the country. A lot of people say Indianapolis has cliqued up and that people don’t support each other, but I would say it’s the polar opposite. The hip-hop scene is so strong here that it has moved beyond hip-hop. It’s normal to see a punk band and hip-hop group on the same show. That just shows the strength and the camaraderie of the Indianapolis music scene. We have so many talented, off-the-charts artists doing amazing things. We have hip-hop producers who have platinum plaques and songs on Billboard right this second.

OJ: Yeah, people are pushing really hard here. When I first started, they didn’t have any venues that would cater to hip-hop. It was like pulling teeth to even get a show anywhere, you know? Now, you see hip-hop everywhere and venues respect the genre. You can have a hip-hop bill at the Hi-Fi or anywhere else.

What’s pushing Indy’s hip-hop scene forward? 

OJ: The internet and our community and Chreece. And I feel like hip-hop is the most powerful genre globally. It has the most cultural influence. It breaks so many different boundaries. 

You mention the Chreece hip-hop festival, which hasn’t happened since 2019. What’s the future of that? 

OJ: Unfortunately, I don’t know. I’m taking each day at a time. It’s going to happen again. Like, Chreece is going to be moving forward. But I want to respect the city and the artists. We’re still in the midst of the pandemic, and we’re trying to be responsible. 

If you could pick anyone to headline Chreece, who would you pick? 

OJ: Ooh, I don’t know. I’d say Lil B? Kid Cudi?

SB: Yeah, I say Kid Cudi. Earl Sweatshirt would be amazing. JPEGMafia.

SA: Death Grips.

OJ: Yeah, that’d be crazy. I’ve been listening to a lot of Tierra Whack lately, too.

SB: Ooh. Love Tierra Whack so much. She’s amazing.

OJ: Or Noname. Noname would be great.

Who else do you guys listen to? 

SA: I keep playing Delroy Edwards. It’s instrumental stuff from L.A. and I just love the sound. I like RP Boo and a bunch of footwork and juke stuff from Chicago. The footwork stuff took me a minute to get into. It was like a drum pattern that confused me at first. But once it clicked with me, it was something I wanted to hear forever. I mean, I could probably just turn on a drum machine and listen to it play. 

OJ: I don’t listen to hip-hop all the time. I feel like real rappers don’t listen to rap a lot, if that makes sense. As an artist, I like to decompress and listen to something completely different. 

Any other creative escapes? 

SA: Music is really it for me, and it’s hard to find time for it. I have work and other stuff to do. So when I finally get to it, it rushes out and it’s a big relief. It’s one of the things that makes life worth living, you know? 

What events or struggles will listeners recognize in your lyrics? 

OJ: I remember writing some of this record last summer and hearing choppers out my bedroom window. So that was on my mind. What we wrote mirrors the things we see in our community. When we listened back, it was like, “Oh, yeah, this is painful and hopeful and all those things that go through our mind as Black people.” 

So Indianapolis influenced the song writing? 

SB: Oh yeah. Everything. 

OJ: Indianapolis is always on our mind.

Are you attached to any particular song on the album? 

SB: “Hard 2 Find” is one that I feel encompasses all three of us so perfectly. The verses are short and sweet, but they’re powerful. And the hook is just haunting. “Through a Portal” is one of my favorites as well, just because I love that outro so much.

SA: “Capstone” really hit me hard listening to it after we got the mix back. It felt mystical. 

Speaking of “Capstone,” in the music video, you guys are being buried alive. What inspired that? 

SB: After we recorded the album, we all went back to a hotel and had some beers. I remember being like, “Hey, I have this idea for a video: We dig a grave and then we have other people bury us alive, and then we rap the song.” And they’re like, “Oh yeah, sure.” Well, little did I know, they were devising a plan to make sure that this actually happened. We sent our ideas to the director, Matty McMahon, and he kind of ran with it. 

The video has a Blair Witch vibe, and it sounds kind of ethereal and haunting. How did you come up with that sound? 

SA: I was chasing something kind of alien. I sent Sean and Niq some loops and clips and beats to get things started. We were texting back and forth, little ideas. Eventually, we listened to them together, wrote together, and figured out where things needed to be extended or removed. We were talking that out all the way through to the final recording session.

Do you handle all the arrangements and instrumentation? 

SA: We all worked on the arrangements together. Oreo does a lot of instrumentation, but I’ve been handling all the music and beats. On this record, there’s an instrument called the Suzuki Q-Chord. It has a ribbon sensor, so you actually play it by running your finger up and down it. It just has a neat sound. 

What challenges have you had to go through, either as a group or as individuals, to get to this point? 

OJ: Being a musician is a lot of trial and error. You’re always trying to find your way and be heard. We’ve played shows where there are hundreds of people. And then you go to another state, and you’re playing to a bartender and the door guy. But that uncertainty is what makes it beautiful. 

Did those challenges influence the album name? 

OJ: I was thinking about how we’ve been doing this for a decade. We’ve been doing this for so long that maybe, after all the hard work, this time it will work out. It’s also about choosing to see things differently, you know? I’m choosing to make the most of things. It’s kind of like an affirmation. We are so fortunate to be able to be part of the conversation and to be artists. That’s where the idea of This Time I’ll Be of Use came from. 

Do you have any plans to tour? 

OJ: Yeah, we’re definitely hitting the road. I can’t confirm when that’s going to be a thing, but we’re definitely touring.

If 81355 blows up, will you stay in Indy? 

OJ: For sure. 

SB: Indianapolis is in our bones. We’re not going anywhere. This is the hub. This is where we have a foundation. These are our people. Why reach up when you can reach out? 

Random question. Have any of you watched the TV show Dave, which is created by rapper Lil Dicky? 

OJ: Oh, that show’s awesome. It’s so good. I feel like it touches on a lot of themes that rappers go through, trying to navigate the craziness of it all. I love the character GaTa and his grasp of mental illness. It’s a great show, and I’m looking forward to Season 2. 

All of you have a stage name or persona. Are there moments when you have to differentiate yourself from those? 

SB: Personally, I’m a father. I have a 6-year-old daughter who runs the world, and in between that, I get to make music and do dope shit with my friends. Sirius Blvck is different from Niq in the sense that, when I hop on stage, I lock it. But as soon as I hop off stage, that’s me, you know? If I stepped into my regular life with that intensity, I probably wouldn’t get very far.

OJ: When I was younger, I kind of struggled with that. Now, it’s to the point where I turn it on and turn it off. Like Niq said, when I’m Oreo Jones, I’m locked in. But I’m just Sean when it’s me hanging out with my friends and family. I don’t let the ego get all crazy. 

Sedcairn Archives, you’ve gone by “Moose” for much of your career. Where did that nickname come from? 

SA: Oh, that goes way back. 

SB: I want to hear this. 

OJ: I don’t even think I know this.

SA: This is going to be embarrassing. It was just this silly goof. I think we were at Bonnaroo. We had a campsite, me and some friends. And there was another group next to us that was throwing Frisbees around. There was a member of that group named “Moose,” and we thought that was really funny. So we were like, “All right, we gotta have a Moose so we can be yelling ‘Moose!’ all the time.” And I was like, “I’ll be Moose.”

Fill in the blank. “Our new album is dope and you should listen to it because _____.” 

OJ: It’s something you’ve never heard before. It’s not hard to replicate things in 2021, but I honestly believe the sound on this album is something no one in the city has come across before. You can’t pinpoint any genre on it. 

SB: All the influences are woven together so beautifully. We worked our asses off, and I think our album is significant because I was really rapping on that motha’. [laughs]

OJ: Yeah, we were rapping our asses off.Before the record came out, I was kind of struggling internally with who I was as an artist. Like, “What am I going to do next?” This snapped me out of it.   

The post Indianapolis Has A Hip-Hop Supergroup Now appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

10 Jun 19:17

Urbanski Takes A (Virtual) Bow

by Daniel S. Comiskey

By no fault of its own, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s farewell to its music director and podium poster boy Krzysztof Urbanski has certainly lacked fanfare. Cancelled concerts over the last year included a pairing with pianist Dejan Lazic, who was here for Urbanski’s ISO debut in 2010, as well as a climax for the orchestra’s Beethoven 250th anniversary celebration. And his final concert of Polish music was, as they say in his native language, kaput, thanks to COVID-19.

Before Urbanski stepped down, the ISO had hoped to sneak in a series of goodbye concerts to celebrate his time here. On June 4 and 5, Urbanski was supposed to conduct Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2. And on June 11 and 12, the orchestra’s new concertmaster Kevin Lin was to join Urbanski for Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G Minor. Sadly, due to ongoing travel restrictions in Europe where he resides, Urbanski was unable to return for his final shows.

Lin takes the first violin seat that was held by Zach DePue during much of Urbanski’s reign. Less than half the age of some of the ISO stalwarts, the duo gave a youthful energy to the organization—for good or ill. (An age discrimination case against the ISO by its principal bassoonist was settled out of court in 2018.)

Urbanski—brought in at age 28—arrived on the heels of the 2002-2009 tenure of Mario Venzago, whose podium performances brought to mind Martin Short on a particularly antic day. Venzago was in his 50s when he joined the ISO, replacing Raymond Leppard, who arrived at about age 60. Not only was Urbanski the youngest to lead our hometown orchestral team, he was the youngest maestro ever to take the helm of a major U.S. orchestra.

The ISO hoped that youth might have an effect at the box office. But according to Kate McGuinness, the orchestra’s director of artistic planning, there’s no clear evidence of a significant uptick in sales to younger demos. “There was a modest increase, but so many things occurred over those years,” she says, “it would be difficult to pinpoint the impetus.” Still, having Urbanski as frontman helped build the impression that this was not your parent’s ISO. You could even find bright T-shirts sporting Urbanski’s tousled hair and smiling face in the gift shop.

Urbanski’s influence on the orchestra itself will certainly be stronger than his influence on the retail side. As music director, he was involved in the hiring of 20 of the orchestra’s 66 full-time players. And this isn’t the last Indy will see of him. He is already confirmed for a concert here in April 2022, conducting a little ditty called Symphony No. 9 by Beethoven—paired with a commission he intended to stage last season.

As to who will take his place at the podium, the hunt is underway. A search committee of musicians, board members, and staff has reviewed about 100 names, and whittled it down to 15. But until those individuals can be seen at the podium and their chemistry with the players evaluated, no decision can be made. That could push the decision to the 2022-2023 season. The mandate, according to McGuiness: “Someone who will enthusiastically engage with the community and take the ISO to its next chapter.”

As they say, stay tuned.

The post Urbanski Takes A (Virtual) Bow appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

10 May 19:31

The 2021 All-Buckeye Team: How An NFL Roster Full of Current Ohio State Players Stacks Up

by Dan Hope
This year’s All-Buckeye team might be the best one yet.

After another 10 Buckeyes were selected in this year’s draft, there are currently 69 former Ohio State players on NFL rosters, meaning there are more than enough players to put together a full 53-man roster with the talent to compete with any team in the league.

Our third annual All-Buckeye team looks at what an NFL roster composed only of players who finished their careers at Ohio State would look like in 2021, and how that team might stack up against the average NFL roster at every position.

To be eligible for this year’s All-Buckeye team, a player had to be on an NFL roster as of Thursday night. Because of that, you won’t see players like Malik Hooker, Nate Ebner, Gareon Conley and John Simon, who all still could play in the league this year and would be worthy additions to this team, but currently remain unsigned free agents.

QB: Justin Fields, Dwayne Haskins

Quarterback has been a weakness for the All-Buckeye team over the years, but that could change now that Fields is in the NFL. While the Chicago Bears have said they don’t want to rush Fields’ development and that Andy Dalton could be their top quarterback this season, Fields immediately rises to the top of the depth chart for former Buckeye quarterbacks in the league, where he’ll look to finally become the first true franchise quarterback from Ohio State.

That was supposed to be Haskins' path, but he now has to compete just to make the roster in Pittsburgh after lasting less than two full seasons with the Washington Football Team. That said, he’s the only other quarterback currently on an NFL roster who finished his college career at Ohio State, and at just 24 years old, he still has the upside to eventually re-emerge as a starter – making Fields and Haskins the highest-upside quarterback duo Ohio State has had in the league in a long time.

RELATED Ryan Day Excited to Have Another Top-15 Quarterback Draft Pick in Justin Fields, Which is “Great for Recruiting”

RB: Ezekiel Elliott, J.K. Dobbins, Trey Sermon, Carlos Hyde

Elliott and Dobbins give the All-Buckeye team a fantastic one-two punch at running back. Together, they combined for 2,242 yards from scrimmage and 17 touchdowns scored last season – and that was with Elliott having his worst season so far in the NFL and Dobbins splitting touches with two other running backs as a rookie.

Sermon and Hyde, who are expected to play rotational roles in their respective teams’ backfields in 2021, provide depth that would make this running back roster stronger than any current NFL team (though an All-Alabama running back rotation would be tough to beat).

WR: Michael Thomas, Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, Noah Brown, Parris Campbell, K.J. Hill

After an injury-plagued 2020 season, Thomas will look to get back on track as one of the NFL’s best wide receivers in 2021. McLaurin and Samuel, who are both coming off excellent 2020 seasons and are now teammates in Washington, round out an excellent starting lineup with McLaurin’s deep speed complementing Thomas outside and Samuel bringing his versatile skill set as both a receiver and runner to the slot.

The rest of the All-Buckeye team’s wide receiver roster isn’t quite as proven at the NFL level, but is still talented. Brown, who’s a staple on special teams for the Dallas Cowboys, had a career-high 14 catches for 154 yards last season. Campbell has been plagued by injuries in his first two NFL seasons but has flashed playmaking ability when healthy. Hill, who narrowly edges out fellow second-year NFLer Austin Mack for the last roster spot at wide receiver, will look to earn a bigger role in 2021 after catching seven passes for 73 yards and returning 12 punts for 83 yards as a rookie.

TE: Nick Vannett, Luke Farrell, Marcus Baugh

Vannett, who signed with the New Orleans Saints this offseason, is the only former Ohio State tight end currently on an NFL roster with more than one catch in the league. Farrell joins the Ohio State tight end contingent in the league after being drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars and Urban Meyer (who’s now eligible to be the All-Buckeye team’s coach) with the top pick in the fifth round.

Baugh, who just had one catch in eight games for Washington last season, is the only other full-time tight end from Ohio State currently on an NFL roster. Much like at Ohio State, all three of these tight ends provide most of their value as blockers and on special teams.

OT: Taylor Decker, Jamarco Jones, Isaiah Prince

With Thayer Munford and Nicholas Petit-Frere choosing to stay at Ohio State for the 2021 season, offensive tackle is one of the thinner positions on the All-Buckeye roster.

Decker is one of the NFL’s best left tackles, but he’s the only full-time starting tackle from Ohio State in the league right now, though Jones has made five starts in the past two seasons with the Seahawks. The only other Buckeyes currently playing tackle in the league are Prince, who opted out of last season and will be battling for a roster spot with the Cincinnati Bengals this summer, and Branden Bowen, who has yet to play in an NFL game but will try to make the Arizona Cardinals’ roster this summer.

G: Andrew Norwell, Jonah Jackson, Pat Elflein, Wyatt Davis

The All-Buckeye team has no shortage of depth at guard, with as many as five former Ohio State players who could be NFL starters at the position in 2021.

Norwell (Jacksonville Jaguars), Jackson (Detroit Lions) and Elflein (Carolina Panthers) are all starting left guards for their teams, while Davis could start at either left or right guard in his rookie season with the Minnesota Vikings. Michael Jordan has been a starting left guard for the Bengals for the past two seasons, but he’s going to face competition for his starting spot and potentially even his roster spot after the Bengals failed to adequately protect Joe Burrow last season, which is why he doesn’t make the cut here.

Norwell, a 2017 All-Pro, likely slots in as one starting guard while Jackson could be the other after a strong rookie season in Detroit. Regardless, the All-Buckeye team has plenty of options to fill those two spots.

C: Corey Linsley, Josh Myers

Linsley was the best center in the entire NFL last season, earning All-Pro honors for the first time in his career, making him the unquestioned anchor of a strong All-Buckeye interior offensive line.

Myers, who is actually in line to replace Linsley as the Green Bay Packers’ new center, becomes his backup on this year’s All-Buckeye team. Billy Price is another backup option, but he gets squeezed out by Myers on this depth chart after a shaky first three years of his career in Cincinnati.

