13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Top restaurants pushing formality to the wayside

Top restaurants pushing formality to the wayside

Indianapolis - For Central Indiana's top chefs, fine dining is no longer about white tablecloths and coats and ties.

Good food is still a must, but it's gaining an artisan flair. And just as important, chefs are emphasizing fun and comfort.
     
Whether it's the craft pizza at the soon-to-open Pizzology, the wine list at The Glass Chimney or the mood music at FARMbloomington, chefs are redefining the fine-dining experience. And in doing so, they are reaching out to a broader customer base - a bit younger, a lot less formal but with high culinary expectations.
     
The nationwide trend is driven in part by the economy but also because attitudes have changed, not only among diners but also among younger chefs, who place more emphasis on the food and less on what might be perceived as "stuffy" accoutrements.
     
"I think the food is just as, or even more so, fancy and artistic as it used to be. Dining rooms are even more elegant and beautiful," said Scott Wise, owner of Scotty's Brewhouse. "But we, as people, don't want to be constrained or told we have to dress in a certain way to enjoy these meals."
     
These days, diners would be hard-pressed to find a local restaurant that requires men to wear a coat and tie. High-end hotel restaurants such as The Capital Grille, at The Conrad Indianapolis, and the Eagle's Nest atop the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis call for business casual attire. Even The Glass Chimney, the fine-dining restaurant in Carmel established by Chanteclair alumnus Dieter Puska more than 30 years ago, is adjusting to the changing times and relaxing its dress code.
     
"People are more casual," said Elizabeth Yinger, manager of The Glass Chimney, which Puska sold when he retired last year. "We're asking for business casual instead of coat and tie."
     
The goal, she said, is to reach out to younger diners, those in their 30s and 40s, who may not be in the habit of dressing up for dinner.
     
"We definitely see an age difference," said Yinger, who has been with the restaurant for 25 years. "Forty-something and up, gentlemen do wear jackets, and we'll see women in cocktail dresses or a beautiful, elegant pantsuit."
     
Some of those diners take offense when other customers arrive wearing jeans, and Yinger said she tries to seat such patrons well apart from one another. "I still hear those comments," she said. "Some people do get offended after they've made the effort" to dress up.
     
Still, Yinger said the restaurant has to be more flexible - and not just when it comes to what people wear.
     
The Glass Chimney's wine list, for example, includes more moderately priced bottles, as well as half bottles and more wines by the glass. A half-price margarita special offered this past summer was popular.
     
Such a deal-driven focus might sound unseemly for typical fine-dining establishments, but as Wise put it, "formality has been pushed to the wayside."
     
That's exactly what Bloomington chef Daniel Orr did when he opened FARMbloomington.
     
Orr has worked at New York City restaurants such as La Grenouille, which Zagat's restaurant guide calls "the last of New York's great, classic French restaurants," known for its elegant cuisine and extravagant fresh flowers. But when he came home to Indiana to launch FARMbloomington, he created a casual, countrified take on upscale cuisine.
     
"We do a twist on fine dining and call our cooking 'fun dining,"' Orr said. "We still like to turn the lights down, decorate with flowers and have candles on the tables, but we also have Elvis Costello playing in the background."
     
Indy's not alone in the trend toward fine food served downscale. Famed Chicago chef Rick Bayless, the reigning king of high-end Mexican cuisine, recently opened Xoco, his venture into casual dining. New York's hottest young chef, David Chang, has won acclaim with innovative dishes served in neighborhood bar-type surroundings. Even Thomas Keller, perhaps America's most acclaimed chef, added a value menu of sorts at Per Se, his New York cathedral to good taste.
     
Closer to home, Greg Hardesty, well-known in local fine-dining circles for his now-closed upscale restaurant Elements, is preparing to open a new casual venue with a playful name: Recess.
     
"I'm just trying to take the stuffy feel out of it," said Hardesty, who will open Recess late this year at 49th Street and College Avenue. "It's going to be the same quality food."
     
Local chef Neal Brown, who closed his sophisticated L'Explorateur early this year, also is going casual. Pizza parlor casual.
     
His upcoming Pizzology, which will focus on craft pizzas, pasta and seasonal salads, is already generating buzz. The restaurant will open soon at 131st Street and Hazel Dell Parkway in Carmel.
     
Such casual establishments, with their focus on seasonal, artisan fare, may eventually become the new fine-dining norm. And that is apparently just fine with diners, especially when that more casual ambience is combined with greater value on the menu.
     
Seventy-five percent of diners surveyed by the National Restaurant Association late last year said they would visit full-service restaurants more often if they offered specials such as frequent-diner discounts and smaller portions for a lower price.
     
Still, chefs argue that ultimately success - and fine dining - is defined by what you put on the plate.
     
"I don't think that what you have to wear has anything to do with fine dining," said chef Tony Hanslits, dean of culinary education at The Chef's Academy. "It's about good food and good service. To me, that's fine dining."

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)