Ah, St. Elmo - my favorite restaurant in downtown Indianapolis.  I had rare pleasure of being able to eat at St. Elmo on my actual birthday this year!  Normally we’re only in Indy in August, but this year we had an event in March as well.  My birthday conveniently fell on the day of the event we knew we’d be finished early with, so I was able to secure a reservation for us at St. Elmo.  On my birthday!  Super exciting! 

World Famous St. Elmo Shrimp Cocktail

We both started out with the insane shrimp cocktail.  It’s insane because the cocktail sauce is horseradish with some red stuff.  It’s a delicious challenge.  I didn’t finish all of my shrimp, but Lance was happy to help. 

Lance and I were in Indianapolis for an event in March and we decided to give Harry and Izzy’s a go for dinner since it was an easy walk from our venue.  I’m glad that we did, because the last time we ate there we were pretty rushed since our dinner was before our shift began.  This time, we had the option to be more leisurely. 

French Onion Soup

It was super chilly when we were in Indy this time, quite a change from our normal August trips!  I needed to warm up after the walk, so I started off with a bowl of French Onion soup.  I love a good bowl of the stuff and this did not disappoint.  It was rich and velvety with a nice crouton and cheese.  It was also hot so it fit the bill!

Art’s birthday is in February and one of his favorite restaurants is Founding Farmers.  We had heard that the owners had opened a new location in Park Potomac, and, thinking that it would be the same as the DC location, we decided to go with the suburban location since the travel time would be about the same. 

Sadly, I am made of fail and did not read through the menu in its entirety which means the fish bowl of mousse Art had his heart set on was unavailable at the Potomac location.  Thankfully he was a trooper and persevered in the face of adversity. 

Brian joined us for Art’s birthday meal, but he was a bit late so we went ahead and guessed at what to order for appetizers. 

Bacon Lollis and Tater Tots

We’ve loved the bacon lollis at the DC location, and knew we had to get them again.  This location also has homemade tater tots and that’s a combination of words I can’t say no to.  I love tater tots!  These were all grand and the presentation was unique. 

In early February, Lance and I were invited to go out to Chicago for a planning meeting.  We ended up being able to make the trip work and, since we didn’t have any plans Friday evening, I tracked down a restaurant.  I picked Tramonto’s because I remembered seeing Rick Tramonto on Top Chef Masters.  

Our meal started off with some olives… which neither of us tried.