Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2015 i Indianapolis Monthly

I IN PHILIP GULLEY’S COLUMN this month (“Annoyance Next Door,” p. 46), he invokes the old proverb “good fences make good neighbors.” But when you live in closer quarters than an idyllic street in Danville—whether it be in a condo, townhome, or, as I do, in a Victorian double—you may have no more between you and your neighbors than some drywall. Add in barking dogs, loud TVs, and creaking bedsprings, and those sheets of plaster can quickly become that thin line between love and hate. NEW YEAR, NEW US Get excited: Indianapolis Monthly will debut a new look and logo next month! That’s why my husband and I consider ourselves doubly lucky. Not only did we find a historic home we cherish, with elaborate woodwork and stained glass, but the…

If the HGTV hit Fixer Upper inspires you, do yourself a favor and stop by Carmel’s Rusted Window before putting a sledgehammer through any walls. No, you can’t take home the show’s sweetheart costar, Chip Gaines, to open up your floor plan. But his decorator wife, Joanna, would swoon over the boutique’s feed-sack pillows, milk-jug vases, and distressed baker’s racks. In true Fixer Upper style, shopkeeper Stacy Molander blends some girly accents with the country-grunge. Rimmed glasses are inscribed with “Beer Snob”in gold ($14 each). Metallic fonts jazz up framed sentiments, such as “You are my bucket list.” Thimblepress’s state flower collection renders peonies in the shape of Indiana and includes a packet of seeds. Don’t miss the clothing rack if you swear by loose tunics and layering pieces in…

MUSIC 12/4 SLEATER-KINNEY Carrie Brownstein (better known for her role on Portlandia) and company are back together after an eight-year hiatus. The indie trio will rock the Egyptian Room. oldnationalcentre.com 12/4–23 YULETIDE CELEBRATION The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s seasonal spectacular turns 30 this year. To celebrate, quick-change artists David & Dania will join the usual singers, dancers, and puppeteers at the Hilbert Circle Theatre. indianapolissymphony.org 12/11–13 STRAIGHT NO CHASER Touring in support of its fifth album, The New Old Fashioned, the Hoosier a cappella group will no doubt perform plenty of carols at its Murat Theatre show. oldnationalcentre.com 12/14 MESSIAH SING-ALONG Warm up your hallelujahs. This performance of Handel’s holiday staple at the Indiana Landmarks Center requires full audience participation. icomusic.org 12/18–19 DASH AWAY ALL The dashing Indianapolis Men’s Chorus performs…

ONE TUESDAY this past summer, Betty Cockrum, president of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky (PPINK), opened an email that would shape the rest of her year. A video circulating online about Planned Parenthood was igniting a firestorm, it said. She skimmed the message, saw the video, and clicked “play.” As she watched, Cockrum initially thought the footage looked like the familiar “gotcha” videos she had seen from other anti-abortion activists. Released by a group called the Center for Medical Progress, this clip had the same secret, undercover look. The images showed a Planned Parenthood physician talking to people who (off-camera) were posing as vendors. But this one was markedly different in terms of content. Comprised of scenes of the doctor talking about fetal tissue donation, the video followed up…

PHOTO OP As the national PR disaster that was the Religious Freedom Restoration Act unfolded, Visit Indy encouraged residents to show some pride by posing as the “I” in the newly iconic NDY SCULPTURES . Some of our favorite pics: YUPPIE MIXER A kind of little sibling to the Indianapolis Zoo’s big-ticket annual fundraiser, Zoobilation, ZOOLALA gives young professionals an opportunity to dress up and party down at the Zoo for nearly half the price. The $150 ticket includes food and drinks from local chefs and bartenders, along with live music and dancing. “You put everyone that age in one setting, and it just creates a fun night where you’re bouncing from person to person and room to room,” says Amanda Dorman, a 2015 attendee helping to plan the next…

