Barns Brews & Back Roads

This isn’t supposed to be a foodie blog, but …. this episode is totally foodie. First of all I had a lot of unexpected travel in June (none of it planned and all of it out of state) so I was riding the struggle bus to weekend travel for the blog.

But I did go back to one of my favorite farmers markets in Bloomington, Indiana (401 N Morton St.). And it’s not one of my favorites because it’s held in “Fernandez Plaza” – I promise. Overall it’s just a nice market, with a unique fountain/splash area for kiddies and tons of fresh fruit, veggies, meat and my favorite… coffee. I had run out of Brown County Coffee so once again when Dawson text on Friday night, “Wanna go to the farmers market tomorrow?” I replied ABSOLUTELY! When we arrived we hit up Brown County Coffee which is always popular and usually has a long line, and I was disappointed they were out of Java Mocha Blend, but I bought Breakfast Blend and it is tasty! We also hit up Hunters Honey Farm after Dave told me the honey situation was low at home. Hunters Honey Farm also offers a variety of farm tours including one where you make your own beeswax candle. They are located in Martinsville and should definitely be a destination for the blog. We went to one of the Amish farms (there’s a couple and I don’t remember which one) for some blueberries and peaches to make an out of this world cobbler.

I’d post the cobbler recipe but it would take up a lot of space, it’s got a lot of steps and ingredients – you have to grate cold butter, but totally worth the work (Hint: add a package of apple flavored instant oatmeal to the crumble!). Once again Dawson’s favorite taco truck Pili Party Taco wasn’t at the market and we were hungry so we headed to Kirkwood St. for food. I would have gone for Bloomington Bagel Company (113 N Dunn St.) because they have a special called “The Jackie” (Asiago Bagel, Tomato, Egg, Cheddar, Chive Schmear, Hashbrown, Avocado) that is to die for! But Mr. B (a.k.a. Dave) wanted to go to FARMbloomington (108 E. Kirkwood).

Since I do go to Bloomington a lot and I know I write about it a lot – I’m sure I’ve said before there are over 200 restaurants in Bloomington to choose from. FARM is among one of my favorites because it’s so unique. First, for anyone who thinks Indiana only has fast food and pancake houses I will tell you that you are absolutely wrong. To be fair, we do have a fair share of fast food and pancake houses … but we have a lot of restaurants with imaginative chefs who bring a lot of creativity and energy to the food scene.

When you walk into the restaurant it looks like what I imagine my dream house to look like – vintage boho chic meets modern farmhouse. The location is the former “Oddfellows Building” – the Oddfellows being an organization similar to the Freemasons – and they revived a lot of the antiques to use as decor. Including several antique enameled stoves – one might have been a Roper brand but they were all different. And there’s a giant Humpty Dumpty.

I honestly thought I took pictures of the food, which I normally do, but I didn’t.🤔We ate during brunch – I had the Worlds Greatest BLT, Dave had the Hoosier Legacy Beef Burger and Dawson had Babe Ruth Steak and Eggs. This would be a good time to mention that FARM is committed to being sustainable and sources all their food locally and grows their own herbs which they use to make sauces. Deciding what to eat was the hardest part because everything sounded amazing, so I asked the waiter what would he get and he went we the BLT. Not your average BLT as it had peppered bacon, capriole goat cheese, arugula, wasabi mayo, avocado, and tomato. I wasn’t sure about the goat cheese or wasabi mayo because they didn’t seem to fit in the taste profile, but it worked. I’m picky about BLT’s and picky about the bacon on BLT’s – in my opinion it should be crispy – not burnt but crispy. That was my only complaint, the bacon was chewy.

Dave enjoyed the burger which is dressed with cheddar cheese, bacon jam, tomato and pickled red onions. Dawson enjoyed the steak and eggs – he asked me what red pepper coulis was and I didn’t know so he googled it and found it’s pureed red peppers with garlic, onions, olive oil and spices. Dawson is not big on trying new food, but he liked it. Oh – and the “potato salad” isn’t your mustard/mayo type, it’s red potatoes tossed with a light vinaigrette and oregano (maybe). Other menu items that peaked my interest were 4th Generation Biscuits, Hoosier Poutine and the French Toast Casserole. They also have brunch pizzas including the Bacon & Egg which Dave got last time we were there which is poached eggs, smoked bacon, baby spinach and smoked gouda.

