K's uncle ended up having some extra tickets to the Dig-IN event happening last weekend. We weren't really sure what it was, but it was outdoors and the sun was out. Easy decision. It turned out to be farmers, producers and chefs from all over Indiana that joined forces to celebrate Hoosier food. K's uncle was involved because he's a supplier of beef to a few of the restaurants through his company Fischer Farms.
Almost 30 restaurants and chefs were represented. Turns out this was only the 2nd year for the event. I guess last year, several vendors ran out of food so they instituted a passport on your event brochure that got you 1 taste test at each vendor and then 5 bonus tastes at any ones you wanted to return to. They had set up about 8 big tents in White River State Park, with each tent having some meat, veggie, beer, wine and dessert vendors. You didn't have to go in any order, just float around to what looked good, what you wanted to try, or which line was smallest. We would get in a long line by a wine sampling vendor, take turns getting wine until we got close to the food. Get food, move to new line, repeat.
As we were just getting started out, there was a booth not with the main attraction sampling beef and noodles. Let's dig in!
Since I had my camera, I decided to become a novice food critic and chronicle some food that I will probably never eat again. Not because it was bad, just because they are dishes that wouldn't appeal to me as a full plate. And I didn't know what half the words in the descriptions were. Very fancy menu...
1. Black Swan Brewpub (Chef Nick Carter) - Summer salad with peach vinaigrette, stout glazed smoked Indiana duck breast and cheese crisps. Vote: Very Delicious
2. Second Helpings (Chef Sam Brown) - Beef tenderloin with fontina chees. Portatoes and savory tomato chutney. Vote: Delicious
3. Restaurant 2(oh!)4 (Chef Alan Sternberg) - Smoked chicken basted in an oyster mushroom butter over a roasted corn "slaw" and a watercress "volute." Vote: Plain
4. Served Cafe & Bistro (Chef Justin cowan) - Bees Knees: french toast wyport wine and honey curred pork tenderloin, Swiss cheese, strawberries, Coopers Hawk port wine syrup sprinkled with powdered sugar. Vote: Surprisingly Delicious
5. JW Marriott (Chef Brendon Cheney) - Crispy pulled pork with braised native beans and rendered Indiana bacon layered with pork jus, hickory syrup and pork emulsified foam. Vote: Great Presentation, boo on the beans
6. Smoking Goose and Goose the Market (Chef Chris Eley) - Smoked turkey and ginger sausage, blueberry mostarda, root vegetable kraut. Vote: Disappointed (Sausage casing was too tough to break with your teeth, made for very messy eating)
7. Indigo Duck (Chef Joseph Hewett) - Sun King Sunlight Cream Ale braised duck with arugula, roasted corn poblano & goat chees creme fraiche and heirloom tomato hot pepper sauce. On sweet corn nan flatbread. Vote: Mediocre
8. R Bistro (Chef Regina Mehlalick) - Brined and roasted turkey, vegetable salad. Vote: Bland
9. Fermenti Artisan (Chefs Mark Cox & Joshua Henson) - Homemade heritage breed bacon with fermented root relish and capriole farms goat cheese. Vote: Awful (sorry Chefs)
10. IUPUI Food Service (Chef Nate Jackson) - Spaghetti squash with homemade ricotta. Vote: Different but tasty (It took me a few bites to realize the spaghetti wasn't 1/2 cooked, it was actually squash)
11. Keltie's Restaurant & Catering (Chef Keltie Sullivan Domina) - Bread pudding with carmel sauce. Vote: Yummy
And... we were full. But the beef and noodles lady was still there, so I shoveled in another cup of those! We only hit 1/3 of the vendors in 2 hours. I can't imagine getting to every one without having to be rolled out of there. For $20 you really get your monies worth of food and drink. If you are a foodie I recommend you go next year. They cap around 5,000 people to help with logistics so get your tickets and get there early!