DE: Joey Bosa, Chase Young, Nick Bosa, Sam Hubbard, Tyquan Lewis, Jalyn Holmes 

Defensive end is unquestionably the strongest position on the All-Buckeye team, led by three legitimate superstars in Young and the Bosa brothers. Deciding which one of them wouldn’t start is a challenge – right now, it might be Nick Bosa solely because he’s working his way back from a torn ACL – but a pass-rush rotation featuring all three of them would give even the NFL’s best offensive lines fits.

Hubbard has also been an effective starter for his hometown Bengals, yet he’s clearly the No. 4 defensive end on this roster. Lewis and Holmes, who each lined up both outside and inside for their NFL teams, provide additional defensive end depth with the flexibility to kick inside to defensive tackle. 

Chase Young
Chase Young joins the Bosa brothers on the All-Buckeye team to form a scary good trio of defensive ends. (Photo: Geoff Burke – USA TODAY Sports)

DT: Cameron Heyward, Johnathan Hankins, DaVon Hamilton, Dre’Mont Jones, Tommy Togiai

The interior of the All-Buckeye team’s defensive line is strong, too, led by Cameron Heyward. While Heyward plays defensive end for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 3-4 defense, he moves inside to lead the defensive tackle rotation on this squad’s four-man front, fresh off his fourth straight Pro Bowl berth.

Hankins and Hamilton are a pair of quality options to start at nose tackle, where Cleveland Browns newcomer Togiai also enters the rotation after being drafted in the fourth round. Jones – who, like Heyward, moves from the 3-4 defensive end position he plays in Denver to the 3-technique tackle position on the All-Buckeye team – provides interior pass-rush ability off the bench after recording 10 sacks in his first two NFL seasons.

LB: Jerome Baker, Malik Harrison, Pete Werner, Raekwon McMillan, Baron Browning 

Linebacker had been one of the thinner positions in our first two iterations of the All-Buckeye team, but its depth gets a nice boost this year after Werner and Browning were both selected on Day 2 of the NFL draft.

Baker leads this unit after recording 112 total tackles and seven sacks for the Miami Dolphins last season, while Harrison performed well in his first NFL season with the Baltimore Ravens. Werner could start for the Saints as a rookie and would likely be the third starting linebacker on this roster, though a 4-2-5 base defense could be the way to go given all the talent the All-Buckeye team has in its secondary.

RELATED Analyzing How Each of Ohio State's NFL Rookies Could Fit With Their New Teams

CB: Denzel Ward, Marshon Lattimore, Jeff Okudah, Bradley Roby, Damon Arnette, Kendall Sheffield

Ward and Lattimore give the All-Buckeye team an elite pairing of starting cornerbacks that could rival any actual cornerback tandem in the league for the best in the NFL, and every other cornerback on the All-Buckeye roster was also a starting cornerback in the league last season.

Okudah had growing pains as a rookie, but the 2020 No. 3 overall pick will look to bounce back in year two. Arnette will also be looking to raise his game after an injury-plagued rookie year. Roby and Sheffield have also had their ups and downs, but they’ve both started 20 games over the past two seasons, and Roby would likely play slot cornerback – where he’s been at his best in the NFL – on this team.

S: Malcolm Jenkins, Vonn Bell, Jordan Fuller, Shaun Wade

The 2021 All-Buckeye team also has the personnel to line up with three safeties on the field, as Ohio State has a trio of bona fide starting safeties in the league in Jenkins, Bell and Fuller. Jenkins and Bell give the All-Buckeye team a pair of versatile veteran safeties who can make plays all over the field and provide leadership on the back end of the defense, while Fuller had an excellent rookie season with the Los Angeles Rams, in which he looked like the best 199th overall draft pick since Tom Brady.

Wade will probably line up primarily at slot cornerback with the Baltimore Ravens, but he slots in as a backup safety on this roster since there’s much more depth at cornerback.

Vonn Bell tackling Ezekiel Elliott
Vonn Bell goes from tackling Ezekiel Elliott to being teammates with him on the All-Buckeye team. (Photo: Kareem Elgazzar via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

K: Blake Haubeil

Mike Nugent is currently unsigned after kicking in two games for the Arizona Cardinals last season, which passes kicking duties for the All-Buckeye team on to Haubeil. Ohio State’s hopes of having a kicker in the NFL this season likely hinge on whether Haubeil can beat out Tucker McCann – which looks like a realistic possibility, as McCann has also not yet kicked in an NFL game – to win the Tennessee Titans’ kicking job this preseason.

P: Cameron Johnston

Johnston, who signed with the Houston Texans this offseason, has some competition to be the All-Buckeye team’s punter now that Drue Chrisman is in the NFL. But Chrisman will need to win a punting job and become a top punter in the league if he’s going to wrest this spot away from Johnston, who’s ranked among the NFL’s top 11 in yards per punt in each of the past three seasons.

LS: Jake McQuaide

After 10 seasons as a Ram, McQuaide signed with the Cowboys this offseason. Liam McCullough will also be competing for a job with the Las Vegas Raiders this summer, but like Chrisman, he has to earn a regular-season roster spot and prove himself in the NFL to pose serious competition to McQuaide, who’s been reliably steady throughout his pro career.

Practice Squad: RB Mike Weber, WR Austin Mack, WR Binjimen Victor, WR Devin Smith, TE Jake Hausmann, OT Branden Bowen, G Michael Jordan, C Billy Price, DE Jonathon Cooper, DE/TE Rashod Berry, DT Jashon Cornell, LB Justin Hilliard, LB Tuf Borland, CB Eli Apple, P Drue Chrisman, LS Liam McCullough

The NFL hasn’t yet finalized its practice squad rules for the 2021 season, but it allowed teams to have 16 players on their practice squads in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If the NFL keeps that larger practice squad in place for 2021, that would leave just enough room for every Buckeye who’s currently on a league roster to have a spot on the All-Buckeye team, with 16 players cut from the 53-man roster.

Many of these players could end up being on actual practice squads around the league this season, too. While Jordan, Price and Apple (all currently with the Bengals) are established veterans who have started games in the league, and Smith has played in 18 games over the past six years, the rest of these players are all fewer than three years removed from playing at Ohio State and still trying to gain a foothold in the league.

Projected Depth Chart
POS First Team Second Team Third Team Fourth Team
QB JUSTIN FIELDS DWAYNE HASKINS    
RB EZEKIEL ELLIOTT J.K. DOBBINS TREY SERMON CARLOS HYDE
WR MICHAEL THOMAS NOAH BROWN    
WR TERRY MCLAURIN PARRIS CAMPBELL    
WR CURTIS SAMUEL K.J. HILL    
TE NICK VANNETT LUKE FARRELL MARCUS BAUGH  
LT TAYLOR DECKER      
LG JONAH JACKSON PAT ELFLEIN    
C COREY LINSLEY JOSH MYERS    
RG ANDREW NORWELL WYATT DAVIS    
RT JAMARCO JONES ISAIAH PRINCE    
DE JOEY BOSA NICK BOSA TYQUAN LEWIS  
DE CHASE YOUNG SAM HUBBARD JALYN HOLMES  
DT CAMERON HEYWARD DRE'MONT JONES    
NT JOHNATHAN HANKINS DAVON HAMILTON TOMMY TOGIAI  
LB JEROME BAKER PETE WERNER    
LB MALIK HARRISON RAEKWON MCMILLAN BARON BROWNING  
CB DENZEL WARD JEFF OKUDAH    
CB MARSHON LATTIMORE KENDALL SHEFFIELD    
CB BRADLEY ROBY DAMON ARNETTE    
S MALCOLM JENKINS JORDAN FULLER    
S VONN BELL SHAUN WADE    
K BLAKE HAUBEIL      
P CAMERON JOHNSTON      
LS JAKE MCQUAIDE      
12 Mar 22:24

'Uno Out...Thank You': IU's Al Durham sends out a goodbye, reportedly enters transfer portal

by Jon Blau

The well wishes continued Friday for a 1,000-point scorer who was greatly admired by his teammates and people around the program.

      
18 Jan 16:40

What Justin Fields, Trey Sermon, Chris Olave and Other Ohio State Stars’ 2020 Stats Could Have Been if the Buckeyes Played a Full Season

by Dan Hope
Ohio State didn’t have a 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher or 1,000-yard receiver in 2020. The Buckeyes almost certainly would have, though, if they had played anything close to a full season.

Because the Buckeyes played only eight games, their stars didn’t have the opportunity to put up huge individual numbers for the 2020 season. But if they had played 12 regular-season games instead of just five, and still made it to the national championship game for a full 15 games, players like Justin Fields, Trey Sermon, Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson would have been on pace to have some of the more prolific seasons in Ohio State history at their respective positions.

With that in mind, we’ve run the numbers to take a look at what each of their statistics for 2020 could have been if COVID-19 – and the Big Ten’s decision not to start the season until late October – hadn’t limited Ohio State to its shortest season since 1941.

Since I wasn’t a math major, we’re keeping the calculations simple. Each player’s projected stats for if there had been a full 2020 season were determined by multiplying their per-game statistics for the games that they did play by 15, the number of games the Buckeyes would have played if they had a full regular season and still made it all the way to the College Football Playoff final.

Certainly there are other variables that could be factored into this equation, like the fact that these players might not have played as many snaps per game as they did if there were 15 games played, and the competitive differences between the opponents they did play (including Alabama and Clemson in the College Football Playoff) and the opponents they would have played (including non-conference games against Bowling Green, Oregon and Buffalo).

For this hypothetical, though, we’re assuming that everything would have equated out over the course of a 15-game season. In this idyllic hypothetical world, we’re also pretending as though players wouldn't have missed time for COVID-19, so players like Olave who missed time due to positive tests still get their stats projected for a full 15-game season.

QB Justin Fields

  Pass Comp Pass Att Pass Yds Pass TD INT Rush Att Rush Yds Rush TD
ACTUAL STATS (8 GAMES) 158 225 2,100 22 6 81 383 5
PROJECTED 15-GAME STATS 296 422 3,938 41 11 152 718 9

Fields broke one single-season Ohio State record this year by completing 70.2 percent of his passes, breaking the previous mark of 70.0 percent by Dwayne Haskins in 2018. While he likely wouldn’t have broken Haskins’ single-season records of 4,831 passing yards and 50 passing touchdowns, he was on pace for one of the most statistically prolific seasons in Ohio State history if he had been able to play a full season.

The second-year Ohio State starter averaged nearly 30 more passing yards per game in 2020 (262.5) than in 2019 (233.8), and if he had continued that pace over 15 games, he would have easily had the second-most single-season passing yards in school history, surpassing Joe Germaine’s second-place total of 3,330 yards. Fields was also on pace to tie his 41 passing touchdowns from last year, which is already the second-highest total in Ohio State history.

In total, Fields was on pace for 4,656 yards of total offense, which would have also been the second-most in Ohio State history. He also averaged over 13 more rushing yards per game in 2020 (47.9) than 2019 (34.6).

Justin Fields
Justin Fields was on pace to both pass and run for more yards in 2020 than he did in 2019.

RB Trey Sermon

  Rush Att Rush Yds Rush TD Rec Rec Yds
ACTUAL STATS (8 GAMES) 116 870 4 12 95
PROJECTED 15-GAME STATS 218 1,631 8 23 178

Sermon’s production was all over the place in Ohio State’s eight-game season, as he never topped 68 rushing yards in any of the Buckeyes’ first four games, then had three straight triple-digit rushing games – including a school-record 331 rushing yards in the Big Ten Championship Game against Northwestern – before suffering an injury on his very first carry in the national championship game and finishing that game with just two rushing yards.

It’s unlikely that 331-yard performance would have been repeated no matter how many additional games Ohio State played, as that happened in part because of Master Teague being injured, but a full season would have also meant the opportunity to play more games after working through the early-season kinks. If we just assume everything averaging out and Sermon producing at those averages over seven additional games, that would have been enough for a huge season.

A projected total of 1,631 rushing yards over a 15-game season would have been enough for the seventh-most single-season rushing yards in Ohio State history. A projected total of 1,809 all-purpose yards would have been the ninth-most in school history.

WR Chris Olave

  Rec Rec Yds Rec TD
ACTUAL STATS (7 GAMES) 50 729 7
PROJECTED 15-GAME STATS 107 1,562 15

No Ohio State wide receiver has ever caught more than 90 passes in a single season (Parris Campbell in 2018), so Olave – who had more catches in just seven games than the 49 he had in 14 games in 2019 – was on pace to blow by that record if he and the Buckeyes had been able to play a full 2020 season.

Likewise, Olave was also on pace to break David Boston’s school record of 1,435 yards (1998), while he wasn’t far off the pace from Terry Glenn’s school record of 17 receiving touchdowns in 1995.

If Olave heads to the NFL, he’ll finish his three-year Ohio State career with 22 actual touchdowns, good for sixth in school history. If he had actually been able to catch 15 touchdown passes this year, he would have tied Devin Smith for second in school history with 30 career touchdowns.

WR Garrett Wilson

  Rec Rec Yds Rec TD
ACTUAL STATS (8 GAMES) 43 723 6
PROJECTED 15-GAME STATS 81 1,356 11

Ohio State has never had two 1,000-yard receivers in the same season, but 2020 likely would have been the year if the Buckeyes had played a full slate. Wilson finished Ohio State’s eight-game season on a 15-game pace of 1,356 yards, which would have been the third-most in school history (not including Olave’s projected total).

Wilson was on pace for the third-most receptions in school history (again, not including Olave’s projected total) and to become the 12th receiver in Ohio State history to catch at least 11 touchdown passes in a season.

Wilson will get another chance to have a season for the record books in 2021, as he’ll be back for one more season with the Buckeyes and will enter next season as Ohio State’s clear No. 1 receiver if Olave goes pro.

TE Jeremy Ruckert

  Rec Rec Yds Rec TD
ACTUAL STATS (8 GAMES) 13 151 5
PROJECTED 15-GAME STATS 24 283 9

Ohio State tight ends typically don’t put up big numbers, and at least in terms of catches and yards, that was the case once again for Ruckert, the Buckeyes’ leading receiver at tight end in 2020. Even when his numbers are projected out over a 15-game season, Ruckert wasn’t on pace to reach 25 catches or 300 yards.

He did catch five touchdown passes, though, and would have been on pace to break the school mark for receiving touchdowns by a tight end in a full season. No Ohio State tight end has ever had more than seven receiving touchdowns in a single season.

Jeremy Ruckert
Jeremy Ruckert could have made a run at the single-season record for touchdowns by an Ohio State tight end if the Buckeyes played a full 15-game season.

DE Jonathon Cooper

  Tackles Sacks FF
ACTUAL STATS (8 GAMES) 24 3.5 1
PROJECTED 15-GAME STATS 45 6.5 2

Ohio State didn’t have anything close to a Chase Young-level pass-rusher this past season, but Cooper was the Buckeyes’ most productive defensive end, leading the team with 3.5 sacks and leading all defensive linemen with 24 total tackles.

While his projected numbers for a 15-game season don’t jump off the page, they are solid. He only had 6.5 sacks in his entire Ohio State career before 2020, so he could have matched that total in his final season as a Buckeye, while he was on pace to come very close to matching Young’s 46 total tackles in 2019.

LB Pete Werner

  Tackles TFL FF
ACTUAL STATS (8 GAMES) 54 2.5 2
PROJECTED 15-GAME STATS 101 4.5 4

Werner finished Ohio State’s eight-game season as the Buckeyes’ leading tackler. If the Buckeyes had played a full 15 games, he would have been on pace to become the first Buckeye since Raekwon McMillan in 2016 to surpass 100 tackles in a single season.

By comparison, Ohio State did not have a single defender with more than 75 total tackles in its 14-game 2019 season.

LB Tuf Borland

  Tackles TFL
ACTUAL STATS (7 GAMES) 48 3.5
PROJECTED 15-GAME STATS 103 7.5

Although Werner finished the 2020 season as Ohio State’s leader in tackles, Borland – who was among the players who missed the Michigan State game – finished the season with a slightly higher per-game average. Over 15 games, that average would have totaled 103 tackles for Borland, which would have been the most since 2015, when McMillan had 119 and Joshua Perry had 105.

Borland, who tied for fifth on the Buckeyes in tackles for loss this season, was also on pace for 7.5 tackles for loss in a 15-game year.