During lunch they have FARMtacos which sound incredible and they have nightly dinner specials including Friday Night: Firehouse Catfish Fry and Monday Night: “Not-yo-mama’s” Meatloaf. They also have the Root Cellar Lounge which is open Wednesday – Sunday nights and has karaoke and DJ’s. I didn’t get a good picture but they have a huge bar area and and EXTENSIVE list of wine, beer and cocktails. If you’re a foodie and your kid goes to IU or you’re going to a football or basketball game this is a great place to eat. I joke, because – Dawson and I were trying to come up with why someone would visit Bloomington and pretty much that’s what we came up with. It’s a college town – plain & simple – but it is listed as one of the Top College Town’s in the US.

Next up – FoxGardin (215 S Main St.) in Fortville, Indiana. I would not have known about this place had I not had a meeting nearby and the guys in the meeting kept talking about wanting to get Bone Marrow Fries for lunch. Since I was at work, I can’t write about that trip but I totally brought home leftovers and Dave said “we’re going there for dinner.” I didn’t know that Main St. in Fortville had so many restaurants! And on the trip I can’t talk about I was with one of the local residents who kept pointing out all of the restaurants and how good the food was. So, let’s get to the trip I can talk about.

OK, for starters you have to get the Bone Marrow Fries. Like these things are unreal! Shoestring fries topped with bone marrow, arugula, balsamic redux and truffle parmesan. The appetizer is enough for four people so when there’s only two of us we take half home and have them for lunch the next day. I also wanted Table Bread – which comes with Wee Mac Pub Cheese (Wee Mac is a local SunKing craft beer), butter and lemon butter. Did we need the bread? Absolutely not, but should you 100% get it anyway- yes! Ummm… lemon butter, not sure I’ve ever had it, but WOW – it’s just the right mix of sweet and salty-creamy. I also ordered a Watermelon Mojito which was different (I’m not sure when a Mojito stops being a Mojito technically and just becomes another rum cocktail) – but then inspired me to buy more watermelon flavored alcohol later in the evening.😏

On to the main course – I had a hard time deciding between fish tacos and the beef Manhattan, so I totally ordered the steak special – which was steak (I can’t remember if it was ribeye, or NY strip) smothered with cheese, onions and peppers and a side of house mashed potatoes. Like a Philly cheesesteak but on a real steak. Dave ordered the Cubano with a side of southern style greens – which may have been exactly what I brought home as leftovers from my first trip. The greens are phenomenal – like better than I’ve had in the actual south phenomenal. And I don’t usually order greens as they aren’t one of my favorite side dishes. I also saw the mac-n-cheese get served to the table next to us and I’m pretty sure I’m going to need to go back. Ok, the Cubano… is not a traditional Cuban sandwich. It’s made with mojo pork belly and not lechon asado. Dave enjoyed it – very much! But, A) I don’t care for pork belly B) I’m Cuban and C) I’ve had way too many EXCELLENT Cuban sandwiches to let this pass as a Cuban sandwich. It’s Cuban sandwich adjacent – like Hoosier Cuban. Hmmm… that could be thing.

And yes, they have a tenderloin sandwich (note: FARM does not have a tenderloin). Other things on the menu that I might know about, would be the smoked pork chop – which is like 3 inches thick and the size of the plate. Like where are they getting these pigs from? Our waitress was the sweetest and offered her opinions on all the food and checked in on us regularly. While we were sitting there, Dave said he didn’t even feel like he was in a restaurant in Indiana. He said he easily could have pictured this somewhere in South Carolina by a beach.

PS – Ole Smokey Salted Watermelon moonshine and ginger ale over ice is top notch! Lainey Wilson’s song Watermelon Moonshine may have inspired me. Along with the watermelon mojito.

OK travelers, sorry for the temporary foodie blog but truly some amazing places to eat. Also, check out downtown Fortville, their Main St. has tons of restaurants and shops. Travel tip: stop in random small towns – this message is brought to you by someone who has to travel to random small towns for work then drags her hubby and/or kids back to the locations on the weekends to explore more.

In this blog: Barns – yes (there is a poster of Hoosier Barns in the bathroom at Farm). Brews – yes (SunKing Wee Mac [in the cheese] and Brown County Coffee). Backroads – yes… I mean kind of… getting to Fortville is slightly backroads-y.

Next up – Chicago (it’s Indiana adjacent).