FOOD & DRINK

Get your tickets to IndyStar Food & Wine Experience in Carmel to try area's hottest restaurants

The Indy area's hottest chefs host cooking demonstrations, serve samples and share their kitchen secrets at the IndyStar Food & Wine Experience on Oct. 7 at Clay Terrace in Carmel. 

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Advance tickets to the 1-4 p.m. Food & Wine Experience cost $85. A $120 VIP ticket puts you inside at noon and grants access to a VIP lounge; private wine, beer and spirits tastings; and preferred parking. Special packages offer meet-and-greets with celebrity chef Graham Elliot and exclusive access to the Martha Stewart Experience, a showcase of all things Martha. 

Seafood Cocktail, with dry rubbed charred shrimp, marinated jumbo lump crab, avacado, and curry emulsion, $20 from Provision, a new restaurant located inside the Ironworks Hotel in Indianapolis on Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. The upscale restaurant is part of the Cunningham Restaurant Group.

 

No matter which ticket you choose, you'll treated to unlimited samples of food and wine. Here's a list of participating restaurants so far. Check back. More will be added:

  • Milktooth, one of Indy's most famous restaurants. Food & Wine magazine named chef/owner Jonathan Brooks one of America's best new chefs thanks to his creative breakfast/brunch/lunch fare.

Review:Milktooth is on a best restaurants in the world list

  • Hedge Row, an American bistro by Kimbal Musk, brother of Tesla-famous Elon Musk, brings wood-fired, farm-to-table dishes to Mass Ave. in fall 2017 with notable Indy chef Brad Gates at the kitchen's helm.
  • Provision, Indy's newest restaurant, opened Sept. 12 inside the north side's new Ironworks Hotel. Chef-driven with a focus on local ingredients, the restaurant features a chef's table where head toque Layton Roberts dishes out one of the city's most creative menus.

Peek inside:New Provision restaurant is changing Indy's north side

  • Rook, one of IndyStar food writers favorite Indianapolis restaurants. "Expect boom-pow flavors and plenty of textures," Biro writes in her review of Rook.
  • Cerulean, a true fine-dining experience in Downtown Indianapolis. "Chef Alan Sternberg and team put so much thought into every dish, from the beautiful local ingredients they choose to the artful presentations," Biro says.
  • OAKLEYS Bistro, creative fine dining on Indy's north side. The restaurant's famous shrimp corn dog appetizer won the Food Network contest show "Beat Bobby Flay." 
  • Gallery Pastry Shop, open less than a year in SoBro, this dessert bar has become a hotspot for some of Indy's most refined sweets. Pastry master Ben Hardy "produces European-style pastries, meaning delicate, beautiful and not-too-sweet things all made from scratch," Biro says in her review of the shop.  

More:SoBro's new dessert bar will leave you drooling

  • Late Harvest Kitchen, on Indy's north side near The Fashion Mall, is the go-to for local ingredients in chef Ryan Nelson's always impressive New American dishes, Biro says.
  • Pizzology, a place for hand-tossed pies topped with seasonal Indiana ingredients in traditional and creative combinations. 
  • Red, the Steak House, a new Downtown Indy steakhouse that also serves Italian food.

Steak & pasta:Indy's new Downtown steakhouse does more than beef

  • DeBrand Fine Chocolates of Fort Wayne. "Oh those truffles. They're huge with such silky centers and so many wonderful flavors," Biro says.
  • Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano in Carmel has earned an impressive list of accolades including best Italian and best service nods from Consumer Reports.
  • Meridian Restaurant & Bar where chef Allen Smith recently took over the kitchen.  "This chef has a way with sauces," Biro says. "He recently wowed me with blackberry jalapeno sauce, a lightly sweet, mildly zippy partner to perfectly seared duck breast." 
  • The Loft at Trader's Point Creamery, a true farm-to-table experience thanks to a garden and dairy farm on site.
  • Shoefly Public House at Indy's Fall Creek Place is always casual but always surprises with its blend of Hoosier comfort food and international flavors.
  • FoxGardin Kitchen & Ale in Fishers.
  • Kizuiki Ramen & Izakaya in Carmel.

Peek inside:Kizuki Ramen in Carmel