RELATED Snap Counts: Justin Fields, Wyatt Davis and Shaun Wade Lead Ohio State in Playing Time in Unusually Short 2020 Season

LB Justin Hilliard

  Tackles TFL INT FF
ACTUAL STATS (8 GAMES) 33 5 1 1
PROJECTED 15-GAME STATS 83 12.5 2 2

Hilliard missed Ohio State’s season opener with an injury before missing the Buckeyes’ second game with a false positive for COVID-19, but given all the health issues he had to battle throughout his Ohio State career, we’re giving him a full 15-game projection here. And if he had been able to play a full, healthy season for the Buckeyes, he could have put up excellent numbers based upon how he performed in the six games he was able to play.

Hilliard led the Buckeyes with five tackles for loss and ranked fourth on the team with 33 total tackles despite playing in just six games and only starting three of them. Over a full 15-game season, those numbers would have projected up to 83 total tackles and 12.5 tackles for loss.

2020 was already the most productive season of Hilliard’s six-year Ohio State career by far, but it could have been even bigger if the Buckeyes were able to play a full season.

Justin Hilliard
Justin Hilliard led Ohio State in tackles for loss and had the most productive season of his six-year Buckeye career in 2020 despite playing just six games.

CB Shaun Wade

  Tackles INT PBU
ACTUAL STATS (8 GAMES) 35 2 4
PROJECTED 15-GAME STATS 66 4 8

Box-score statistics don’t really tell the story of a season for a defensive back, and when you look at statistics like how many catches, yards and touchdowns Wade allowed in 2020, he certainly didn’t have the kind of season he was expecting to have when he came back to Ohio State for one more year.

That said, Wade did lead all Ohio State defensive backs in tackles and all Buckeyes in interceptions this season. Projected out over the course of a 15-game season, Wade’s 66 total tackles would have been the most for an Ohio State cornerback since Bradley Roby had 69 in 2013. 

Interceptions are a difficult statistic to project, but if Wade had been able to double his interception total by playing in twice as many games, he would have become the first Buckeye with four interceptions in a season since Damon Webb had five in 2017.

22 Dec 05:46

Here Are The First Doses Of The COVID-19 Vaccine Given In Indiana

by Derek Robertson

Photographer Ted Somerville captured Indiana University hospital staff as they were administered the first Covid-19 vaccinations shipped to Indianapolis on Wednesday afternoon, at the IU Health Neuroscience Center. They were among 192 workers scheduled to receive the injection from noon to 8:00 p.m. at the location on the first day.

 

 

 

The post Here Are The First Doses Of The COVID-19 Vaccine Given In Indiana appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

28 Oct 18:27

Napa Valley – Quench The Wildfires With Wine

by Madeline Puckette

Napa Valley wildfires caused damage but that's only part of the story. Let's take a deeper look into what happened this year and how to help.

Wine Folly - Learn about wine.

29 Sep 18:06

Pouilly-Fuissé granted new premier cru designations

by Georgina Hindle
Jakienle

I knew it!

Solutre Rock, Pouilly Fuisse, Pouilly-Fuissé premier crus
Solutre Rock, Pouilly Fuisse vineyard at the foot of the rock

After a 10-year application process, the French National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO) approved the classification making Pouilly-Fuissé the first appellation within Burgundy’s Mâconnais sub-region to benefit from premier cru vineyards.

Frédéric-Marc Burrier, president of the Pouilly-Fuissé growers association, said the result was a ‘dream come true’ and beckons ‘the beginning of a new era for Pouilly-Fuissé, and probably for Mâconnais as well’.

Burrier says the long process was necessary in order to fully integrate the idea of a Premier Cru quality hierarchy within the mindsets of the growers, and that the main key to the application’s approval was their ability to remain united.

‘We learned a lot about willpower, tenacity, and patience. We always tried to convince the growers to favour a collective success rather than individual interests. They understood it, and in order to discuss with INAO, it was very important to show a united strength’.

The 22 new premier crus represent a total of 194ha under vine, accounting for roughly 24% of Pouilly-Fuissé’s total vineyard area (800ha). The newly-classified vineyards are spread over four communes of the appellation that only produce white wine from Chardonnay: Chaintré, Fuissé, Solutré-Pouilly and Vergisson.

The new status begins with the 2020 vintage, currently being harvested, and will appear on the market after 12-18 months.

The proposal to recognise specific sites as premier crus was first initiated by Burrier in 2007 and a formal application submitted to the INAO in 2010.

Since then, the appellation worked alongside the INAO and the Organization for the Defense and Management (ODG) to determine the worthiness of these terroirs. This included years of analysis which saw the creation of a detailed map outlining the appellation’s 217 legally-registered liex-dits from which subsequent analysis was made into elevation, aspect, slope, and soils as well as the history, cultural practises and pricing models of each climat.

A number of blind tastings were also conducted by a panel of experts. The application went into its final review phase in November 2019 with the ultimate decision delayed until after the lifting of lockdown restrictions in France revealing the final decision at the beginning of September.

Burrier hopes the ruling will help achieve further critical acclaim for the region’s white wines and a renewed interest in visits to the region for Burgundy lovers to ‘discover and evaluate’ the 22 new premier crus.

‘It is the first time since 1943 that a premier cru level is newly recognised in a Burgundian appellation. I hope it will allow Pouilly-Fuisse to achieve recognition as part of the greatest white wine appellation in Burgundy.’

The 22 new premier crus, commune by commune:

Chaintré:

  • Le Clos de Monsieur Noly
  • Les Chevrières
  • Aux Quarts
  • Le Clos Reyssier

Fuissé:

  • Le Clos
  • Les Brulés
  • Les Ménétrières
  • Les Reisses
  • Les Vignes Blanches
  • Les Perrières
  • Vers Cras

Solutré-Pouilly:

  • La Frérie
  • Le Clos de Solutré
  • Au Vignerais
  • En Servy
  • Aux Bouthières
  • Aux Chailloux
  • Pouilly
  • Vers Cras

Vergisson:

  • Les Crays
  • La Maréchaude
  • Sur la Roche
  • En France

The post Pouilly-Fuissé granted new premier cru designations appeared first on Decanter.

22 Sep 18:01

Experts Think The Economy Would Be Stronger If COVID-19 Lockdowns Had Been More Aggressive

by Neil Paine

Back in the early days of the coronavirus in the U.S., many economists believed that aggressive lockdowns would be the best long-term solution for managing the pandemic, despite the short-term economic pain they would cause. Six months later, we wanted to know: Did that logic hold up? And what political events could still be in store to alter the course of the country’s ongoing recovery from the current recession?

In this week’s installment of our economic survey, conducted in partnership with the Initiative on Global Markets at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, FiveThirtyEight polled 32 quantitative macroeconomists about the present and future of the economy. And because we couldn’t resist some Monday-morning quarterbacking, we also asked whether the lockdowns earlier in the year were too aggressive or not aggressive enough.

Out of those surveyed, 74 percent of economists said the U.S. would be in a better economic position now if lockdowns had been more aggressive at the beginning of the crisis. Among that camp, the most commonly cited reason was that early control over the virus would have allowed a smoother and more comprehensive return to economic activity later on. “More aggressive lockdowns would have [gotten] the country in a better position (health wise) as we head into fall and winter,” said Andrew Patton, a professor of economics and finance at Duke University.

“It would also have signaled more clearly to the whole country that we need to take the virus seriously, and work together to get it under control,” Patton said. He paraphrased a quote from Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, in a recent New York Times piece: “There’s no peeing section in the pool,” meaning you can’t just have some areas locked down while others see looser restrictions — and greater viral spread.

Proponents of tighter lockdowns pointed to Japan and various European countries (such as Germany, Norway and Denmark) as examples of how reducing the virus to extremely low levels early on allowed for a quicker recovery. Others noted that children could have returned to school for in-person learning faster with earlier control over the virus — a major consideration in maximizing the country’s economic power as it bounces back from the pandemic.

Among the 26 percent who thought lockdowns should have been less aggressive, the main theme was that more good could have been done with a targeted approach that protected at-risk populations and stopped potential superspreading events, while allowing more activity overall. Others thought the lockdowns didn’t even matter much, or that most of the reduced activity was due to individual self-regulation rather than government intervention.

“I think the positive effect of more commerce on employment probably would have outweighed the higher infection rates in most places,” said Deborah Lucas, a professor of finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. “I also think the shutdowns were not very effective.”

“I think [a more aggressive lockdown] would barely make any difference since a large part of the population imposed mobility restrictions on themselves out of precautionary motives,” said Christiane Baumeister, professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame. Baumeister said she chose the less aggressive option in the survey because self-regulation “is not something that can actually be controlled by the authorities.”

In the same vein — but this time, looking forward — we asked the economists to imagine a new shutdown had to occur as the result of a spike in COVID-19 cases. Which activities would they shut down first if they also wanted to minimize economic damage? With the caveat that our panel consists of economic experts — not epidemiologists — they clearly prioritized indoor dining (and to a lesser extent, gyms) to be the first shut down, while outdoor dining and recreation were at the bottom of the list:

What should be shut down to minimize economic damage?

The activities and places that should be shut down first to curtail economic damage if there’s a spike in COVID-19 cases, according to economists

Activity/Place 1st place votes* Avg. Priority Rank
Indoor dining 13 2.3
Gyms 5 3.5
In-person political campaigning 6 4.4
Arts & cultural institutions (museums, theaters) 2 4.5
Universities 1 5.0
Retail stores 0 6.0
Interstate travel 2 7.1
K-12 schools 1 7.1
Day cares 0 8.0
Outdoor dining 0 8.2
Outdoor recreation 0 9.9

*No. of respondents who listed this as the top priority, out of 30 who completed the question.

Source: FIVETHIRTYEIGHT/IGM COVID-19 ECONOMIC SURVEY

Interestingly, most economists did not especially prioritize shutting down schools. Universities and K-12 schools each received one first-priority vote apiece (out of 30 respondents who answered the question), and neither cracked the top four activities to be shut down first. Day care centers were even lower in the shutdown priority order. This does not mean that our panel thought reopening schools was necessarily safer, but it does underscore how much the panel thinks schools — and child care in general — help power the economy, and that shutting them down could have a deleterious economic effect.

In terms of future policy effects, we also included a longer-term version of a question we posed to the panel about a month ago: Which developments in the world of COVID-19 or the political world would cause economists’ GDP growth predictions to change for the better (or worse)? Again, schools are a big economic engine.22

What would make the economy look better or worse in 2021?

Share of economists who predicted that certain scenarios would increase or decrease GDP growth between the fourth quarters of 2020 and 2021

In this scenario, 2021 growth will be…
Scenario Substantially Lower about the same Substantially Higher
Vaccine approved by Election Day 0% 50% 50%
Democrats control Presidency + Congress 0 53 47
K-12 classes are taught in person 3 50 47
Biden wins; Congress stays same 6 94 0
K-12 classes are taught virtually 31 66 3
Trump wins; Congress stays same 41 59 0
Election viewed as illegitimate 47 50 3
No additional stimulus by November 59 38 3

The survey of 32 economists was conducted Sep. 18-21.

Source: FIVETHIRTYEIGHT/IGM COVID-19 ECONOMIC SURVEY

The results also bring into focus how the economists are viewing the election results and overall political climate. We’ve written many times that they believe an infusion of additional money from Congress — whether in the form of enhanced federal unemployment insurance or another series of stimulus payments — is paramount to stabilize the economy through the recovery. According to our survey results, the biggest economic risk for 2021 is the possibility that no additional stimulus is passed by November 2020. And the economists see Democrats’ control of Congress as having a significant effect on growth potential in 2021, likely because they have been much more willing to pass government spending bills. (Note that even if Joe Biden wins the presidency but the Senate doesn’t flip to the Democrats, 94 percent of our panelists said their outlook for 2021 would remain essentially the same as it is now.)

“I think that failing to pass fiscal stimulus is the biggest downside risk,” said Jonathan Wright, an economist at Johns Hopkins University who has been consulting with FiveThirtyEight on the survey. “And that’s probably made more likely by the RBG fight.”

And of course, the possibility of rapid vaccine development is the single highest-upside scenario in the results above, while a situation where the election is viewed as illegitimate — a real possibility — was another of the worst-case scenarios, according to the panel.

Yet no matter what happens, we can probably expect the stock market to pull through with minimal damage. As I wrote about in June, the markets have not reflected the recession at large, with the S&P 500 recovering practically all of its losses since late February (even after a shaky start to September). To get more clarity on why this is happening, we gave the experts a series of explanations for the seeming disconnect between the stock market and the rest of the economy, asking them to assign each option an importance rating from 0 to 1, where 1 was the most important.

Why is the stock market doing so well in a recession?

Leading explanations for the stock market’s continued growth, even as the rest of the economy is in a recession

Explanation Weight
Expansionary policies by the Federal Reserve 0.35
Some companies (e.g., tech) are benefiting from the pandemic 0.18
Savings has increased among the wealthy, who then invest 0.12
It’s irrational, and the bubble will eventually burst 0.12
It’s normal for the market to not correlate with the larger economy 0.11
Investors are optimistic about post-pandemic growth 0.10
Other 0.02

Respondents were asked to assign each category a weight from 0 to 1, and all responses had to sum to 1.

Source: FIVETHIRTYEIGHT/IGM COVID-19 ECONOMIC SURVEY

Although some credence was given to the notion that surging tech companies were keeping the market afloat, economists clearly think the Federal Reserve bears the single-most responsibility for the stock market’s rally. “Clearly, the panel believes that the ultra-low interest rates and targeted injections of liquidity into the economy have had a major effect on the stock market,” said Allan Timmermann, an economist at the University of California, San Diego who has also been consulting with FiveThirtyEight on the survey.

There was also a small — though not nonexistent — weight given to the possibility that this is all just an irrational bubble in prices, poised to burst.

Perhaps it is telling, however, that the lowest-weighted option available was genuine optimism on the part of investors. As we’ve said, the stock market is not the economy.

Looking at the whole picture, most economists think the U.S. could have done a better job at initially controlling the virus through more aggressive lockdowns, which in turn would have landed the country in a better economic place. Lawmakers also still have choices that can materially affect the economy’s trajectory throughout 2021 — and so do voters. Just how much we second-guess those decisions, though, remains to be seen.

22 Sep 16:44

The Feed: Abbi Merriss, A New Livery, And More

by Julia Spalding

Bluebeard (653 Virginia Ave., 317-686-1580) is hosting a French cooking class with chef and co-owner Abbi Merriss on October 8. All of your ingredients will be boxed up for easy pick-up on the day of the event. To maintain social distancing, the entire event will take place via Zoom, and your kit will include three bottles of Domaine de Beaurenard for pairing with each course. Winemaker Victor Coulon will join the chat to introduce and provide tasting notes for each bottle.

Round Two of the silent auction benefiting chef Greg Hardesty is on, and you can find an enormous variety of auction items to bid on, ranging from from a year of free Shapiro’s to a cooking class at Circle City Sweets to a Hope Plumbing gift card. It’s a testament once again to the deep influence that Hardesty, who is battling leukemia, has had on the city’s culinary tradition.

Cunningham Restaurant Group opened a Livery in Noblesville’s Hamilton Town Center yesterday.

Paramount Schools of Excellence is hosting a Bring Back the Chefs series to honor area chefs like The Wine Market’s Tracey Couillard, The Alexander’s Eli Laidlaw, Bluebeard’s Abbi Merriss, Lil Dumplings’s Carlos Salazar, and Rooster’s Kitchen’s Ross Katz, all of whom are on deck for the next five months. The intimate indoor dinners will be limited to 24 guests, with four diners for every 8-foot table and a healthy six feet between each table.

Bibibop, a national chain of fast-casual, healthy Asian food, has already opened one location in Carmel at 365 West 116th Street, and it has another on the way in Fishers. The light-fare restaurant piles bowls with fresh and crunchy ingredients, much like Korean bibimbap that inspired the name. Diners can customize their selections from spicy kimchi to corn to shredded cabbage, with a choice of protein. It’s all behind glass, with masked and gloved staff, a perfect takeout food by its very nature.

McCormick & Schmick’s (110 N. Illinois St., 317-631-9500) and Chart House Restaurants, in collaboration with J. Lohr Vineyards, are putting on a new kind of socially distant coursed dinner they’re calling “Touching Lives: A Virtual Wine Dinner for Two” on Friday, October 9. The Zoom-hosted event will pair J. Lohr wines with each of the four courses, and Cynthia Lohr will be present to talk about the wines and the significance of the Touching Lives Program, Lohr’s tribute to her mother who passed away from breast cancer. Tickets are $189, and guests can pick up their dinners 45 minutes before the event from McCormick & Schmick’s. The hearty tasting menu will feature a salad course and three different proteins.

