Jason W.
Yelp
We acquired a few Cunningham Group gift certificates for Christmas. We normally only go to Livery and Bru Burger for our entertainment dollar, but we decided to take advantage of the certificates to try something beyond our normal means. I made an early Saturday dinner reservation for my wife's birthday, which also happened to fall within the promotional Devour special.
I was a little nervous about parking as I'm not overly familiar with the available options throughout Indy. From what I found in my research, they have about 8 spots behind their restaurant, which were all taken when we arrived at about 5:00pm. The spots along the sidewalk on the same side of the street as the restaurant are apparently available for free and we lucked into one of those, although there was a still a decent mess of ice and snow along the walk from a recent storm. They do offer valet, but I already referenced that our income resides more in the value range.
We weren't certain which was the front door, and were redirected by a sign on the 1st door we tried indicating that we had passed it. As we approached, a gentleman opened the door and greeted us. In spite of being about 30 minutes earlier than our reservation, they very kindly and promptly seated us. The room we were in had a bar along 1 wall, a few tables for 2, a few for 4, and one that had 6 or so people at it along the wall of windows. Our menus actually had a birthday greeting for my wife across the top as well. The music being played was a fantastic mix of 70s and 80s that fit somewhere between soft rock and Sirius XM's Yacht Soul.
Our server promptly arrived and was very friendly in guiding us through the menu options. We elected to do the Devour Vegetarian Four Course Menu ($75 each) with wine pairings ($65 each). The sommelier was also fantastic at explaining each beverage's background and why she chose for each specific food item we ordered. In spite of that, I'm not much of a wine guy, so I honestly don't recall what each wine was to pass along. Food wise I do recall as we each got something different so that we could share and try more.
They actually first brought out a potato croquette I believe that was paired with a Champagne-type wine. This was not something we ordered, but simply offered as an extra. Our first course included Roasted Carrots and Caramelized Cauliflower. Both were excellent as I really like cooked carrots, which was accompanied by goat cheese, and my wife really liked the cauliflower, especially with the kale that was a part of it. Second, we Butternut Squash and the Baby Greens Salad. Again, both had amazing flavor combinations, with my liking the squash and its goat cheese again, my wife preferring the salad with its manchego. Prior to our third, they brought out a basket of a focaccia bread and a banana pineapple bread. I love bread, and the focaccia was one of the best ones I have ever had. Our main entrees "Cacio e Pepe" Tagliatelle and the Squash Tortelloni. While I really liked the tortelloni, we each agreed the Cacio e Pepe was one of the best things we each have ever had. For our 4th, we finished with the Ricotta Doughnuts and the Guayaquil Chocolate Cake. They were both good, but the previous round was a very tough act to follow.
Overall, it was an outstanding birthday dinner experience because of their top-notch, friendly service, combined with a consistent selection of unique flavors that were made all the more enjoyable with the accompanying beverages. It is definitely beyond our ability to return any time soon, but if we were of means, we would.