There is something different at the former Something Different location at 86th and Allisonville. The Chicago-based Adobo Grill is opening for business in that location tonight. What a thought – a new upscale restaurant in Indianapolis that's not a steak house! Can Indianapolis support Mexican fine dining? Only time will tell. But I think so, based on the number of customers who have visited it in Old Town, and rave about it and their trademark "tableside guacamole preparation." And last week, we got a chance to try it at their preview party.

Having lived my entire life in Indianapolis, I can remember not so long ago when the only Mexican restaurant was Acapulco Joe's. It's a little amazing to me now how almost every strip center has sprouted a rice and beans Mexican restaurant. And that type of eating helped turn me into a XXL, so I sort of avoid them. But Mexican fine dining is quite another matter. Rick Bayless initiated the concept at Frontera Grill in Chicago in 1987, and Adobo followed in 2000. I'm glad to see that it has finally arrived in Indianapolis.

Now, I don't like the idea of reviewing a restaurant based on a media preview dinner, but in this case, they did such a nice job, that I'll take the risk. So, having delivered my "Caveat Emptor," here is what Linda and I thought.

For starters, it's a very nice makeover of the physicial space with a very open, contemporary feel, done in lots of peach and clay tones and halogen lighting contrasted by some traditional lighting. The Hispanic touches are conveyed with the bright Diego Rivera styled artwork on the walls, pine floors, hammered flatware and heavy stoneware dishes. They have also maintained the outside seating, where we had our appetizers on a beautiful spring evening.

The beverage selection included more specialty Margaritas and Mexican beers than I could count. The wine selection was a little weak with eight whites and 11 reds available by the bottle and four of each available by the glass. Markups were the usual triple retail, but wine really isn't what this restaurant is about.

Their real specialties seem to be margaritas served "up" prepared in very noisy cocktail shakers and served in martini glasses. And, since this was a free event, and most of the guests were media types, there was certainly a lot of shaking and pouring going on. They did have a very respectable Altos Malbec that Linda and I had with dinner. And, although we were the only people in the room drinking wine, it really did pair very well with the food.

The nice part about this type of event is that you get to try a lot of things and we did our best. Of the five appetizers passed around, the two little tostadas were our favorites. The achiote-marinated chicken with black beans and sour cream were piled high with very tasty chicken, and the shrimp ceviche with pico de gallo was full of flavor without setting your tongue on fire. They followed the tostadas with Sopes, which are little masa cups filled with "stuff" and topped with sour cream and fresco cheese. The first was a chicken Tinga, basically the same chicken as on the tostada.... very good. The second was my favorite, spicy ground chorizo with an ancho sauce.... great! And the third may be an acquired taste...plantain with mole negro sauce... not bad, just very different.

After cocktails and appetizers outside, we were seated and orders were taken while fresh guacamole was prepared tableside using a stone mortar and pestle on an entire avocado, fresh garlic and spices. Served with very crisp, fresh chips, this could have been the appetizer all by itself. At this point we thought "okay... lets get on with the real food." But no, the first choices on our menus were more starters. Accepting the challenge, I chose the Empanadas, which Linda said made my forehead sweat, but I thought were just great. The subtly-spiced corn masa pastries stuffed with creamy cheeses and chilies came with a delicious tomatillo salsa. Linda chose the chicken tamales that contained some ancho-spiced chicken in a traditional corn meal wrapper that was a little thick for our taste, but still pretty tasty.

The entrées then made their appearance and I cannot say enough good things about the Poc Chuc... a bone-in pork chop that had been marinated, pounded thin, grilled and served with black beans, pickled purple onions, chiltomate salsa and sliced avocado. In another life, I frequently visited Tony and Vic, who owned the Stewart Cowboy Boot Company in Tucson (another long story). And I spent plenty of time in restaurants where I was the only gringo, since Tony and Vic were "honorary Mexicans" and both spoke Spanish. There, I picked up the habit of eating everything in a soft taco. So, when the entrées were accompanied a container of small flour tortillas, Linda was a little shocked when I ruined the beautiful presentation by wrapping the pork, onions and avacado in one before eating it. I was saved by one of the Mexican servers who indeed confirmed for her that it was "okay." I was not being completely gauche. In fact, he said that at his house about 12 would be consumed per person. Anyway, the pork was very tasty and well worth a try.

Linda tried the cilantro-marinated skirt steak served with grilled tomatoes and frijoles puercos, that more than met with her approval. The steak was much more tender than I would have expected, was very nicely flavored and also worked very well in the soft tortillas. She succumbed and followed suit with a tortilla after the server assured her that it was tradition.

I still can't believe we had room for dessert, but it was worth the effort. The Chocolate Tamal was a tamale wrapper tied on each end, open on top and filed with a combination of bittersweet hot fudge and dried cherries, served alongside a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Don't bother even looking at anything else on the dessert menu – it was that good.

Since our menu had no prices, I grabbed one on the way out. As we expected, dinner at Adobo is not inexpensive. However, this is a real restaurant, with a real chef, great presentation and most important... good food. Appetizers ranged from $5.95 to $8.50, entrées $12.95 to $19.95, the tableside Guacamole is $7.50 and the chocolate tamal is $6.95.

It's easy to see why these guys have been so successful in Chicago. However, we have to once again caution you, this was a preview dinner with the executive chef in the kitchen and all the best staff from Chicago helping out. But, the fundamentals look good... let us know what your experience is.

April 19, 2006