The post The Feed: Abbi Merriss, A New Livery, And More appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

22 Sep 15:18

Inside Ed Rudisell’s Pandemic Nightmare

by Julia Spalding

When restaurateur Ed Rudisell told us in May that half of the restaurants in Indy could close permanently within a year because of COVID, many people thought he was the boy who cried wolf. Less than four months later, two of his restaurants—Black Market and Rook—have joined a long list of local spots that couldn’t survive a shutdown and then reduced customer capacity, and shuttered their doors for good.

How are you doing?
I would say up and down, but there haven’t been too many ups lately. It’s crushing. I can’t sleep. I can’t think about anything else. How do I lay all these people off? How do I destroy their livelihoods? How do I clean all this up by myself? How do I liquidate everything? Who do I contact in the government? How can I get answers to my questions? It’s suffocating.

That’s a lot. How are you getting through the day?
I’m now the proud owner of antidepressants, Xanax, and all kinds of stuff. They’ve just loaded me up because I can’t get through the day anymore. It’s gotten to be too much. I’ve never felt like this in my life.

Is there any relief at all now that the closings are over?
No. We’ve been here for a decade and even though we’re closed, we still have invoices to pay. We still have utilities on because we still have to be in the building. I work 70 hours a week at Siam Square and don’t have time to liquidate a restaurant, much less two. Nor can we afford to pay someone to come in and do it. I’ve got to figure out how to close down 10 years of accumulated paperwork, chairs, tables, kitchen equipment, and tons of small wares and plates. It would take me weeks to do just a third of all of this. Where do we even start? We’re not just bleeding, we’re hemorrhaging badly. The only way to stop it was to lock the doors. At least then we can try to figure out how to make the bleeding stop.

What’s the situation with your landlords?
Honestly, the situation at Rook is that we are in default. We’re working out what happens to the equipment, but I suspect the landlord will end up owning it. At Black Market, we don’t owe the landlord money, but it’s the government we have to deal with on the debt. And then there’s all of our equipment. I don’t have anywhere to put two giant 14-foot communal tables, but I have no use for them. They were extremely expensive. I hate to chop them up, but if I don’t get an offer soon that’s exactly what’s going to happen to both of them.

You had four restaurants. How did you decide which ones to close?
We picked the ones where the money was draining the fastest. We had blown completely through our PPP loans. Then we had to get economic development loans and were burning that money at a rate that, if we didn’t close when we did, we would have doubled our debt load by December and still been closed by December 15. None of us really got a reprieve on rent. We didn’t get a reprieve on insurance premiums. We didn’t get a reprieve on anything. Every month, even when we’re closed, we’re still paying out $10 to $15,000 just on base-level utilities and overhead.

What are you hearing about potential help from the government?
Tax credits. Congress wants to keep talking about tax credits. That shit doesn’t help restaurants. Restaurants are the equivalent of living paycheck to paycheck. We are spending this week’s sales on last week’s inventory. We’re always gambling the future. When we get shut down, the bills still come for three or four weeks. And most of them are auto-drafted. Our alcohol invoices are auto-drafted. A lot of our food invoices are auto-drafted. The day after we closed this spring, everybody hit our accounts. All of our accounts were in the red the very next day. Usually we have two or three weeks to put some sales into the bank and get ready to pay those invoices. But when you cut us off completely from our revenue, everybody still has their hand out saying, We’re pulling $8,000 out of your account tomorrow, and I know there’s only $2,000 in it. Then guess what? The bank slams you with charges. They charge you every day your account is negative, plus all the overdraft fees. It just pours fuel on the fire. There’s a lot of talking points out there, and there’s a lot of politicians and agencies saying they’re here to help small businesses get through this so that we come out of it stronger than ever. But out of the other side of their mouth, they’re saying, By the way, don’t forget you owe me money.

How do you feel about how Mayor Hogsett and Governor Holcomb are dealing with small businesses during COVID?
Right now, I think the restaurant industry is being scapegoated. We have all these restrictions, but no one can explain to me where the data set’s coming from about big spreads in restaurants. The Inferno Room is open, but we’re at 50 percent capacity, and we have to close by midnight. Do they think people can only get COVID after midnight? We don’t really even get any business until 10 or 10:30 p.m. Then we have last call an hour later. At midnight we’re finally starting to put a little bit of sales up on the board and we have to tell everybody to get out or we could get fined and shut down. It makes no sense to me. You can still go to church. Kids are in school. We still have sports. We still have Colts games. We can still have all of this stuff, but the bar-and-restaurant industry has been blamed and taken the brunt of it, even though we’re the ones least financially prepared to handle that kind of situation.

What could Hogsett and Holcomb have done differently?
They could have stepped up and shown some real leadership in the beginning. Everybody floundered for months and months on masks while this virus spread like wildfire. It was a long time until anybody got any sort of a real threat of repercussions for not wearing one. We have to wear them. We have to sweat with this thing on our faces all day long, but if somebody comes into our business without a mask, Holcomb put it on us to tell them to please put their mask on. We have literally had customers say, “I don’t have to. The governor says you can’t enforce it.” So, yeah, we’re a private business and we can absolutely enforce it, but then that puts the onus on us. Now we have to be an asshole to somebody that’s a guest of ours. Why should it be our responsibility to govern? I’m not pleased with a lot of leadership on either side.

There’s a lot of fear about what the fall might look like with COVID. How are you feeling about that?
Well, numbers are shooting back up and patios are going away. Heated patios might help, but those things cost money and nobody is pulling money in. Our cash flow is nonexistent. Our limited capacities on the inside don’t help. We have an 8 percent profit margin when we’re at 100 percent capacity, so when the government limits us to 50 percent capacity, they’re literally telling us we’re not allowed to make money. But nobody wants to give us a hand. Everybody is playing politics because it’s an election year.

What were the last two weeks of business like at Rook and Black Market?
Turnout was absolutely insane every single night. Sold out. Sold out. Sold out. And the frustrating part is that if we could have had two days of that kind of business every week since COVID, the restaurants wouldn’t be closed. I’m not even saying we needed that much business every single day; just two days at that level every week for the last five or six months would have saved us. Once we announced we were closing, we couldn’t keep up. We had people waiting 45 minutes to get into Rook. Forty-five minutes! We haven’t been on a 45-minute wait since the first year we were open. And it’s like, Where have you been? If you could have come in two weeks ago, you wouldn’t have waited for a table and we would all be in a better position. Everybody talks big. Support local, eat local. We’re going to lose our restaurants. But at the end of the day, those people didn’t show up. We were doing $400 a day in sales. That doesn’t even pay for labor. So, it’s cool that people still love us. But it also pisses you off because if everybody had paid attention when I was screaming in May, things would be different now. I live on the south side and when I drive by a Chick-fil-A, I see that you can’t even get into their damned parking lot because there are so many cars. People line up to get a fried chicken sandwich from a chain, while we’re over here begging them to come out a couple of times.

Knowing what you know now, is there anything you would have done differently earlier in the pandemic?
Honestly, we probably would have wrapped things up sooner at Black Market. We got deeper into other loans after the PPP, and that is something I regret. But I really thought we were going to make it. I thought we were immune to it because we had a good concept. And even though we weren’t packed, people were still coming in. But then we started doing projections for the third quarter heading into fall and realized we were beyond sinking. We were already underwater. If you’re burning $300 or $400 a day at multiple locations, you’re burning $1,000 a day. We came to a point where in two and a half months, we burned through $100,000. Gone. Just gone. We didn’t buy anything. We have nothing to show for it but debt. And I hate debt. The reason we’ve stuck around so long is because we stayed small. We did things the right way. I don’t borrow. I could have a fancier dining room and do all these other things, but I just don’t like being in debt. In January, we had no debt. Now we’re drowning in it. And there’s no way to know when it will end. If somebody could say, This will all be over by February 1 and COVID won’t be an issue anymore, I would have begged, borrowed, or stolen whatever I needed to get through to February 1. But we have no guarantee that this thing is ever ending. It may be a seasonal thing we’ve all got to deal with from now on.

Do you have a Plan B if you have to close your other restaurants?
I’m 44 years old. Other than two years in another business, I’ve been working in hospitality since I was 16 years old. There is no Plan B. The plan is to try and keep Siam Square and The Inferno Room rolling as hard as we can for as long as we can. People keep asking if Siam Square and The Inferno Room are safeI don’t think anybody could say they’re safe. Some restaurants are better off than others, but very few are making money. I have people pulling up to Siam Square and thinking we are still busy. Four cars don’t make us busy. It makes me busy because I don’t have any employees to help take the bags out to them, but it doesn’t make the restaurant busy because we have 28 empty tables on the inside.

What are you hearing from your colleagues in the restaurant business?
I have several very high-profile friends in hospitality around the world because of my podcast, Shift Drink. They’re known for having some of the best bars in the world, and I’ve been told in confidence that they aren’t going to reopen. They either avoid media interviews entirely, or they put on a happy face and say they’re going to come out of this as best they can. But behind closed doors most of them don’t know how the hell they’ll ever make it back open.

Why are the risks for closure so high now?
Because the loans are just now starting to run out. You and I talked about this exact thing in May. I said that in the fall, the money will run out. And it is. Even though things opened back up again, they’re starting to close because the money is gone, so unemployment numbers will go back up. We’re already seeing a second wave of unemployment. I’m not some genius economist, but it was easy for anybody to take a step back and see how bad this could get. Independent restaurants make up the bulk of restaurants in this country. If we all start closing and laying people off, we’re going to see something that we haven’t seen in our lifetimes. I would never have thought we’d be looking at a second Depression, but if there isn’t a solution soon, I don’t know any independents that will make it through the next nine months.

What can supporters of local food do today to help save the industry?
There are three things I’m telling people to do right now. One, just wear a mask when you go into a restaurant. Please don’t argue with people over it. We don’t want to wear them either, but let’s do what’s necessary to stop the spread of this virus. Two, go to the places you love because they may not be around much longer if you don’t. And I don’t mean go once every five months. Go in as often as you can because it’s what’s keeping us alive. And the third thing I’m really begging people to do is get involved with a grassroots organization called Thirst Group. It’s working to save the restaurant industry by pressuring insurance companies to make good on their promise to pay out for work stoppages. Not one single insurance company has paid out for business stoppage during the pandemic. Not one. And people don’t realize how much we pay a month for insurance. It’s not $600 a month. It’s thousands and thousands of dollars every month. And that’s to cover us if we are forced to close down by outside circumstances. So, if the city cuts through our sewer line and has to shut us down, the insurance pays out what our revenue would have been so we can pay our employees and the restaurant can pay its bills, and everybody stays open. But they added ambiguous verbiage and won’t pay out for pandemics. Thirst Group estimates that the commercial insurance industry is sitting on around $8.5 billion in cash reserves, and if they were to pay out the claims that have been denied to restaurants and hospitality businesses, that total payout would be in the neighborhood of $3.5 to $3.6 billion. Even if they paid these claims, the commercial insurers would still be left with $5 billion in reserves. That’s billions with a B. Yet nobody is getting paid. So I’m really encouraging everyone to go to the website to sign up and see how they can help. You don’t have to work in restaurants to volunteer for the cause. I would love to do more myself with them, but I’m working too many hours and trying to liquidate two restaurants. It’s one of the few things that could really save the industry.

Do you have any predictions about who might be next to close locally?
Honestly, there’s no way to know and that’s the problem. We’re all in the same boat and it could be anybody. It could be the place that you think is killing it. But you don’t know what their rent is. You don’t know what kind of relationship they have with their landlords, what their tax or debt situation is. You have no idea. It could be a little mom and pop. It could be 200 mom and pops. Or it could be Applebee’s. It’s going to be across the board. This isn’t going away. It’s just the beginning.

 

The post Inside Ed Rudisell’s Pandemic Nightmare appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

17 Sep 19:42

In Memory: Bryan Fonseca

by Daniel S. Comiskey

Another body blow has been dealt to an arts community reeling from the devastation caused by the pandemic, an arts community still processing the death of arts philanthropist extraordinaire Christel DeHaan and retired theater pioneer Ron Spencer.

On September 16, we lost Bryan Fonseca.

A founder of both the Phoenix Theatre and Fonseca Theatre, Bryan was relentless in his desire to create new work for the stage. When other theaters took their summers off, Bryan packed his with programming. When other theaters anchored their seasons with the familiar, Bryan prided himself on offering the unfamiliar. When Bryan was ousted from artistic leadership after decades at the helm of one theater, he quickly found a way to create another.

Along the way, Bryan built careers, nurtured talent, pissed people off, flew off the handle (I won’t go into the time he tried to have me barred from his theater), found solutions to seemingly impossible problems, and created, created, created. He was steadfast in his desire to bring new work to the stage, to introduce audiences to different viewpoints, and to push for inclusion and diversity—not because of outside pressure, but because of an understanding that our world is better when walls are torn down.

I’m not going to pretend to have known him nearly as well as the artistic army that populates Indianapolis. Those in closer orbit all have their stories, and social media is quickly filling up with testimonies to his influence. But as a playwright, I had my first local professional production at the Phoenix thanks to a short in its annual holiday show. As a critic, I reviewed more shows at the Phoenix during Bryan’s years than I did any other arts group in the city. That was partly selfishness on my part because, as an audience member, I was always excited about what I might see there.

Even when a show’s high goals weren’t achieved, there was always something fresh and exciting happening on the stages that he oversaw. His pre-COVID lineup for Fonseca Theatre was no different. There, we all knew he’d be working on a shoestring. But we also knew that shoestring would lead to thought-provoking productions.

So what do we do now? In a just world, we’d be gathering at the theater and listening to stories. We’d laugh and cry together, and magnify the magic that Bryan created. Then we’d take what we could of Bryan’s fire, lighting our artistic torches and carrying that light into new corners of the city.

I’ll pay tribute by listening to one of Bryan’s musical obsessions. No, not Christmas music. He loved holiday tunes, and if it helps, by all means break out those records.

I’m talking about John Prine. One of my favorite Phoenix Theatre shows was “Pure Prine.” Clearly a labor of love for Bryan, it was an original production that I firmly believe, if not for rights issues, would have been performed at theaters around the country by now.

In his song “Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow),” Prine sings:

You can gaze out the window, get mad and get madder

Throw your hands in the air, say “What does it matter?”

But it don’t do no good to get angry

So help me, I know

For a heart stained in anger grows weak and grows bitter

You’ll become your own prisoner as you watch yourself sit there

Wrapped up in a trap of your very own

Chain of sorrow

The challenge for our arts community is not to get wrapped up in that trap. To process this great sorrow and these tremendous losses, but not to get locked in place by them. Let’s remember and be inspired by the fact that, when Bryan Fonseca hit bottom, he could have gotten wrapped up in that chain of sorrow Prine described.

Instead, he created a new theater.

 

The post In Memory: Bryan Fonseca appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

16 Sep 20:27

California Syrah: top Santa Barbara County wines

by Chris Wilson
Santa Barbara County Syrah – Ballard Canyon AVA
Ballard Canyon in Santa Barbara County is California's 'Syrah capital'.

QUICK LINKS

Individual AVA analysis and top California Syrah from:
Sonoma County, Mendocino County, Napa County & Sierra Foothills, Monterey County, Paso Robles & San Luis Obispo


At the southern end of California’s Central Coast, Santa Barbara County is an epicentre for expressive, nuanced Syrah. Exposure to the Pacific Ocean and the Transverse Ranges provide insulation from the desert-like conditions surrounding the region.

With 485ha of vines, Syrah is the third most planted grape variety in Santa Barbara County, after Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.


Scroll down for Matthew Luczy’s top-scoring Santa Barbara County Syrahs


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Matthew Luczy’s top Santa Barbara County Syrahs to try

The first nine wines below were tasted by Matthew Luczy in December 2020. The other wines were tasted on previous occasions.

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{"wineId":"46383","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"46384","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"46385","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"41539","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"46386","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"46387","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"46388","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"40958","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"40959","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"41538","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"41550","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"32479","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"40961","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"32091","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"40960","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"41536","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"41537","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"32965","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"32485","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{}

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The post California Syrah: top Santa Barbara County wines appeared first on Decanter.

