Milktooth, the “fine diner” of Fountain Square, has received almost every accolade possible: Bon Appetit’s “America’s Best New Restaurants 2015” list, Conde Naste’s “207 of the Greatest Restaurants in the World 2016” list, Food & Wine’s “Rising Star of the Midwest” list, etc.
Understandably, I was intimidated. I’m decidedly not hipster and it took a trip abroad to broaden my food horizons even a little bit. And so I delayed trying out the restaurant that opened October 2014, housed in an old auto-repair shop.
Well, two years after its debut, I made a pilgrimage and my food outlook has been forever changed.
When you order a pear and crabapple dutch baby pancake, with yogurt, caramel corn, and puffed rice as accompaniments, there is no precedent and you should have no expectations. That way, Milktooth gets to set your expectations for every restaurant you enter from that moment forward.
The pancake was flatter than the fluffy, buttery pancakes of other brunch-y diners. However, it was covered in apples and pears, with yogurt hidden underneath, proving that it was no less full of flavor. I admit it was a little weird to take a sip from my latte and chow down on a piece of caramel corn a moment later, but somehow, oddly and beautifully, it worked. The popcorn along with the puffed rice were revelations, adding texture to an otherwise soft meal.
Despite the sometimes pretentious-sounding dish descriptions, Milktooth is decidedly welcoming and down-to-earth. My friend and I sat at a community table, down a few chairs from a pair of moms, one with a young baby, and catty-corner to an older couple who were very good-natured about our picture-taking. The staff was helpful, offering to interpret dishes when needed. The odds and ends as decoration, the globe near the ceiling, the succulents, the “Baños” painted on the wall, gave it an eclectic vibe that felt more fun and earnest than overly hipster.
It’s not for daily or maybe even weekly consumption, at least not on a college student’s budget. However, Milktooth is well worth forgoing lesser restaurants for a week or two in order to enjoy and experience all that it has to offer.
[Photos by Becky Harris and Inna Ayos.]
Becky Harris is a graduate student studying Sports Journalism at IUPUI. Writing, for her, is a creative outlet. She’s a native Hoosier, born and raised in Indianapolis, but loves to travel and wants to work internationally. She enjoys trying new cuisines and activities.