I “I was born in iniquity, raised in chaos, and survived destruction. Ever since I can remember, I wanted to be in the military, serve in combat, and be a hero of some sort. I had no idea that events in my life would turn me from a would-be hero to a convicted killer and villain to so many.” —from Mark Nicholson’s working book manuscript Beneath the Indianapolis City-County Building, in stuffy Court 21, Mark Nicholson found himself locked in the kind of gritty legal battle that has defined the last two decades of his life. The public defender began to deliver a closing argument so perfectly pitched, so emotional, that his co-counsel and the judge would later say he appeared to be on the verge of tears. But first, he…

IT WOULD BE TOO EASY to call Rosa Hanslits Indianapolis food royalty. It would also be true. The Italian-born matriarch of Nicole-Taylor’s Pasta has been feeding and inspiring hungry diners for more than three decades. “I guess that makes us the old people on the block,” says Hanslits. The “us” she’s referring to includes Rosa and her chef husband, Tony Hanslits, who were doing locally sourced food before locally sourced was a thing. They’ve owned and operated Italian restaurants (Tavola di Tosa and Tosa EuroCafe in Broad Ripple); sold their fresh-made pastas at farmers markets for years; and moved the business into a retail space in 2009, where they continue to host private weekly dinners in the kitchen. What does the woman who learned to cook at the feet of…

HOME-EC TEACHERS, prepare to be schooled. Kyle Harrell and Tracy Wojtas of retro-rad pie company Lattice & Lard are giving traditional, window ledge–worthy recipes delicious makeovers with flakycrusted hits like bourbon-bacon-pecan, blueberry-basil, and apple with applewood-smoked bacon. The couple has years of restaurant experience but no formal culinary training, having met as servers at the restaurant inside Trader’s Point Creamery and embarked on their own pie-making adventure when the house baker quit. “We thought we could figure out how to do it ourselves,” says Harrell. He was right. With the support of their bosses, they baked, tweaked, and sampled until everyone was happy. Lattice & Lard pies eventually made their way to the cooling racks at such culinary powerhouses as Goose the Market and Wildwood Market, and the couple now…

YOUR MOTHER always told you to put on clean underwear in case you were in a car accident. What I recently discovered on my own is don’t wear sparkly purple toenail polish either, because you just might have to visit the emergency room after you trip off a curb, endure searing pain, watch your ankle swell up like a softball, and discuss your toes with a physician. Looking back on the accident, I don’t really know if I missed the curb or was expecting a curb and, ironically, stumbled down a wheelchair ramp. Whatever the case, my germophobia was to blame. You see, I was enjoying a chicken-salad sandwich at Arby’s, and here came a woman covered with an angry red pox that I did not wish to contract. And…

Some say the 33-year-old from Anderson, who recently left his home in Carmel for Nashville, Tennessee, has yet to earn proper recognition for his talent. That could change with his new album, Like Us. IM: ARE YOU AS ADDICTED TO THE SHOW NASHVILLE AS WE ARE? I did just get one of my songs on the show this fall. It’s called “Hymn for Her,” and I wrote it back in 2012, when my wife and I found out we were going to have a baby girl. IM: HOW HAS YOUR HOOSIER UPBRINGING INFLUENCED YOUR MUSIC? The first thing I think about when I’m missing Indiana is driving through it—the backroads, the cornfields. That’s like home and heaven to me. That’s the setting I’m in when I’m writing lyrics. I think…

CHARLES DICKENS ONCE SLEPT at Louisville’s Galt House Hotel, so it’s no wonder the riverfront landmark celebrates A Christmas Carol on such a grand scale. Marking its sixth anniversary, the blowout holiday festival Christmas at the Galt House Hotel (Nov. 19–Dec. 27, from $179/night; 140 N. 4th St., 502-589-5200, christmasatthegalthouse.com) decks the halls with ornamentation and festivities galore. You don’t have to stay overnight to walk through KaLightoscope: A Christmas Carol Experience ($15 adults, $5 kids), a 3-D storybook of sorts that stages the favorite holiday tale with a wow-worthy series of oversized silk luminarias. Chinese artisans use traditional lantern-making materials and methods to create the 130 showy masterpieces, some up to 30 feet tall. This year sees the advent of a new Winter WonderLane that ushers guests along a…