16 Sep 17:15

The Definitive List Of Indy’s 48 Best Pizza Joints

by Julia Spalding

Indy’s obsession with peel-to-plate dining means hot, cheesy goodness is always within reach. Since there’s no better time than now to indulge in the original carryout model, we rounded up our favorite pizzerias and saved the last slice for you. 

Pizzology

(Wood-fired)

The thin-crust Neapolitan-style pizzas arrive lightly charred around the edges, with locally sourced ingredients adorning such favorites as the homemade sausage (Smoking Goose protein, peppadew peppers, fennel, and onion) and margherita (crushed San Marzano tomatoes, dollops of mozzarella, and fresh basil). Less glam than Pizzology’s short-lived second location on Mass Ave, the original dining room reflects the nondescript strip mall where it resides. 13190 Hazel Dell Pkwy., Carmel, 317-844-2550

Perillo’s Pizzeria

(Sicilian, New York–style)

Perillo’s looks like the kind of restaurant where the protagonist of a teen drama would work on weekends: a cute little Italian joint in a historic brick building with a quaint adjoining patio. The housemade dough is the star of both the bubbly hand-tossed and pillowy Sicilian deep dish, both of which get baked on stone decks. They only have two sizes: 18-inch whole pies or enormous traditional New York slices. If you’re doing the keto thing, they’ve got you covered with an almond-flour and chia-seed crust, and a gluten-free cauliflower-parmesan option. Owners Damiano and Meredith Perillo (he’s a native of Palermo) and their business partners put that real Italian love into these pizzas, and it’s a love you can taste with options like an extra drizzle of olive oil or a few dollops of ricotta. 5 S. Broadway St., North Salem, 765-676-4171

Two Guys Pies

(Hand-tossed)

The freeform pizzas at Two Guys Pies are cut into ergonomic strips, which make it that much easier to stuff a slice of Buffalo chicken, Some Like It Hot, or Carnivore’s Delight pizza into your mouth. Two Guys got its name from the owner’s newborn grandsons, and its cafe decor is just as darling. 55 E. Main St., Danville, 317-745-6434

Ale Emporium

(Tavern-style)

As famous for its trademarked Hermanaki wings and its beer selection as its popular pies, this perennially packed sports bar first opened by Marc Luros in 1982 runs the pizza gamut from “skinny” thin-crust pizzas to a puffy hand-tossed version to a lighter-than-typical Chicago pan–style with the cheese on top instead of the sauce. And while toppings tend toward the traditional, a few curveballs such as smoked chicken, chorizo, and capicola allow for more creative choose-your-own pizzas. Pepperoni-stuffed breadsticks are almost as big as calzones—a meal on their own with a wedge salad or another round of suds. 8617 Allisonville Rd., 317-842-1333; 11501 Geist Pavilion Dr., Fishers, 317-288-7394; 997 E. County Line Rd., Greenwood, 317-300-1560

Big Lug Canteen

(Wood-fired)

There’s a lot going on at Eddie Sahm’s Nora gastro brewery that perpetually rolls out insanely tempting new food groups. The brief section of the menu that describes the day’s wood-fired personal pizzas could go unnoticed, but it would be a shame to miss out on thin-crust wonders like a dill pickle pizza squiggled with ranch and a Mexican pizza dressed Taco Bell Grande–style with Big Lug’s cloned Taco Bell hot sauce. 1435 E. 86th St., 317-672-3503

Diavola

DiavolaPhoto by Tony Valainis

Diavola

(Wood-fired)

With its swank dining room, top-shelf ingredients, and well-edited wine list, Diavola is not your nonna’s pizza parlor. What it is? A sultry yet relaxed date spot, a foodie destination, and a takeout hub for much of SoBro. Start by sharing a plate of the decadently creamy burrata and a quartino of vino before getting to the hard part: choosing which of the 13-inch pizzas, each perfect for two, to share. Our choice: the Pera Pesto (pesto, fresh mozzarella, pear, bacon, and gorgonzola), a distinctive combo that rivals any pizza in town. 1134 E. 54th St., 317-820-5100

Greek’s Pizzeria

(Hand-tossed)

Among Indiana-based pizza chains, Greek’s is king. Founded in Valparaiso in 1969, the franchise has expanded to 30 locations throughout the state on the strength of its traditional hand-tossed pies. Heavy on just about everything—the gooey mozzarella, the curly pepperoni, the sugary marinara sauce, the garlic butter–brushed crust—these pizzas aren’t even a little diet-friendly. But they’re exactly what customers have come to expect in Greek’s dark dining rooms busy with red-and-white checkered tablecloths. You don’t come for the subtlety. Multiple locations

Byrne’s Grilled Pizza

(Thin-crust)

Open for five years, this tiny parlor near the corner of 56th and Illinois streets already feels as essential to Butler-Tarkington as Bulldogs basketball games. Originally a food truck, Byrne’s sears its thin-crust beauties on a gas grill, a technique that might sound like a gimmick until you bite into a slice. Crisp and deliciously charred, the pies tend to be lightly sauced and generously seasoned with oregano. During the pandemic, Byrne’s food truck has been driving around the city delivering free pies to needy families. The ’za may be thin, but the community spirit runs deep. 5615 N. Illinois St., 317-737-2056

Napolese

(Neapolitan-style)

One of the restaurants under the Patachou brand, this stone-hearth pizzeria operates out of three beautifully designed spaces, serving some of the most grown-up pizza in town. The menu rotates seasonally, which means locally produced ingredients get a lot of love, built into delicate, bubble-crusted pies like the Broken Yolk, margherita, and the perennial favorite sausage-and-mushroom Hamaker’s Corner, named for the former business next to the Meridian-Kessler flagship. Elliott’s Pie, another best seller, is topped with potatoes, pancetta, and gorgonzola. For an added $4, your pie will arrive “Rachel’s style,” crowned with a lightly dressed arugula that is a treat in itself. The Fashion Mall, 317-705-0765; 114 E. 49th St., 317-925-0765; 30 S. Meridian St., 317-635-0765

 Bob’s Tu Your Door Pizza

(Hand-tossed)

Strictly delivery and carryout, Bob’s Tu Your Door serves up crowd-pleasing pies that aren’t flashy or trendy but reliably hit the spot. Party-cut pizzas are built on a bready, pressed-into-the-pan crust with a light layer of housemade sauce and old-standby toppings (like finely ground mild sausage and thin-sliced pepperoni) generously spread to the edge. A key layer of mozz holds it all together for a sturdy pie that arrives looking good and doesn’t fall apart after a few bites. Along with a short list of toppings, meal add-ons like rib tips, chicken wings, and breadsticks fill out the rest of Bob’s short-and-sweet menu. They’ve had this pizza thing down since 1961, thankyouverymuch, why make it complicated? Multiple locations

Brozinni pizza

BrozinniPhoto by Tony Valainis

Brozinni

(New York–style)

A lot of pizzerias tout their pies as New York–style, and southside standout Brozinni gets extra points for the black-and-white deli cookies at the register and the breathless, brusque (at least for Indiana) way someone answers the phone. But authenticity is still all about the crust and quality ingredients. Brozinni shines here, too, making its own dough and marinara, for which it sources tomatoes and mozzarella from old-timers Stanislaus and Grande Cheese Company, respectively. The top edge of each slice pillows up outrageously high into chewy, holdable knobs. Toppings stick close to the classics, with the exception of Caesar dressing and Frank’s Red Hot as sauce options. The cheese pizza is relatively the most decadent choice, bubbling hot with a thick blanket of that exceptional whole-milk mozzarella. The counter sells by the slice for lunch on weekdays and is otherwise carryout-only while the bare-bones dining room is closed for renovations. 8810 S. Emerson Ave., 317-865-0991

LaSpada’s Pizzeria

(Western New York State)

Customers can get a tasty introduction to the lesser-known Western New York–style pie at this homey Plainfield pizzeria that Buffalo-area transplants Joe and Rachel LaSpada opened in 2017. The cheese on these crispy, yeasty Grandma pies stretches to eye-popping proportions, with toppings that include all the standard meats as well as pulled pork and barbecue sauce, or Buffalo-style chicken striped with hot sauce. 2368 E. Main St., Plainfield, 317-268-6169

Frank’s Place

(Hand-tossed)

A fixture on Danville’s courthouse square since 1999, this stately restaurant with gloriously high ceilings and its own posh bar comes by its Italian cred honestly. The original owner immigrated to the States in the ’70s, and eventually Hendricks County, by way of pizza shops in Pennsylvania and the Glendale Mall Luca Pizza. Second-generation owners Michael and Rachel Russo have punctuated the menu of “ensalata” and “secondi” with high-lipped pizzas sliced into eight pieces, regardless of the size. The stuffed pizza is a credit to the double-crust genre, its innards packed with cheese and its savory top crust well-oiled and with herbs. 33 S. Washington St., Danville, 317-718-1146

Bazbeaux

(Indy Gourmet)

Indy’s 1986 introduction to gourmet pizza came in the form of a pint-sized shack that backed up to the Broad Ripple canal, with a deck jammed full of Bartles & Jaymes sippers hungry for artichoke pizzas and other exotica. The crusts—white, wheat, or gluten-free—are crisp and sturdy enough to support a roster of chunky toppings and the standard scrim of bubbly mozzarella and provolone. It’s fun to experiment with ingredients like housemade chorizo, lump crab, and Smoking Goose capicola, but you can never fail ordering one of the specialty pizzas, like the pesto-based Basilica and the luscious Quattro Formaggio, with warm dollops of ricotta among its four cheeses. 811 E. Westfield Blvd., 317-255-5711; 333 Massachusetts Ave., 317-636-7662; 111 W. Main St., Carmel, 317-848-4488

 Puccini’s Pizza & Pasta

(Indy Gourmet)

Nearly 30 years of pizza know-how and creativity are baked into the slightly sweet, buttery crust at this innovative institution that founder Don Main and partners (including brother Tom, now of Tinker Street) expanded across Central Indiana and Kentucky. Individual 8-inch pies are a good way to sample award-winning topping combos such as the now-legendary Campfire with a savory-sweet blend of smoked sausage, onion marmalade, and gorgonzola. Or how about the Twice Baked with tender sliced potatoes, bacon, gouda, and an herbaceous buttermilk dressing? Calzones and pastas stand up to the pies at these funky pizzerias decorated with artist Chris Pyle’s surrealist murals, but generous salads with housemade dressings are the best way to complete a Puccini’s meal. Multiple locations

Amore Pizzeria & Ristorante

Amore Pizzeria & RistorantePhoto by Tony Valainis

Amore Pizzeria & Ristorante

(New York–style)

New York pizza—without the attitude. Brothers Daniel and Christopher Simone have faithfully recreated the look and offerings of the ubiquitous full-service slice shops that dot nearly every neighborhood and street corner of their former Long Island home at this friendly Zionsville storefront, where loyal patrons are known by name. 41 Boone Village Center, Zionsville, 317-773-1609

Pizza King

(St. Louis–style)

Indiana’s iconic restaurant chain may divide along a line of business models that brothers Wendell and Bob Swartz created just a year after opening their first family-friendly pizzeria in Lafayette back in 1956. But the formula, vivid in the memory of most native Hoosiers, is largely the same at its nearly 50 locations throughout the state. Irresistible cracker-thin crusts get full coverage with a slightly sweet sauce, chopped toppings, and just the right amount of a less-gooey-than-usual cheese. Pies are cut into squares, so you’ll likely lose count of how many slices you’ve devoured (though no one will tell). Multiple locations

Hilltop Tavern

(Tavern-style)

The Hilltop is a true neighborhood pub, surrounded by nothing but modest working- and middle-class homes, and an unsubtle memento mori vibe with Anderson Cemetary across the street. Its pizzas are the category definition of pub pizza: hand-tossed with fistfuls of ingredients, draped in thick cheese, and party-cut for sharing. Even the pepperoni will be slightly domed with cheese and meat, which is ideal at a bar where beer comes by the bucket. Chain pizza restaurants don’t stand a chance with pizza this good and this close to so many eastsiders. 6500 E. 10th St., 317-353-8165

Greek Tony’s Pizza and Sub Shop

(Hand-tossed, Thin-crust, Deep Dish)

Since 1984, Greek Tony’s has been slinging perhaps the best pizza on 116th Street, a commendable feat to survive 36 years of pizza chain creep in the Carmel area. Some magical thing happens between their scratch dough and hot conveyor oven that creates a deep golden, crunchy crust with a tender center, even before you get to Sal’s Spicy Pie, a combination of Italian sausage, hot giardiniera, and pineapple that is the best kind of surprise. 1732 E. 116th St., Carmel, 317-846-1200

 Bad Dad Brewing Co.

(Wood-fired, Detroit-style)

The surprise at the brewery Derek and Patrick Howard operate in the back of dad Barry’s popular restaurant isn’t so much that they’re producing award-winning, easy-drinking IPAs and Belgians in sleepy Fairmount, but that they’re pairing them with buttoned-up pizzas rivaling the best in the state. A real-deal, 1,000-degree oven from Italy, plus one recently purchased from Sweden, produce beautifully risen, slightly scorched pies that channel Naples (the Capi), Brooklyn (the Red Hook and Greenpoint), St. Louis (with smoked paprika and Provel), and Detroit (the recently added pan-style Motown). The house Fougase bread baked in that oven is worth the hour drive up Indiana 13 alone, and an impressive buildout and expansion this summer means you’re more likely to find a seat once you get there. 407 W. Washington St., Fairmount, 765-948-4193

South of Chicago

South of ChicagoPhoto by Tony Valainis

South of Chicago

(Deep Dish, Hand-tossed)

In an unassuming Greenwood strip mall, South of Chicago’s owner, Edward Cobb, slings deep-dish pies that rival any of the big-name Chicago exports. If you want something diet-friendly, go for a hand-tossed pizza. But if you’ve made the pilgrimage here, you’ve come for a heavenly, thick-as-a-brick slice. Built on a buttery crust with a crisp exterior and delicate, chewy interior, Cobb’s pies get a balanced application of cheese and toppings, a thick ladling of sauce, and then a heavy sprinkling of parm and oregano. Consider going full Chi-town and order yours with Italian beef imported from the 312. 2550 S. State Rd. 135, Greenwood, 317-534-0424

So Italian

(Hand-tossed)

Slightly misshapen pizzas tell the tale of homemade, handmade pies that are baked to order at a busy restaurant—and So Italian is back and certainly busy. Even the simplest pies achieve a kind of pizza nirvana, with pepperoni baking hot and fast in traditional deck ovens, crisping the edges of each cupped slice and turning them into sacramental vessels of grease. While specialty pies like the Chipotle Pizza (which tastes like an open-face quesadilla) are popular with Brownsburg locals, there is no shame in opting for the simple bliss of a plain pep or cheese. 515 E. Main St., Brownsburg, 317-858-4777

Bridge’s Craft Pizza & Wine Bar

(Wood-fired)

Chef Sal Fernandez, a Midwest transplant from Napa, oversees the bustling performance kitchen at downtown Greencastle’s rustic Italian restaurant near the DePauw University campus. Alongside his cacio e pepe and local melon salad with prosciutto and feta, Fernandez offers five wood-fired pizzas, cooked to leopard-spotted perfection—thin, chewy, kissed with char—in an oven that hails from Naples, Italy. 19 N. Indiana St., Greencastle, 765-653-0021

Pearl Street Pizzeria & Pub

(Tavern-style)

It’s a tale of two pizzerias at Pearl Street’s beloved original location and its recently opened one. The alley-side spot downtown is the quintessential gritty hang for lovers of classic crunchy-edged bar pies and the bar’s late-night regulars. A more genteel vibe governs the suburban spot that serves Geist-area families a homier, hand-tossed pie and Chicago pan-style pizzas. 65 E. Pearl St., 317-638-3110; 10462 Olio Rd., Fishers, 317-336-8703

Pi Indy

(Neapolitan-style)

The best way to enjoy slices of this nicely charred artisan pizza is to find the Pi Indy truck, an old freightliner shipping car converted with full-length windows, and join the parking-lot party. If you can’t wait for the next Instagram post, grab a sweet and savory Figgy Piggy Pi or an anything-but-basic margherita on an elephant ear–like crust with a nod to Naples at their stall in Sun King’s Carmel distillery, where you can up your game with a patio cocktail. 351 Monon Blvd., Carmel, 317-903-2612

 Rockstone Pizza Pub

Rockstone Pizza PubPhoto by Tony Valainis

 Rockstone Pizza Pub

(Wood-fired)

