As I dig into my mailbag once again, it was a little bare, but there was plenty of quality to offset the quantity.
The first query, however, was one that I have answered many times over the years and one which, honestly, I thought I might not see again given the way the restaurant scene has progressed over my time as a reviewer.
Q. I enjoy reading your reviews even though I can’t realistically eat vegan at most locations, I wondered if in your wanderings you could check the menu, or ask if the restaurant has any vegan offerings? We love eating out, but options are seriously limited unless we want a salad and vegan burger.
We do frequent Loving Cafe and a couple of other places that are vegan-friendly.
Even if you don’t sample the food, it would be helpful to us vegans to know if we have unexplored options.
– Kathy Foreman, Fort Wayne
A. I usually mention when places have a larger than normal amount of vegan or gluten-free dishes, but I honestly have stopped making a concerted effort to do so because so many places have vegan and/or vegetarian dishes as part of their regular menu even if they don’t consider it part of their overall theme.
The days of those dishes being novel are long gone as healthier eating habits have immersed themselves into the mainstream.
But I do try to include healthy dishes in every review and am always willing to try vegan/vegetarian offerings that are unique and enticing. As a matter of fact, you can read about one such vegan dish in my upcoming review Saturday.
Q. I really enjoy your reviews in the paper! Excellent.
Is there any restaurant in Fort Wayne that offers tagine on the menu?
– Michael Noll, Fort Wayne
A. I am not sure I have ever seen the traditional North African pottery-cooked stew on a menu in all my years. Deema Turkish Cuisine, 6410 W. Jefferson Blvd., is the one place that might do it as a special. There simply are not enough ethnic restaurants in these parts from the regions where tagine is popular, so I am afraid you will have to journey to a bigger metro area to find it.
The closest thing to it I have seen offered was the breakfast specialty shakshuka, which was a trendy offering at some higher-end places a few years back, but even at its trendy height it was scarcely seen.
Q. Can you review the Draft Taproom, 1833 N. Wells?
Thank you,
– Angela Dunn via Facebook Messenger
A. This was one of several requests I received recently to check out new restaurants. And, yes, Angela, I can review Draft Taproom and you can read it in The Journal Gazette on Saturday!
That said, I did not include the other requests and have not trekked to many of the places suggested because I use a rather stringent – but not exact – method of sorting requests.
Quick social media messages or even emails from folks I have never heard from before are always sort of tabled until I hear from a handful of people suggesting a spot. I often fear employees or owners of a restaurant will try and get some free publicity by sending me a request posing as a reader.
I also do not follow the herd when it comes to trendy spots that are blowing up on social media because those who follow the herd many times will laud a place just to fit in with the cool crowd.
It takes several suggestions via those routes before I really consider a place.
I also have my crew, or posse, or troop, or whatever the kids these days call their inner circle. I would like to think it is my entourage, but I am not that special. These are trusted food-savvy friends I have grown to trust based on the suggestions they make and the connections we have.
There is Mark Meyer, whose name you may recognize as the person who started and still runs The World Says Eat Me ethnic food tour. A world traveler who is always game for an out-of-the-way authentic ethnic restaurant, his suggestions bring much knowledge and experience. He also has been great at stealing great little eateries I have discovered and claiming them as his own for his tour fans and for stealing the last bite of the best salmon nigiri I have ever had on a review trip. But I digress …
Then there is second-generation pizza maker Alex Demetroff, who learned his craft from his parents – founders of Alexander’s and the Lexy’s Pizza chain – and who handed off his creation, Riverbend Pizza, to his daughters when he retired some years ago.
A strongly opinionated Macedonian, Alex is never afraid to tell me when I am wrong, and he never pulls punches when it comes to his opinion on a dish or a restaurant.
And, finally, there is local beekeeper and master honey producer Glenn Hile, a Southerner whose polite opinions and delivery are in stark contrast to Demetroff’s, but they bring the same weight in terms of being solid.
And though I must thank them for all of their great help over the years, I also need to thank all of you – my readers.
So many of you have passed along great suggestions and shared their opinions on my work – whether you agree or disagree with me – over the years in my email inbox and on social media.
It makes my job a lot easier, and it keeps me on my toes – especially when you think I am wrong!
Ryan DuVall is a restaurant critic for The Journal Gazette.Email him at [email protected]; call at 461-8130. DuVall’s past reviews can be found at www.journalgazette.net. You can follow him on X and Instagram @DiningOutDuVall.