Room Four

Room Four is officially Tim's and my favorite restaurant in Indianapolis.  Greg Hardesty and his crew consistently serve up creative, delicious dishes at both Room Four and Recess.  Don't get me wrong, Recess is at the top of our list, but it's a special occasion place.  We value, well, value, and Room Four has got it.  If splurging, you can definitely rack up a bill at Room Four, but you'll still spend a lot less than you would at Recess because of RF's a la carte menu versus Recess's price fixed one.

Another thing I love about Hardesty's restaurants--he is clearly giving young chefs a hand-up.  Over the past few years, Tim and I have made RF a regular stop, visiting every-other month or so (more if we can find an excuse to, and we've introduced our fair share of out-of-towners to the place).  Two excellent chefs regularly man the RF kitchen, and we've had the pleasure of striking up a friendly banter with both of them.  They recognize us and chat with us, and can usually guess what Tim's going to order (not that it's difficult--it's usually the burger).  Through this relationship, we've discovered that they develop many of the dishes they serve, and they also seem to develop dishes for Recess, too.  I love that so many chefs are getting the chance to contribute.  It definitely seems like a real team atmosphere.

Tim and I went to Room Four on a Saturday night around 6pm.  Though we've had to wait on a few occasions when we've come with another couple, or if we've arrived much after 7pm, we generally don't have to wait for a table.  I am very happy about that on a personal level, but I do find it surprising that the place isn't packed every night--particularly weekends.

Having looked at the menu before we got there, we knew we each wanted to start with a taco.  Tim ordered the steak taco to start (skirt steak, carne asada, avocado, queso fresco, chipotle salsa, cilantro $6) and I had the fish taco (fried striped bass, shredded cabbage, radishes, lime creme, jalapenos and cilantro $6).  We both agreed that my fish would have benefited from some of the avocado and salsa from his (it was on the drier side), but the fish had a great crunch-fried texture and the cabbage/lime creme combo had a citrusy twinge.  The jalapenos made some bites pretty spicy, but you could easily remove if so desired.  His steak taco had a great marinated flavor and the salsa added a nice level of spice.  Both were served on a double layer of corn tortillas.

We also both knew that we wanted the burger that night.  It's Tim's standard (and the reason why the chefs know what he's going to order); I usually try to switch it up and try something new, but a burger just sounded perfect to me that night.  Room Four almost always has a burger of some type--often beef, but sometimes lamb--and usually topped in just slightly different ways depending what's available and fresh.  Tonight's burgers (beef from Fisher Farms) came with havarti cheese, pickles, onions, shredded romaine, and house made dijonnaise ($16).  It was a classic combo, and stellar.  I mean, just look at it!  Burgers pretty much always come with their version of fries, which are probably closer to steak fries than anything else.  They're cut thick, with a crispy outside and a soft, fluffy, potatoey inside.  So good!  And yes, it's pricey for a burger, but it's a ton of filling food, made with quality, local ingredients, and completely worth it.

Just a side note:  The tacos, like the burgers, are available most nights.  They change up the types of tacos, but there are usually 2-3 options to choose from.  The rest of the dishes DO usually completely change--Tim and I just weren't being very daring on this particular night.

The highlight of our meal was the dessert.  Now, just a disclaimer that normally Room Four pretty strictly serves ONLY what they call "Candy Bar Cookies" for dessert--a basic cookie with random types of candy bars incorporated.  They are served warm with some amazing whipped cream, and they are stellar.  But before we ordered those, one of the chefs that we've become chummy with came over and asked if were in the market for dessert.  Are we ever not?  Of course we said yes.  He brought us out one of the desserts from the Recess side that he'd had a hand in creating--hazelnut ricotta cake, sugared pecans, sabayon (a light custard), and coffee ice cream.  The cake and ice cream alone weren't very sweet, but the sabayon and nuts provided the perfect amount of sweetness.  The whole thing together was complete and delicious.  SO good.  

If you haven't tried Room Four or Recess yet, do it now.  You owe it to yourself to try these wonderful places.  Indy has some real culinary talent--now we just have to take advantage of it!

Website:  Room Four/Recess