Among the many, many pizza joints in Fishers, none can claim the pedigree of Rockstone, the sole pizza establishment in the multi-branch family tree of Sahm’s Restaurant Group. Here, topping choices go far beyond the usual to include avocado and roasted shrimp, and pies emerge from the wood-fired oven with slightly charred crusts that are thin yet sturdy. That’s important when you order the Deluxious, with its thick blanket of mozzarella and generous amounts of pepperoni, sausage, and veggie shards; the popular Buff Chick, scattered with roasted poultry and a kicky sauce; or the Papa Spinaka, piled with pesto, cremini mushrooms, goat cheese, and fresh spinach. 11501 Allisonville Rd., Fishers, 317-288-9761

Some Guys Pizza, Pasta, Grill

(Indy Gourmet)

One of a handful of long-standing local pizzerias that reimagined what goes on top of a crust, Keith and Nancy Carey’s wittily named spot has been drawing pizza fans for over three decades with a tender, thin crust and such combos as the Bomb with generous helpings of both meat and veggies, the Cajun with local Claus’s smoked sausage and shrimp, and the popular house artichoke with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes. 6235 Allisonville Rd., 317-257-1364; 12552 Gray Rd., Carmel, 317-706-8888

Vito Provolone’s

(Hand-tossed)

You might not think of this southside stalwart trattoria as a pizza place. But the destination known for Italian classics like shrimp diablo and housemade vodka sauce arose from a family-run pizza chain, Pasquale’s, which once had five locations in greater Indianapolis as well as franchises. All of the family’s restaurants are gone except Vito’s, which still serves the same hand-tossed pizza in palm-sized slices. 8031 S. Meridian St., 317-888-4867

The NY Slice

(New York–style)

Born as a food truck, The NY Slice set up shop in the shell of a fast-food joint in Greenwood Park Mall’s outlot. It’s the rare pizzeria where you can get a single, topped-to-order brick-oven slice in a drive-through. Conveniently, you could realistically eat one of these tidy folded triangles one-handed. 1201 Greenwood Park East Dr., 317-877-1009, Greenwood

The Nook by Northside

(Wood-fired)

Nestled into a storefront next to its sister restaurants Northside Social and Northside Kitchenette, The Nook is exactly that: a tiny, tucked-away gem. Grab a banquette inside and settle in with a glass from the curated wine list, then think pizza. The pies here—dubbed “artisan American style”—are 12-inch Neapolitan-esque beauties, their crusts basted with garlic oil. You can create your own pie or go with one of the specialties, like “The Nook,” laden with fennel sausage, nuggets of red wine–braised mushrooms, pickled red onion, and smoked bacon. 6513 N. College Ave., 317-253-0450

Giorgio’s Pizza

Giorgio’s PizzaPhoto by Tony Valainis

 Giorgio’s Pizza

(New York–style)

They may argue authenticity, but East Coast transplants used to eating their slices standing up have found a source for chewy, lovably floppy New York slices for three decades at the storefront spot Giorgio Migliaccio opened off Monument Circle in 1990. Restaurateur Elif Ozdemir, who bought the pizzeria last year, has no plans for changing that. There’s nothing like having a staffer point a spatula at you to take your order, then slide a crisped, piping-hot slice of pepperoni onto a paper plate for the most satisfying thing you’ll eat all week. 9 E. Market St., 317-687-9869

Manhattan Pizzeria

(New York–style)

Jumbo slices of pepperoni and shaved Italian sausage are tucked inside paper sleeves for ease of eating at this family-run grab-and-go counter. The hot, no-nonsense slabs are thin and judiciously topped—the closest you might get to the classic New York by-the-slice experience. Pre-made pies are crisped to order, but you’ll be jealous of the guy stopping in to pick up an entire cheese pizza, hot and gooey from the oven, to take back home. 6225 W. 56th St., 317-552-2141

Panoony’s

(Hand-tossed)

Panoony’s colossal 30-inch Big Noony eclipses most coffee tables and must be ordered a day in advance. Square-cut into 60 pieces, it is the go-to party order for seasoned Noonyheads, which is what owner Ian Patterson, a transplanted New Yorker, calls his devoted clientele. In any other setting, a pizza that requires a hatchback for delivery might get played out like a gimmick. Not at this fiercely independent shop that takes pizza-making seriously. Pies get piled with mostly traditional ingredients and divided into hefty, cheesy slices that will leave a proper grease halo on your paper plate. 1447 E. Main St., Brownsburg, 317-286-3500

Richard’s Brick Oven Pizza

(Neapolitan-style)

Owners Richard Goss and Meg Jones have tapped into the magic of traditional Neapolitan pizza, focusing on a thinner crust (with both sauce and cheese applied lightly) baked at nearly 700 degrees in a brick oven made by Goss’s father. The pizzas come out crisp and chewy with a fiery flavor. The most popular order, the margherita, is loaded with fresh basil, a spread of mozzarella, and a base of bruschetta subbing for sauce. 229 S. Main St., Franklin, 317-738-3300

Gramboli’s Pizza

(Hand-tossed)

Open since 1978, this Lawrence fixture has the feel of a family-friendly neighborhood spot, complete with a party room. Its thin-crust option is just that, the cracker-like base probably best for only a couple of toppings. If you really want to pile on the pepperoni, mushroom, and green pepper (the most exotic garnish here is probably pineapple), the deep-dish option fares best. Its thick and crunchy golden ring encircles the mix of add-ons and sauce, covered by a layer of bubbled mozzarella. 11733 Pendleton Pike, 317-823-4466

Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza

Jockamo Upper Crust PizzaPhoto by Tony Valainis

Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza

(Indy Gourmet)

Mick McGrath’s Irvington pizzeria opened 13 years ago, a come-as-you-are neighborhood haunt with local art on the walls and customers clustered inside the door, waiting for the next table to open. The first Jockamo has doubled in size and begotten others—all cozy spots where McGrath loads his crusts edge to edge with cartoonish amounts of droopy cheese and instant-classic combos like the Slaughterhouse Five’s pepperoni, ham, sausage, bacon, and Italian beef and the So-Cal’s fresh basil, peppers, goat cheese, and avocado. Balsamic reduction crisscrosses the Jockamo Special, and the menu lists two seafood pizzas as well as a pair of weekend Hangover Pizzas built around the curative properties of scrambled eggs and housemade chorizo gravy. 5646 E. Washington St., 317-356-6612; 9165 Otis Ave., 317-986-4545; 401 Market Plaza, Greenwood, 317-883-8993

New Village Pizza

(Tavern-style)

Regulars line up for carryout pizza at this friendly neighborhood strip-mall joint. Here, a soft but sturdy dough gets a light smear of sauce before being loaded to the edge with toppings and blanketed with mozzarella. House specials include a popular Mexican pie that gets ground beef and jalapeños in on the action, and Around the World, which tests the tensile strength of the crust with sausage, ham, pepperoni, mushroom, onion, green pepper, black olives, banana peppers, and a generous layer of cheese. 2002 N. Arlington Ave., 317-359-0500

Arni’s Restaurant

(St. Louis–style)

Pizza impresario Arnold Cohen may have gotten his start as the owner of a Pizza King franchise in Lafayette in 1965, but by the ’70s, his eponymous empire of cheery, family-friendly pizzerias was beginning to spread on its own to today’s nearly 20 locations around Central Indiana, even at Indy’s Victory Field. His success came with an expanded menu of burgers, pastas, and “stroms,” but it’s Cohen’s chewy-edged, St. Louis–style thin pies with well-chopped toppings that have been the Arni’s signature for over five decades. Multiple locations

Union Jack Pub

(Deep Dish)

Fat double-crusted pizzas prettily crimped around the edges get a lot of love at this British-inflected Broad Ripple favorite with another location in Westfield in the works. The single-crusted Indy-style deep dishes are as beloved as the fish and chips, and are as much of a feast. A chunky, crushed-tomato sauce adds even more heft to these pies, so prepare your fridge for plenty of leftovers before the binge. 924 Broad Ripple Ave., 317-257-4343

 Ellison Brewing Co.

(Wood-fired)

Former Peterson’s and Skyline Club chef Ricky Hatfield has been rethinking gastropub fare since this second location of the landmark Lansing brewery opened in November 2019. Having a spacious open kitchen outfitted with a wood-burning pizza oven means he can fire up some especially uptown bubbly-crusted pies, including a very respectable margherita and the “Goat Hollow,” dressed for dinner with cheddar ale sauce, goat cheese, prosciutto, and sweet figs. 501 Madison Ave., 317-390-4291

Missing Brick

Missing BrickPhoto by Tony Valainis

The Missing Brick

(Indy Gourmet)

Que Wimberly and her two sons run this bustling 21-and-over pizza joint that highlights a handful of Indy’s Black-owned establishments in collaborations like the barbecue-sauced Wood Stock (featuring succulent brisket from Hank’s Smoked Brisket) and The Trap Pizza (lavished with shrimp, crab, Chef Oya’s OG Garlic Herb Trap Buttah, and Foodlovetog’s Young Bae Spice). The pies come in one size: a 12-inch rectangle square cut into eight piled pieces with spectacular mozzarella pulls. 6404 Rucker Rd.

Amelia’s

(Wood-fired)

The limited-edition pizza program at Charlie McIntosh’s Old World–style bakery began as an early COVID-19 pivot, with two sourdough-crust beauties offered alongside cherry tomatoes and house granola through the Amelia’s/Bluebeard online bodega. The salami-topped Meaty Boi and its gooey partner, Cheesy Boi, garnered a cult following as fans of the freeform pies pulled up to the bakery’s alley-side door for Tuesday and Friday pickup. They’re boxed with instructions for gently reheating them in the oven—just enough to reanimate the cheese and give the base a crispy reboot—assuming they make it home in one piece. 653 Virginia Ave., 317-686-1583

Pies & Pints

(Hand-tossed)

This West Virginia–based mini-chain satiates crowds at Carmel’s and Noblesville’s outdoor shopping centers, a welcome upgrade from traditional food-court pizza. Your best bet is to order the 16-incher and fill it half-and-half with two specialty pies. Hang on to summer flavor a little longer with the Street Corn, evoking elotes with golden kernels, cilantro, green onion, Tajín seasoning, and zigzags of creamy chipotle sauce. Sweet and smoky come together in the Pine & Swine, with chunks of pineapple and bits of bacon. In other choices, grapes are married with Gorgonzola, while capicola and hot peppers add heat to the Hot Mamma. Clay Terrace, Carmel, 317-688-7477; Hamilton Town Center, Noblesville, 317-774-7437

Daredevil Hall

(Tavern-style)

Though nothing fancy to look at, Daredevil’s made-from-scratch tavern-style pizzas have all of the thin-crust credentials. Toppings are distributed to the pie’s flat, sturdy edges and held in place with a layer of lightly burnished cheese. The sauce balances the tang with some sweetness. And the square cut provides four perfect amuse-bouche triangles. 2721 E. 86th St., 317-757-2888

Passione Pizzeria

(Neapolitan-style)

The Italian-born chef who opened this spot six years ago sold it to his apprentice (a very European-sounding move) last year, but his recipes remain. The original list of 12 pizzas has expanded to 27, with toppings ranging from pepperoni to pears and rosemary potatoes. We’re definitely swept up in the passion of it all. 11640 Brooks School Rd., Fishers, 317-712-6369

King Dough

King DoughPhoto by Tony Valainis

King Dough

(Neapolitan-style)

Indeed, the dough is treated like royalty at King Dough, a cool modular outpost walled in with garage doors that open onto trellised patio seating in the near-eastside Holy Cross neighborhood. Owners Adam and Alicia Sweet debuted their wood-fired pizzeria in 2018 with the help of Indianapolis developers Tom and Edward Battista, focusing on a naturally leavened crust that emerges from the oven chewy and flavored with a tinge of sourdough and wood smoke. Toppings are thoughtful combinations like the ricotta, basil, caramelized onions, and black pepper that come together on the mellow R&B, and the surprisingly well-matched headliners of the Grape & Gorgonzola. 452 N. Highland Ave., 317-602-7960

Roselli’s

(Deep Dish, Hand-tossed, Thin-crust)

At this homey West Clay spot, Chicago-style pizza reigns supreme—both kinds. The deep-dish pies here would win the approval of most Sox fans, but Roselli’s knocks it out of the park with crackery, thin-crust pies cut into squares that somehow retain their integrity under a liberal mound of toppings. The fennel sausage is legit, and the slightly sweet sauce is darn near drinkable. 4335 W. 106th St., Carmel, 317-228-9090

 Rockstar Pizza

(Hand-tossed, Deep Dish, Detroit-style)

There’s just so much to love about the throwback kitsch of Rockstar Pizza: the gold records framed on the wall, the photos of celebrities under resin on all the tables, the salad bar, the face of Slash on every box. It truly has something for everyone, both on the walls and on the menu, as Rockstar will be happy to serve you anything from a thin-crust vegan pizza to a pepperoni keto pizza to a hand-tossed, deep-dish, or Detroit-style pizza. Locals love the keto crust, and thin-crust aficionados will dig the base that tastes like eating cheese and toppings on a big, shattering cracker. Daring eaters can attempt Rockstar’s pizza challenge, wherein two friends get 45 minutes to devour a 30-inch, one-topping pie. If you fail, it costs $50, but if you win, the pizza is free and you get a shirt and your photo on the wall. It’s a monster of a pie that, like the others, comes drenched in enough mozzarella to get that Instagrammable cheese pull. 922 E. Main St., Brownsburg, 317-858-1188

 

What’s Your Type?

While local pizzas seem to come in an infinite number of varieties, most owe their basic recipes to a handful of well-established regional styles.

California

West Coast chefs like Wolfgang Puck of Spago and Alice Waters of Chez Panisse are considered the inspiration for these super-thin pies that tend to be topped with themed gourmet sauces and cheeses, as well as fresh vegetables. The elaborate wood-fired style trended hard in the ’80s and ’90s at popular chains like California Pizza Kitchen and ushered in the age of the oven-centric performance kitchen.

Chicago Deep Dish

Lampooned as a bombastic casserole by the likes of Jon Stewart, the Midwest’s most celebrated contribution to the pizza lexicon traces its slightly fuzzy lineage most likely to Pizzeria Uno in the early 1940s, though it may be older. Suffice it to say that it has won legions of pizza purists over the last 80 years with its thick, buttery crust browned in a metal pan—cheese on the bottom followed by the toppings and a generous crown of chunky tomato sauce up top. Pies can take upwards of 40 minutes in the oven, so expect a wait.

Detroit

First baked up in the heavy blue steel drip pans used in mechanic’s shops, this homey spin on Sicilian-style pies dating to the mid-1940s was largely unknown outside of the Motor City until the last few years, when a nation of pizza lovers looking for something new took to it like the latest model. Cheese dusted around the edge creates an especially crackly crust, and signature stripes of sauce across a bubbly bed of brick cheese give this comforting Grandma-style pizza a nice contrast of flavors and textures.

Hand-tossed

There’s a certain satisfaction to the no-frills pies reminiscent of the pizza buffets of your childhood or the chain pizzas you’d bring home to devour after a ball game. And while there are often some finer touches to these medium-thick, puffy and golden pizzas, it’s the fact that they go so well with the watch party or family movie night that keeps you coming back when fancier pies are available. Go for a supreme to get the maximum fall-in-your-lap topping action, and order extra marinara for dipping the crusts.

Indy Gourmet

A few years after all those famous chefs reinvented pizza on the West Coast with duck sausage and smoked salmon, local restaurateur Jeff Berman was expanding locals’ notion of what could top a pizza at his Broad Ripple Bazbeaux, which opened in 1986 and is still the gold standard for innovative Indy-style pies. A handful of spinoffs with similar medium-thin, hand-tossed crusts and toppings such as Cajun shrimp, andouille sausage, and albacore tuna have helped make local pizza fans seem pretty savvy and daring for the last few decades.

Neapolitan (and Neapolitan-style)

An esoteric set of specifications governs what constitutes a bona fide pie in the Southern Italian city of pizza’s birth, and a subset of pizzaiolos in the United States has taken up the painstaking process at state-of-the-art New World pizzerias. High-protein “00” flour, natural yeast, and little else constitute the crust, while a light dusting of toppings doesn’t weigh down hand-stretched pies that emerge, usually after only 90 seconds in a lightning-hot shallow oven, “leoparded” with tiny scorch spots on the bottom and edge. Just don’t call it burnt.

