My daughter has been throwing these awful tantrums lately. Sometimes they make me proud— She is willful and persistent. Like her mommy, she takes no sh*t. I know that when she grows up, she will get everything she wants out of life because of these particular qualities that she could only have inherited from me.
Other times, they drive me up the friggin’ wall.
So, after a particularly bad tantrum and a long week filled with the flu (which I selflessly shared with my fiancé), I was ready for a night out. My mom left with the baby for their annual sleepover and I made the executive decision; Date night!
This decision was perhaps influenced by the fact that Bluebeard was serving up golden tilefish. And if I have one hard and fast rule in my life it is this: when you find golden tilefish, you eat golden tilefish.
We’d been to Bluebeard before—overdressed. We sat in the main dining room and while I was impressed by the interesting menu items, and the panzanella, I have to say I didn’t get what all the buzz was about. We had ordered a pork belly ramen and a pan o’ shrimp that can only be described as impeccably balanced.
It was good, but it wasn’t bringing me back. But after some insistence that, perhaps I had made a poor entrée selection, we decided to give it another go—my fiancé is, after all, a massive fan of Kurt Vonnegut and many of the drinks are named in his honor.
The hostess insisted that if we wanted to get the full experience, we should sit at the bar—which was charmingly elbow to elbow. The bartenders are constantly doing interesting things like pounding sugars and herbs in little mesh bags and the energy of the place makes is reminiscent of oceans, chaotically peaceful.
Each item on the menu is unassuming, labeled simply as “Bread” or “Brownie.” Do not be fooled by this. “Brownie” is hardly identifiable as brownie here. We ordered “Brownie” and we received this beautiful stratification of chocolate mousse, salted caramel, peanut butter, and Luxardo cherry reduction that should NOT have worked out. It should have been overly rich and toothache-y.
It was not.
“Brownie” was exactly what I have learned to expect from Bluebeard—impeccably balanced. Just like the “Quail” served with beluga lentils, “Baby Octopus” with squid ink noodles and “Golden Tilefish” swimming in a delicious buttery broth with radishes (yes, radishes in warm buttery broth… who knew!?).
My conclusion? If you want ease out of your comfort zone and try something new and exciting in a non-threatening way, Bluebeard’s your guy. Because sometimes we all need a bit more balance in our lives.
And don’t forget to pay your respects to Vonnegut’s typewriter on the way out the door.
KC Chan is a senior majoring in English at Marian University. Born in Indianapolis, KC has lived in many towns in the area, including Martinsville, Avon, Greenwood, and Beech Grove. KC works at the MU Writing Center, and in her spare time enjoys growing her own food, cooking, and exploring Indy’s restaurant scene.
