Two weeks ago, I was able to take my first Saturday off since August. So, Linda and I decided to revisit the new Indianapolis Museum of Art and have lunch at Puck's restaurant. Back in June of 2005, we visited the museum, had lunch at Puck's and wrote a review for the newsletter. On that visit, the museum had only one floor open and was a bit of a disappointment, but the lunch was great. This time, Puck's had just received more bad press than most restaurants could survive. It seems that they horribly botched a catering job for the grand reopening gala in December. However, we had a day off together and the entire museum was now open. So, with lowered expectations for lunch and high expectations for art, we returned to the scene of our last review.
I have long been an admirer of Wolfgang Puck. I always enjoyed his food when he was chef at the sorely missed LaTour in downtown Indianapolis and I'd also enjoyed Spago in Los Angeles. Our first review visit and two subsequent dining trips had been excellent. So, how bad could it be... we were not attending a catered event.
We arrived about noon with a reservation and the place was already buzzing with activity. We were once again immediately seated at what we thought was the best booth in the house — directly in the center of the floor, in front of the windows that overlook the museum's centerpiece Sutphin fountain, which, by the way, has been completely restored and now sits in a lovely courtyard. It's obvious that this is a spot fond to the "Ladies who Lunch" since I was one of only two men in the restaurant. However, since they have not been greedy with space and left plenty of room between tables, the four large tables of eight or more celebrating birthdays and the like barely disturbed us.
The restaurant itself is very spacious with towering ceilings, comfortable oversize chairs and intimate booths. Decorated in soft browns and tans, the room is lit by the floor-to-ceiling windows that run the entire length of the dining room.
The room was heavily populated with wait staff, and we noticed at least two members of the staff that were there on our first visit — a good sign. Our very experienced server did a professional and unobtrusive job of making our lunch pleasant. The wine list is still brief, but well-chosen, with markups a bit high, about 2.5 times retail, but still better than many downtown Indianapolis restaurants. The new vintage of the Qupe Marsanne we had on our first trip was still there at $34 per bottle. This is a Santa Barbara take on a wonderful Rhône white varietal; it was crisp and clean and paired wonderfully with lunch.
The first treat is still one of the best bread baskets I have ever experienced in Indianapolis. It included a pungent Parmesan flat bread, tender sourdough slices and a slightly sweet, fluffy corn bread that made me want a bowl of bean soup. We began by sharing Puck's signature dish, a barbecue Chicken Pizza. With a price of only $8, we expected an appetizer-sized portion, but instead a steaming ten-inch pizza arrived at our table. As good as we remembered (I think from restaurant at the Los Angeles airport), the crust was thin, the sauce understated, and the cheese and toppings delicious. In fact, I have to confess that we warmed up the two leftover pieces we took home and had them for breakfast on Sunday. Then we were so inspired that we made our own (this week's recipe) for dinner.
The main courses included ten options that ranged from the simple to the sublime — cheeseburgers to a steamed salmon with ginger, chili, garlic and jasmine rice. Since we could only try two (we need to start taking more people on these expeditions!) Linda had a four-cheese ravioli filled with a rich, creamy blend of ricotta, Parmesan, goat cheese and fresh mozzarella, and covered with a wonderful tomato basil sauce. Did I say rich? There is some guilt involved here, but it's very tasty.
I wanted something really interesting and went for a grilled shrimp BLT. Served on toasted sourdough, the grilled shrimp rested on bed of crisp, thick, peppered bacon and were topped off with lettuce, tomato, avocado and an herbed aioli. This was a seriously good sandwich but beware... it's accompanied by more perfectly prepared homemade potato chips than any human should be allowed to eat. Did I mention large? Every lunch entrée I saw being served looked like it could feed two people. Our conclusion: Whatever was wrong with the catering department, since the Star reported the at least two people lost their jobs, has not affected the dining room. It was an altogether excellent luncheon experience. Lunch starters were $6 to $12, lunch main courses $10 to $16, and our reasonably decadent lunch with wine was about $75 before tip.
Puck's
IMA 4000 Michigan Road (317) 955-2315
Lunch Tuesday through Sunday 11:30 am - 2 pm
Dinner Thursday through Saturday 5 pm - 9 pm
The New IMA
We attempted to walk off lunch in the new museum and with all three floors now open, you certainly have the space to do it. It's amazing how much larger the museum feels than before — even if they didn't actually double the display space, it sure feels like it. They have eliminated the $7 admission fee, so it's now a bargain to boot.
What impressed us even more than the size of the museum was the effort they have made to create what I think is the most user-friendly art museum I have ever visited. Admit it, you slept through art appreciation in college, too. How many art museums have you wandered through, lingering in front of masterpieces without having a clue who the artist really was or what the painting depicts? Last summer, we visited both MoMA and the Met in New York. We spent hours in the galleries and I think we appreciated most of what we saw. However, I am convinced that that we learned more about the art we saw in the two hours we spent at the IMA than we did in two days in New York.
Each painting now has one card on the wall that gives a brief biography of the artist and a second card that gives you a little background on the subject of the painting. Learning where the artist lived, what school he belonged to and that the subject was his mistress makes the painting more interesting. Learning that the small bronzes by Rodin were his models for the "Gates of Hell," arguably the most famous sculpture of the 19th Century, certainly made me pay a lot more attention to them. It's a little like what we do with wine by offering the magazine reviews. I cannot tell you how much more interesting it made the viewing to know a little bit about the artist and where and why he painted the picture. The only down side is that it takes a lot longer to walk the galleries now and you really can't afford to forget your reading glasses.
Bravo! The IMA did it right — it's all open and it's free! Go see art....