New York

Do you roll it or fold it? Start with the crust or the point? However you eat your New York slices, you’re tasting over a century of heritage for this style first served out of East Coast Italian groceries in the early 1900s, simply but richly topped with a light tomato sauce and aged mozzarella instead of Italy’s more traditional fresh mozzarella. The long strings of cheese may threaten to stain your shirt while you stroll around enjoying a slice. But you’ll gladly pay the cleaner for the sake of America’s first regional style of pie.

St. Louis

The Lou’s flat-as-a-cracker antithesis to the Midwest’s deep-dish Chicago behemoths is less well-known, but it’s the preferred pie at bars and mom-and-pops in a wide swath from Southern Missouri and Illinois to Central Indiana. Cornmeal often adds a bit more chew for this style, most commonly sliced into squares and topped with finely chopped pepperoni or crumbled Italian sausage. But Provel cheese, a processed blend of Swiss, provolone, and cheddar, is the true signature of the style—an acquired taste for mozz fans, but it’s the real deal for downstate folks in the know.

Sicilian

This hefty style of pizza often draws comparison to the Chicago deep-dish variety. The difference is the rectangular pan it cooks in and how a halo of crisped cheese forms around the dense, bubbly crust that’s similar to focaccia.

Stuffed

This high-rise pizza features an additional top crust that seals in the cheese and ingredients like an oversized pot pie. A layer of rich, chunky tomato sauce gets ladled (often very generously) over the entire pizza, along with a dusting of Parmesan, before baking.

Takeout Originals

Back in the late ’50s and early ’60s, when most locals had first tasted pizza in other cities, a few entrepreneurs decided to give burgers a run for their money at family-owned pizza joints still legendary in neighborhoods around the city center and south side. Was that fennel in sausage or oregano dusted on top? Logos almost always depicted a diminutive chef wearing a high white hat. And while debate rages about whether the few remaining sources for these flat, double-cheese pies have lost their luster, nostalgia keeps the boxes flowing out the door.

Tavern-style

Best eaten after midnight with a pitcher of beer and a jukebox blasting the classics, these no-nonsense pies are a few notches above a frozen pizza you’d make at home but taste so much better because of the setting. Unapologetically classic toppings (think banana peppers or plain ground beef), spread to the edge of a more-crunchy-than-chewy crust, mean a couple of slices would suffice, but you’ll eat more for sure, drizzled with splashes of Frank’s hot sauce. You may box up the leftovers, but you’ll likely forget them on the table as you stumble home.

Western New York State

A closer kin to Detroit’s square and puffy pan-baked pies than NYC’s iconic wedges, this medium-thick style from the Buffalo region takes its toppings almost to the edge for the perfect crunchy perimeter with plenty of yeasty chew. Think bubbly focaccia smothered judiciously with some pretty radical toppings such as pulled pork, taco-seasoned beef, or, not surprisingly, shredded chicken with blue cheese and a generous drizzle of hot sauce. Be sure to get a side of “logs,” egg-roll wrappers stuffed with typical pizza ingredients or other familiar tasty fillings.

Wood-fired American

Fancier than your average takeout pizza but less fussy than Neapolitan, these pies are often the creations of breweries, food trucks, or chefs who just happened to inherit an oven from a previous tenant. Goat cheese, drizzles of balsamic vinegar, and nests of arugula might crown these elaborate mains, which are as fun for their smoky edges as they are for their unorthodox flavor combos.

The post The Definitive List Of Indy’s 48 Best Pizza Joints appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

11 Sep 16:02

The Feed: Cleo’s Bodega, I Heart Pasta, and More

by Julia Spalding

Cleo’s Bodega and Cafe (2432 Doctor Martin Luther King Jr St., 317-932-3100) is launching a mobile grocery store this fall to get fresh, nutritious food into the hands of families living in food deserts. They’re looking for community input on where to send the truck, hoping to establish a regular schedule so neighbors know when the mobile grocery will be near them.

Alan and Audra Sternberg have temporarily put their I Heart Pasta project on hold as they deal with what they describe as a “whole new kind” of customer service world. They started the project as a means of both generating income and having fun, but say that the fresh pasta delivery game has also created a new and bigger headache than table service at any of their restaurants ever did. (Let this serve as a reminder that it has never been more important to be a flexible, cooperative, and kind customer to our restaurant community.)

Dick’s Bodacious Bar-B-Q downtown has folded after COVID deprived much of downtown of their lunch traffic. The chain restaurant on the corner of Market and Pennsylvania streets used to be a bustling midday stop for office workers in surrounding high rises, but the work-from-home world has wreaked havoc on its customer base.

Rose & Lois (7249 E. 146th St., Carmel, 317-597-5118) is kicking off pumpkin season in a major way with its Pumpkin Pie Latte, a rich and warming blend of espresso and baking spices. This is in addition to the coffee bar’s new chocolate banana bread latte. R&L recently rolled out mobile ordering, and all you need to do to download the app is text “coffee” to 474747.

Fletcher Place is getting an exciting new neighbor with the addition of Isaro’s Farmer’s Market (642 Virginia Ave.), a much-needed walkable spot for fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a juice bar with plenty of grab-and-go options.

Anderson is getting a new market and cafe called Collective Roots Market (1102 Central Ave., Anderson), which is hoping to become a center of resource sharing and a place for neighbors to gather. The market will be accepting EBT and SNAP dollars, as they want to become a fully accessible source for fresh food as well as a community watering hole.

The silent auction benefiting chef Greg Hardesty ends Friday, and though we told you about it last week, the auction has only grown to include more and more culinary all-stars and prizes.

The post The Feed: Cleo’s Bodega, I Heart Pasta, and More appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

11 Aug 02:15

8 Wine Podcasts Worth Listening To

by Pamela Ocana

Wine podcasts are a great way to sneak in some knowledge during our day to day activities. Here are 7 of our absolute favorites!

Wine Folly - Learn about wine.

03 Aug 12:43

Our Favorite Houses

by IM Editors

We’ve all stalked and gawked at certain homes in the city. We’ve pumped the brakes, circled the block, and (duh) found real-estate listings online. But to get the full story, you have to pull into a driveway and ask. So we did, finding gracious homeowners willing to open their doors to these Indianapolis abodes with heart-melting curb appeal. Some you know—the Kessler mansion, Indy Mod Homes on 10th Street. Some you don’t—a secluded old-money estate, circular huts on a dead-end road. In any case, stick around for the tours. You don’t even need a mask. —Edited by Megan Fernandez, Kelly Kendall, and Kristin Sims with Jonathan Eriksen, Dawn Olsen, and Dave Seminara

1. Art Moderne Masterpiece

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Exterior of Art Moderne home

Pristine Art Moderne design that helped bring the neighborhood back to life.Photo by Tony Valainis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Midcentury Magnificence 

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Exterior of midcentury modern home at dusk

The midcentury-modern country home just off the interstate.Tony Valainis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Historic Party Home

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Indianapolis history and classical style in a one-of-a-kind party home.Tony Valainis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Trulli One Of A Kind

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Exterior of round home

Likely the country’s only example of Italian “trulli” architecture.Tony Valainis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. A Playful Spin on Tradition

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Exterior of modern home with people on porch

A playful, modern spin on a traditional form.Photo by Tony Valainis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Castle-like Charm

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Large brick house

Six acres on Meridian Street and a house as strong as a castle.Tony Valainis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. The Cutest Cottage

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Exterior of blue cottage with red door

The cutest little cottage in The Shire.Photo by Tony Valainis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Waterside Oasis

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Exterior of contemporary lakehouse at sunset

Drama, serenity, and panoramic water views amid the bustling north side.HAUS | Architecture For Modern Lifestyles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Prefab Perfection

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Exterior of modern home painted bright orange and purple

Cheerful color and architecture in Indy’s newest prefabricated community.Tony Valainis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Fountain Square Fab

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Exterior of blue home with horseshoe shaped balcony.

Gingerbread trim, a surprising amount of space—and that balcony!Photo by Tony Valainis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11. Balanced Beauty

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Two-story white house with tiled roof

Mediterranean charm outside, flooded with light and serene symmetry inside.Tony Valainis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cult of Avriel Shull

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Selling America’s Ugliest House

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The post Our Favorite Houses appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

07 Jul 14:32

200 Voices Of Indianapolis

by Daniel S. Comiskey

Among other painful reminders, the last few months have highlighted how divided we are as a city. From the pandemic to the protests, Indy residents have split along old racial and ideological lines. Masks have become a political position. Depending on your point of view, the activists downtown were either freedom fighters or criminals. The harmony Robert F. Kennedy called for in his famous 1968 speech here seems farther away than ever.

And yet. As the magazine’s staff set out to interview 200 Indy residents for the 200th anniversary of the city this month, we discovered many of them shared the same joys and frustrations. Sure, there were the inevitable disagreements about the wisdom of the Red Line and the raising of the minimum wage. But there was an almost universal desire for more public investment in the roads. We all want IPS to be better. Just about everyone misses Atlas Supermarket.

What follows was created in the weeks before the civil unrest in late May, so none of the participants speak to that directly. In the responses given by many people of color, though, it’s easy to see the hurt and anger that led to the demonstrations. The last question we asked in every interview was, “What will Indy look like in 20 years?” In his answer, Haughville chef Corey McDaniel put it best: “The racial divide here—somehow, that has to be overcome.”

What has the coronavirus crisis taught you about the people of Indianapolis?

[See image gallery at www.indianapolismonthly.com]

What’s your happiest memory here?

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How has Indianapolis disappointed you?

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What long-gone Indianapolis business do you miss most and why?

[See image gallery at www.indianapolismonthly.com]

What is Indy missing?

[See image gallery at www.indianapolismonthly.com]

What piece of optimistic advice would you give someone who was moving here?

[See image gallery at www.indianapolismonthly.com]

What changes would you make if you were mayor?

[See image gallery at www.indianapolismonthly.com]

What will Indy look like 20 years from now?

[See image gallery at www.indianapolismonthly.com]

Photography by Tony Valainis and Wil Foster

Edited by Daniel S. Comiskey and Joseph Ball

Reporting by Natalie Atwell, Evelyn Auer, Sarah Bahr, Megan Fernandez, Minda Hartman, Kelly Kendall, Maddy Kline, Laura Kruty, Nathan Lemen, Cassandra Lombardo, Amy Lynch, Dawn Olsen, and Julia Spalding

The post 200 Voices Of Indianapolis appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

07 May 17:30

Ed Rudisell On The Restaurant Industry’s Bleak Outlook

by Julia Spalding

The facts on the ground are unambiguous—some restaurants have already closed. More will almost certainly follow. Ed Rudisell, an owner or partner in Black Market, Rook, Siam Square, and The Inferno Room, has been characteristically blunt on social media lately, forecasting what’s in store for a restaurant industry without massive government intervention. We spoke to him about how he’s managing day-to-day operations, what restaurants really need to survive, and why he thinks it’s important for colleagues and customers to trade platitudes for hard truths.

How are you doing?
Every day is something new, and we just have to guess about what it’s going to look like. What can we do? What should we do? We don’t have real leadership helping us make sure we’re doing everything correctly not only for our personal health, but also to keep our businesses rolling. That’s where my ranting comes from on social media. Everybody seems to be really reluctant to talk about how rough of a situation we’re all in. There’s a lot of pride in the restaurant business, and you have to put your best foot forward and your best public persona. But it’s pretty devastating.

Did you apply for the Payroll Protection Program?
We did, but the PPP requires that 75 percent of the loan be used for payroll expenses in just eight weeks in order for it to be forgivable. The problem is that our biggest costs aren’t payroll. In restaurants, labor usually runs about 23 to 25 percent of expenses. I talked to my best friend who runs a landscaping company, and PPP is great for him because 85 percent of his costs are in labor. But our expenses are mostly in food inventory, liquor inventory, insurance, and liquor liability. That’s thousands of dollars every month. The PPP only allows you to use 25 percent of the money on those overhead expenses. So the program takes care of one problem but creates a lot more. If you don’t meet the requirements on using 75 percent of the money for payroll, you can still get the loan, but you have to pay it back in two years. That’s insane. You’re talking about a $100,000 loan paid back in two years. I don’t know of any independent restaurant that could do that.

How do you stay on top of information about assistance programs available to small businesses?
I’m working at Siam Square every day from open to close since we’re on a skeleton crew doing curbside pickup. So it makes it very tough to be able to do the webinars or other seminars to help determine which information is legitimate and which is a scam. I don’t have time to do three hours of research every day on loans. The first few weeks were a deluge of information. I was lucky that my business partner at The Inferno Room, Chris Coy, was able to sort through tons of information to help me out. If it weren’t for his help, nothing would have been filed on time. And even with all that, we still have no money. We’ve gotten two notifications that we have been approved, but nothing has been dispersed. We don’t know if help is coming.

You have four restaurants, but you’ve only done carryout at Siam Square so far. Why didn’t you do it at Black Market, Rook, or The Inferno Room?
We’ve always done a lot of carryout at Siam, so we already had the infrastructure in place to do curbside. We didn’t do a lot of carryout at those other places, so we weren’t in the public consciousness as a takeout option for customers. At the time, we were looking at a five- to six-week closure. It’s really difficult to pivot your business that quickly. Black Market is 9 years old now. Rook is 7 years old. Siam Square is 12. Introducing a whole new system and way of doing things that fast is very difficult. We were afraid we would have ended up screwing our employees over by making them ineligible for unemployment. It wasn’t worth the risk to ask all of them to forego that possibility just so they could work three hours a week and we could make a couple hundred extra dollars during that time. That wouldn’t even pay the bills, and we would have been in a much worse situation. But now that it looks like the shutdown could last a lot longer, I’ve been talking with the chefs at Rook and Black Market about menus and logistics planning for carryout-friendly dishes.

What about your rent? Are your landlords working with you?
I own the Siam Square building, so I’m lucky there. And I have great landlords at Rook and The Inferno Room. I have an amazing landlord at Black Market because it’s Ed Battista (co-owner of Bluebeard). Having a restaurateur as a landlord has been incredibly helpful. He’s a good guy, and he understands.

The kitchen of Black MarketTony Valainis

Have you started thinking about what reopening might look like?
We’re paying attention to restrictions being implemented in other states because we suspect that’s probably what will happen here as far as limiting the occupancy. The things that we don’t know are how comfortable people are going to be sitting in a small dining room, even at 50-percent capacity. Rook has a much larger footprint, so I think we’ll be in better shape there. Black Market’s patio certainly will help us through the summer months. But of course we all fear what could potentially happen in the fall because a second round—another quarantine—will effectively shut down the whole business.

Permanently?
I think, regardless, half the restaurants in the city will be gone in a year. I’m not trying to be pessimistic, but the help has been very, very difficult to get. We’ve been in business a long time and it’s hard, even for us. If a restaurant is brand new, or just opened in the last two or three years, I don’t know how they’re going to do it.

Do you think customers really understand how hard this has hit the industry?
People pull up to Siam Square to pick up their food and see four or five DoorDash or other delivery cars out there, but they don’t realize those companies take 25 to 30 percent off the top, which leaves us with pretty much pennies on the order. We’re doing 15 percent of our normal business. We’ve laid off the entire staff just to be able to keep our bills paid. It’s definitely hurtful when you hear people say, “Looks like you’re doing great.”

Why do you think it’s so hard for some people to understand what restaurants are going through?
Because so many of them are working from home and still getting a paycheck. I’m here at Siam Square every day, and I look out the window in Fountain Square and you’d think there’s no quarantine. Groups are riding their bikes, having fun. Everybody’s on vacation. They’re on Facebook saying they’re bored watching everything on Netflix. For us, our days are spent in deep depression and anxiety, Googling how to get funding and how we can keep our heads above water? There’s a real disconnect between what’s going on in the hospitality industry and what’s going on if you work for Lilly or Salesforce or Anthem.

I think, regardless, half the restaurants in the city will be gone in a year.

Is that why you’ve been so vocal on social media?
Believe it or not, I don’t like to go online and bitch and complain all the time. I know it can scare people. I was talking privately about it with a restaurateur in New York City and he said, “We need to come together on this.” Unfortunately, it’s very hard to get restaurateurs to be honest with each other because everybody wants to say, “Yeah, it’s rough right now, but we’ll be fine. The reality is, we’re not all going to be fine. Everything may reopen at first, and then you’re going to start to see mass closures.