What’s your favorite holiday song? “Ave Maria.” I performed it live with Placido Domingo—one of the highlights of my career. From your Captain Jack Sparrow parody to your recent Office Space skit, it seems like you have no problem poking fun at yourself. Why did you say yes to those opportunities? I’ve always been the class clown. My friends have known that for years. The Jack Sparrow video now has over 140 million views on YouTube, and has led to more opportunities in the comedic space. I’m embracing them. I’m a huge fan of Mike Judge, and we joke about how many Office Space DVDs I’ve signed over the years. Have you ever met anyone else named Michael Bolton? Well, as you may know, my birth name is actually Michael…

NEW ART COLLECTIVE Until this past summer, THE DROOPS had a posture problem. The Herron School of Art graduates were producing fabulous work on the bathroom walls at Milktooth and in Fountain Square clubs, but they weren’t standing up straight and demanding to be recognized. That ended with a blockbuster show at iMOCA in July, when large crowds admired their psychedelic, graffiti-inspired cartoon installations. Here, the six artists—who will have more work on display at Hotel Indigo in Columbus beginning in January—explain the meaning of several recent pieces. “AFTER MIDNIGH T” BY ALLY ALSUP “This painting is about friendships—girlhood friends, boozy-college-night friends, friendships that I’ve lost and those I hope I never will. It’s about blindly loving friends and being shaped by the women around you.” “HERE WE GO FOLKS”…

DENIM JACKET Leave it to Becca Hanson, the savvy owner of fashionforward Carmel boutiques such as 14 DISTRICTS WEEKEND , to find a denim jacket for her clients that’s as flattering as it is comfortable— two words we’ve never uttered to describe the boxy, stiff style hanging in our closet. But once you slip into the Mavi jean jacket, you get why Hanson has sold hundreds of the little denim number; it glides on like a buttery-soft cotton tee and nips in at the waist as if it’s your favorite blazer. Good luck talking yourself down from splurging on a second one in a different wash. $128. Carmel City Center, 736 Hanover Pl., Ste. 100B, Carmel, 805-1857, shop14districts.com READER’S CHOICE ANTIQUES STORE Midland Arts & Antiques Market “It’s so huge,…

AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE mixing up standards at the Elbow Room, Eli Sanchez stepped up his cocktail game with stints at Ball & Biscuit, Pure Eatery, and Thunderbird. Now, he is masterminding the drink selections at Repeal, where the bar offerings using the spirits at 12.05 Distillery next door hearken to Prohibition and before. For the holidays, Sanchez offers his spin on a 19th-century toddy from a time when homebrewers would have plenty of leftover “wort,” the sweet malt infusion that forms the base of all beers. INGREDIENTS • 1 cup Demerara sugar • 1 cup heavy whipping cream • 1 tablespoon powdered sugar • 1 tablespoon amaretto • One-pound package Briess Pilsen Light dried malt extract (available at Great Fermentations) • 1 cinnamon stick • 1 whole nutmeg,…

BUZZWORTHY Just a Taste Readers were obviously hungry for the September cover package (“Lunch Is Served”), which generated a lot of online feedback. “The Ghost Burger at Fat Dan’s is a right of passage.” Adam Byrket (@gotbillboards), via Twitter “Lunchin’: @Taylor_L_Ellis shares lingerworthy lunch stops.” Kate Burkhardt (@HCTkate), via Twitter “Best Kept Secret: Double Eagle.” Amy Friedman, via Facebook “OMG. Take my money!” Michelle Allen Peltier, via Facebook THE IM POLL WE ASKED READERS ... WHAT’S THE BEST LUNCH PLACE IN INDY? County Lines As much as I enjoy your magazine, the “Scenic Backroads” cover package (October) had one glaring omission. As you went through all 92 counties, you missed one. What about Whitley County? We have lots of fun places to visit, too. Care to visit us as well?…

Note: Data does not include preseason games or the current season. UNSPOKEN RULES YELP’S TOTALLY BAZAAR How to stay in good cheer at the smash holiday market December 10. Arrive at the Central Library early and beeline for the artisanal food vendors before their section becomes a Hunger Games outtake. / Have your Yelp app downloaded to receive a free tote quickly. / Dress in layers. It gets hot when bodies crush together for gourmet-marshmallow samples. / Plus, you might want to try on a sweater—boutiques bring racks of clothes. / Can’t squeeze into the booth with the knitted scarves? There’s another one. / Office Secret Santas, right this way to the Hoosier beer glasses. / Buy that night. You may not find these small-batch items again. / Compliment the…