What kind of help right now would make a real impact on saving the industry?
Freeing up the restrictions on what we can spend the PPP money on would be a giant help. Loan forgiveness is important. I worked my ass off for over a decade to pay off my loans for Black Market and Siam Square. The last thing I want to do after all that work is to take on debt I had to take because I was told to close down by the government. I was happy to close down for public health, but then to be told, “Hey, we’ll help you reopen. You can borrow money from us. Just pay it back.” I think it’s an affront to small businesses, low interest or not. It’s money we didn’t owe in the first place.

Is there anything else the government could do to help?
Forgiveness of sales taxes and food and beverage taxes in February and March would be big. It wouldn’t be the savior, but at least it would give us a little bit of a bridge to reopen and not have to worry about all this debt sinking us the moment we unlock the doors.

Upstairs interior of The Inferno Room tiki lounge

The Inferno Room

Is there anything customers can do to help?
I think we’re past that. And I don’t mean that customers can’t be helpful. We’ve had an amazing outpouring of support across the board. It’s like post-9/11 levels of empathy. But we’re talking about numbers now that are too big. I’m sitting on $14,000 of back sales taxes, just at one of my restaurants; that doesn’t even include the others. So 200 extra dollars from one of my customers is fantastic, but it doesn’t even put a chip in that tax bill.

What fault lines has this crisis exposed in the hospitality industry?
I recently posted a Medium article called “Why Restaurants Are So Fucked.” The writer [Joellle Parenteau] said, “Did you know that most restaurants don’t even have two months of rent in their bank account?” And I was like, of course they don’t. Do most businesses? And then she showed the profit margins in the health industry and banking industry, and my jaw dropped. I’ve lived in this bubble for so much of my life that our slim margins seemed normal.

How do you fix that?
It’s unfixable.

In March, Patachou, Inc. founder Martha Hoover told the Take Away Only podcast that restaurateurs have to start talking openly and publicly about the broken business model, especially with menu prices. She said they are universally too low, and the public needs to know that if they want restaurants to be able to take care of their staffs on a daily basis—not just in times of crisis—they have to charge more for food.
I’m not sure it’s possible. There are very few restaurants that are charging you the value of what the food actually is. At Siam Square, we’re selling food for $12 a meal, and that’s a fresh, home-cooked meal with everything made to order in house. That’s damn near what you pay at McDonalds. And Americans in particular have been very spoiled in thinking that everything should be cheap all the time. It would take a very big shake-up in the world for people to realize how much food should cost.

Do you see any upside right now? Is there any part of you that thinks you might be able to look back someday and think, well, at least X, Y, or Z resulted from all of this pain?
I think in the long term we are all going to be much more cognizant of the way that we interact with one another. At Siam Square, we have spicy food, and one of the things that always bothers me is people will get a runny nose and blow their nose on a napkin that they leave for us to pick up with our hands. I hope people are a little more cognizant of that now. Restaurant and hospitality workers are held to very high standards by the health department, and we have a deeper level of training about sanitation. I don’t wash my hands more than I did before, because I was already obsessing about it. So when there’s a run on sanitizer at the grocery I’m like, “Wow, were you not sanitizing anything before? Were you not washing your hands already?”

The post Ed Rudisell On The Restaurant Industry’s Bleak Outlook appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

02 Mar 20:09

Wine Sommelier Levels and What They Mean

by Julia Riddle

Taking your wine education to the next level? Know where to start. Here's a breakdown of wine sommelier levels and what they really mean.

Wine Folly - Learn about wine.

10 Feb 14:32

Former Bandmates To Honor Jason Molina At Bloomington Music Expo

by Seth Johnson
Jakienle

The story of Jason Molina is Amy Winehouse level sad.

It’s hard to deny the local music legacy of singer-songwriter Jason Molina.

Although born in Oberlin, Ohio, Molina became a fixture of Indiana’s musical landscape through the late ’90s and into the 2000s, thanks in large part to his relationship with Bloomington-based record label Secretly Canadian. Long before reaching international success, Secretly Canadian put its faith in the humble musician. As a matter of fact, several of Secretly’s earliest releases belong to Molina, who was making music under the moniker of Songs: Ohia at the time.

“Jason lived in Bloomington off and on from the late-’90s through his death in 2013, and he possessed one of the truly great voices to ever grace our town,” says Ben Swanson, co-founder and COO of what’s now known as Secretly Group. “He didn’t trade in false nostalgia. Instead, his songs were meditations on the dignity of work, the grace of love, demons we all wrestle with, and a universal lonesomeness. With his singular, haunted tenor and personal language of symbols and totems, he uniquely captured the potential—both the met and the always-just-beyond-reach—of the Midwest unlike any other.“

Since his unfortunate passing in 2013, Molina’s former bandmates have occasionally paid tribute to the singer-songwriter’s lasting legacy, performing various selections from his dense catalog of material. On Saturday, February 8, the latest of these tributes will take place at the second annual Bloomington Music Expo, where former band members, collaborators, and Bloomington musicians will perform a set as Songs: Molina—Memorial Electric Co.

In addition to this special tribute performance, those attending the Bloomington Music Expo can also expect other live music performances from indie-rock musician Amy O, Glitter Brains, Lara Lynn & The Kid, Shai Marie, and live DJs. More than 50 exhibitors will be on hand, including various vinyl vendors, record labels, several music-art makers and different music-related organizations.

A longtime bandmate of Molina’s, guitarist Jason Groth remembers the first time he met the mythical man at a Bloomington guitar shop.

“I knew who he was because I was a college radio DJ, and I loved the early Songs: Ohia stuff,” Groth says. “But I didn’t really know it was him [when we first met] because you wouldn’t expect him to be the kind of guy that made that music. He was just a goofball and really talkative.”

Groth was eventually recruited by Molina to join his band, playing guitar in Songs: Ohia (which eventually became Magnolia Electric Co.) from 2002 until the band stopped touring.

“I just think he was dealing with artistic genius all the time, and also the demons with which he struggled kept his brain running constantly,” Groth says. “So being in a band with him was like being on your toes all the time. Songs would change. His stories about stuff would change. The way he felt about set lists would change. For the most part, though, I wouldn’t have kept doing it if I didn’t love how good it was when it was good.”

The Impossible Shapes, which includes the guitarist Jason Groth (left) who is currently the lead guitarist in the Coke Dares and Songs: Molina, and drummer Mark Rice, who also is the drummer for the Coke Dares and Songs: Molina. Both bands will be playing at the expo this year.Courtesy Bloomington Music Festival

When reflecting back on the legacy of Molina, Groth believes the singer-songwriter just had his own way of conveying messages.

“It felt like he knew something that I didn’t, but he wasn’t hiding it from me,” Groth says. “He was just hinting at it, and letting me try to figure it out on my own.”

Groth, along with other former members of Magnolia Electric Co., will be performing as part of Saturday’s homage to Molina. Unlike previous tributes, the band will be joined by highly touted Texas singer-songwriter Will Johnson, who collaborated on a 2009 album with Molina aptly titled Molina & Johnson. For the first time ever, songs from Molina & Johnson will be performed live at the Expo, marking a special occasion for both Johnson and Molina’s former bandmates.

Like Groth, Johnson remembers the very first time he met Molina on an Austin street corner in the mid- 2000s. After exchanging messages, the two eventually decided to make an album together, recording over a limited amount of days in Argyle, Texas.

“I think we only had 9 or 10 days to work together, so it wound up being an exhilarating, workshop-style record,” Johnson says. “I thought maybe I’d write a few songs going in, just to kind of prepare for it. But we found out that first night that we really enjoyed writing in the moment and really documenting from the front of our heads.”

As someone deeply committed to his own craft, Johnson found Molina as a kindred spirit of sorts.

“His work ethic was tireless,” Johnson says. “He treated each day with honor and respect. I think he felt really fortunate to make his living as a songwriter, and he truly honored it.”

Much like Johnson, Molina’s former bandmates look forward to playing the Johnson & Molina songs live for the first time. As with all other tribute shows they’ve done in his honor, the band just wants to pay their proper respects to the great Jason Molina.

“We were a band with him for a long time,” says Groth of the tribute band’s core members. “So we take this stuff pretty seriously, and we just want to make it as respectful as possible. It feels really flattering that people want to hear it, and we only do it sparingly because we don’t want to ever disrespect what it was that we had.”


Traveling to Bloomington for the expo? We have your needs covered.

The post Former Bandmates To Honor Jason Molina At Bloomington Music Expo appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

29 Jan 17:28

City to consider purchase of Blue Indy’s assets

The city of Indianapolis will have up to 90 days after Blue Indy ceases operations in May to decide whether to purchase the electric-car-sharing service’s assets

The post City to consider purchase of Blue Indy’s assets appeared first on Indianapolis Business Journal.

07 Jan 16:36

Updated digital version of ‘Encyclopedia of Indianapolis’ in the works

Designated as a legacy project of the Indianapolis Bicentennial Commission, the new "Encyclopedia of Indianapolis" is being developed by the Polis Center at IUPUI in collaboration with several major cultural and heritage institutions.

The post Updated digital version of ‘Encyclopedia of Indianapolis’ in the works appeared first on Indianapolis Business Journal.

02 Jan 16:02

You decided: Land-Grant Holy Land presents YOUR Ohio State football all-decade team

by Tia Williams
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: DEC 28 CFP Semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl - Clemson v Ohio State Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The final roster of our 2010-19 all-decade team series—chosen by the people, for the people.

The votes are in! To wrap up the decade, we wanted to hear from you lovely people about who you believe should comprise the Ohio State Buckeyes’ All-Decade team. Every day for the last two weeks, we posted a new positional article, asking you to vote for your choice on both the site and Twitter with the promise of revealing the final All-Decade roster on the final day of the 2010s.

So, without further ado...

Quarterback

NCAA Football: Cotton Bowl-Ohio State vs Southern California Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

This was a close one with Braxton Miller coming in second. However, Barrett pulled through with 39.4 percent of the vote on Twitter and 43 percent of the votes on the article poll. We also received quite a bit of write-ins for Cardale Jones, but sadly, Twitter polls only allow for four candidates, so #16 takes the honor.


Wide Receivers

BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl - Ohio State v Notre Dame Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Michael Thomas had the most votes on both Twitter and the site with 59.1 percent and 41 percent respectively. For the purpose of an all-decade team, however, the runners up also made the final roster. Devin Smith received 22 percent on Twitter and 33 percent on the site. K.J. Hill received 12.2 percent on Twitter and 16 percent here on LGHL. Parris Campbell was close, but didn’t quite make the cut.

This position definitely sparked a lot of debate on Twitter, with many arguing that others were voting for Thomas due to his success in the NFL rather than at Ohio State, and that Devin Smith had a more successful college career. Let us know what you think in the comments below.


Running back

BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl - Ohio State v Notre Dame Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

No debate here. Ezekiel Elliott won this one with flying colors, earning 86.3 percent of the votes on Twitter and 72 percent on the site. Although a lot of people tweeted that they’d change their votes to Dobbins based on his playoff performance. The poll is closed but, anyone want to change their votes?


Tight End

National Championship - Oregon v Ohio State Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Jeff Heuerman received 47.9 percent of the votes on Twitter with Jake Stoneburner coming in second with 29.4 percent. Similarly, on the site, Heuerman received 49 percent of the votes, and Stoneburner had 25 percent.

Notice a trend? With the exception of Cardale Jones, the all-decade team so far is basically just the 2014 National Championship team. Makes sense.


Center

NCAA FOOTBALL: DEC 31 CFP Semifinal - Fiesta Bowl - Ohio State v Clemson Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

This one was tricky in that most of the candidates played guard before they moved to center. Therefore, we asked that you only consider their time at center before voting. Pat Elflein came in first with 44.2 percent of the vote on Twitter and 36 percent of the votes on the site, with Billy Price trailing closely behind on both polls.


Offensive Guard

Buffalo v Ohio State Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images

Pat Elflein technically won this one on Twitter with 40 percent of the votes, but Andrew Norwell won the site’s poll comfortably with 47 percent of the votes compared to Elflein’s 25 percent. Billy Price wasn’t far behind with 25.5 percent on Twitter and 20 percent on the site. So I guess while Elflein is in at center, Price can play backup at guard.


Offensive Tackle

NCAA FOOTBALL: JAN 01 BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl - Notre Dame v Ohio State Photo by Carlos Herrera/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Taylor Decker won this one by a long shot with 77.8 percent on Twitter, 83 percent on the site. Also on the roster is Jack Mewhort who was runner up with just 12% of the votes on both Twitter and the site.

Many of you got really mad at us for putting Isaiah Prince on the list, however five percent of you on Twitter and 39 of you on the site still voted for him so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.


Defensive End

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl - Clemson v Ohio State Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

He was up against some great competition, but Chase Young unsurprisingly pulled through with 58.8 percent of the votes on Twitter and a nice 69 percent on the site. In a lot of other circumstances, it wouldn’t be surprising if he had received 100 percent of the vote, however, other superstars was on the ballot with him, things got divided. Joey Bosa also made the final roster with 31.4 percent of the vote on Twitter and 25 percent on LGHL.

The other two candidates were Nick Bosa and John Simon. Leading to many decisions that looked like this:


Defensive Tackle

Ohio State Buckeyes v San Diego State Aztecs 9-7-2013 Photo by David Dermer/Diamond Images/Getty Images

This one was neck and neck until the end, but Michael Bennett came out on top with 30.2 percent on Twitter and 32 percent on the site. Johnathan Hankins also makes the roster, just barely coming in second with 28.4 percent of the votes on Twitter. Dre’mont Jones was second on the site poll with 31 percent, but only received 25.7 percent of the votes on Twitter.


Linebacker

Big 10 Championship Game - Ohio State v Michigan State Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

While some thought the votes were biased because people were voting “with their hearts not their heads,” Ryan Shazier still won easily with 71.4 percent of the votes on Twitter and 77 percent of the votes on the site. Also on the roster are Darron Lee who was runner up and Raekwon McMillan. Malik Harrison did not make the cut.


Cornerback

NCAA FOOTBALL: DEC 31 CFP Semifinal - Fiesta Bowl - Ohio State v Clemson Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Marshon Lattimore received the majority of the votes on both Twitter and the site with 53.1 percent and 40 percent respectively. Bradley Roby barely received the second most votes on Twitter above Denzel Ward, however Ward made the roster due to the fact that he received 143 more votes than Roby on the site.

We also received many Jeff Okudah write-ins. Listen, this position — like most — was incredibly tough to pick just four. And the fact that we didn’t add Okudah tells you a lot about Ohio State’s corners over the past decade. *insert fire emoji*


Safety

Ohio State v Penn State Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Malik Hooker beat Vonn Bell, Tyvis Powell, and Jordan Fuller quite easily with 72.7 percent of the votes on Twitter and 63 percent on the site. Which makes sense. When you think “Malik Hooker” you think “interception.” Vonn Bell also made the team with just 19.3 percent of the votes on Twitter and 26 percent on the site.


Kicker

Penn State v Ohio State Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

This one got a little tricky when Sean Nuernberger won the Twitter poll with 44.9 percent of the votes, but Drew Basil killed the site poll with 70 percent of the votes. Vise-versa, Basil came in third on Twitter behind Blake Haubeil with 23.5 percent and Nuernberger only received 15 percent of the votes on the site. So, we put both on the final roster to satisfy both our Twitter followers and our readers.

Also, many of you wrote in Mike Nugent, but this is a 2010-19 all-decade team and well, Nugent did not play for Ohio State during this decade.


Punter

Michigan State v Ohio State

The Aussie won both the Twitter poll and the site poll with 79.5 percent and 66 percent, respectively. Drue Chrisman was second with 18.9 percent on Twitter and 20 percent on the site.


And there you have it! Your all-decade Ohio State team, which also happens to be a list of some of the best names in the NFL. Makes you realize how spoiled we are as Buckeye fans, eh? All I can say is, with the amount of talent we have coming back next year... bring on 2020! Happy New Year!

05 Dec 16:27

Renew Indianapolis merging with King Park Development Corp.

Beginning in January, the community development organizations will operate as one, with a joint 15-member board of directors and a four-person executive leadership team.

The post Renew Indianapolis merging with King Park Development Corp. appeared first on Indianapolis Business Journal.

27 Nov 00:27

IU basketball 'gentle giant' Kent Benson battling devastating losses

by Dana Hunsinger Benbow, Indianapolis Star

Former IU basketball star Kent Benson dealing with unexpected death of his brother and his longtime girlfriend's, whom he calls his wife, Stage 4 cancer.