I’VE LIVED IN MY HOUSE longer than I’ve lived anywhere else, and I like it so much I never want to move. It isn’t an exceptional home. People don’t slow down to look at it as they drive past. The best thing about living here is the one thing never listed on the sales sheet when a house goes on the market—I have wonderful neighbors. Most of our neighbors have lived here as long as we have, accept my eccentricities with good humor, and over the years have become my friends. I’m not one of those persons content to wave to my neighbors when I see them mowing their lawn, but otherwise ignore them. I want them as friends. I realize they didn’t move into their houses seeking friendship, but…

MALL PRETZEL It would be easy to write off this pedestrian snack as the Hot Topic of mall dining. But the warm, salty twists of dough from BEN’S SOFT PRETZELS , an Elkhart-based business with more than 40 locations, are addictive enough to put a food court out of business. Made in the Pennsylvania Dutch style from a top-secret Amish recipe, the knots have a soft, buttery skin that tears apart in chewy bites with bursts of salt and hints of sweetness. You know you’re eating a solid pretzel when you leave the gratis dipping sauce untouched for fear of masking that delicious yeasty flavor. Circle Centre, 492-9141, benspretzels.com UNEXPECTEDLY GREAT BRISKET FAT DAN’S DELI owner Dan Jarman never planned to add smoked meats to his menu of East Coast…

TO FULLY APPRECIATE the spot-on alchemy of bread and filling at Love Handle, sandwich-maker Chris Benedyk’s eastside ode to handheld dining, consider first how far we have strayed from the Earl of Sandwich’s original thesis. From the slapped-together to the over-conceptualized to the structurally unsound, misguided interpretations abound. At Love Handle, though, no-nonsense mini Pullman loaves from Amelia’s are grill-pressed around ingredients that show off Benedyk’s deep understanding of flavors and textures, everything stacked and arranged with a civil engineer’s precision for crust-tocrust consistency. On a small chalkboard menu scribbled daily, the options might include the Yanni B’s dense slices of smoked pork heart topped with fermented sour turnips and a spicy cream spread, or the McFall’s house-cured bacon and braised greens. Another tricked-out bacon sandwich layers on the nutty…

DOWNTOWN INCLUDES Fletcher Place, Fountain Square, Mass Ave, Mile Square 1913 Restaurant UPSCALE COMFORT Farm-table standards get a glossy do-over at this hotel restaurant tucked just off the polished marble lobby of the Omni Severin. The dining room, all dark lacquer and leathery browns, feels a bit stuffy, but diners easily warm up to a menu that includes a root beer–cured pork chop as big as a catcher’s mitt, topped with sweet bacon marmalade; and half a chicken roasted to a juicy, rosy hue and plated with succotash and a little tin pan of sweet corn “milk” for dipping. The sides—such as macaroni-and-cheese pie and sauteed Brussels sprouts—get passed around the table, and vintage cocktails come courtesy of skilled mixologists. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily. 40 W. Jackson Pl., 634-6664.…

1 The Juniper Spoon thejuniperspoon.com Chef and owner Lali Hess creates dinner-party menus that reflect the agricultural calendar. Translation: no asparagus in December. Fresh and seasonal are the words of the day, and Hess relishes the educational opportunity this provides for guests at in-home parties. Luckily, her boneless leg of lamb with parsley-shallot sauce is available year-round. 2 Circle City Soups circlecitysweets.com Indy’s own culinary dynamic duo, Roger and Cindy Hawkins, regularly impress diners with their hisand-hers shops Circle City Soups and Circle City Sweets, both at City Market. Outside counterservice hours, they team up to design customized menus for guests who want a perfect combination of savory and sweet. 3 Artisan Foodworks artisanfoodworks.com Many people know Samantha Aulick and Alexa Lemley for their creative 240sweet marshmallows. But few know…