Out in the Indianapolis area recently for a surprise birthday/retirement party for a friend of ours, after the party was over and the clean-up had finished, we went with the couple to the wife's chiropractic clinic in Noblesville to drop some things off. My wife and I didn't have any plans for dinner and we sort of figured that our friends would be hanging with his family who had come to the party earlier in the day. "My family all went home," he said as we finished putting stuff away in the garage at the clinic. My wife suggested we do something for dinner. I had mentioned a place that I had eaten at near a lake and they thought that sounded good. We went ahead of them as they had to go home and drop off some more things leftover from the party. But when we go to the place, there were three things that were wrong - 1) This wasn't the same place that I was thinking about; 2) My wife went in and checked on the place and found that it was packed; and 3) Their air-conditioning was on the fritz and it was hot in there.
Looking for a quick Plan B, I remembered a brewpub in nearby Westfield that we had passed by earlier in the day and my wife did a quick look-up on the place. My wife called them up to see if they had a full bar (they did) and if they had food (they did). When she asked if they had room for 4, she was told they could get us in right away. We called our friends and pulled a 180 on dinner plans. They were up for a visit to Field Brewing.
Greg and Jackie Dikos aren't your typical brewery/restaurant owners. Greg is an orthopedic surgeon at OrthoIndy, a large orthopedic medical facility that partners with multiple hospitals and surgery centers in and around Indianapolis. Jackie is a clinical dietician who is also a marathon runner who participated in the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic trials. After Greg graduated from the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis in 2008, he took an orthopedic trauma fellowship in Germany for a year. In 2010, he took another orthopedic trauma fellowship position at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Pictured right - Jackie and Greg Dikos. Photo courtesy Towne Post Network.
While living in Seattle, Greg and Jackie found a new love for craft beer. Greg had a degree in biochemistry and had been brewing his own beers at home for a few years. But the craft beer industry in Seattle was on another plane well above the brewpubs they had experienced in the Midwest. Most of the brewpubs there offered artisan foods that was much better than the regular pub-style food they found back home. And there seemed to be a sense of community with the Seattle-area brewpubs where kids were welcome to dine with their parents.
Moving back to the Indianapolis area in 2011, Greg and Jackie found themselves with two boys and getting settled into the community. By 2016, the couple realized they could build a brewpub that was similar to the ones they remembered in Seattle with good beer with a dedicated brewer; good food with a dedicated chef; and a place that fit within the community.
Westfield was a growing area north of Indianapolis nestled in between Carmel to the south, Fishers to the east and Noblesville to the northeast. They found a piece of ground at the corner of E. Main Street (Indiana State Highway 32) and Cherry Street in Westfield in early 2017. (see map) The couple had hoped to begin building their brewery/restaurant operation by mid-year and open in early 2018. But the local city council had some concerns about the brewpub including the fact that they would only have 13 parking spots for the business. After all concerns were countered by the Dikos, work began on the building in late 2017.
Hoping to offer a variety of foods from local sources, the Dikos brought in Alan Sternberg who had been a chef consultant after a stint as a head chef. And to head up the brewing operations, Rian Umbach was hired as the head brewer. Umbach had been an associate brewer at the Moerlein Lager House in Cincinnati. Through a couple more delays, they were able to open Field Brewing in early October of 2018. In 2019, Indianapolis Monthly magazine named Field Brewing the best new restaurant in greater Indianapolis. (After getting the kitchen up and running, Sternberg left later that year for another job and today Scott Atkins is the head chef at Field Brewery.)
Initially, the brewpub opened at 7 a.m. and offered grab-and-go breakfast items, as well as gourmet coffee, espresso, and breakfast drinks. That part of the operation was closed up during the pandemic and didn't start up again. However, they do offer coffee and espresso for after an after dinner choice.
Parking is definitely a problem at Field Brewing with just a handful of spots. There was a parking lot across the street, but it said that it was private parking. (That didn't stop some people who came into Field Brewing later from parking there.) But there was a parking lot south of Field Brewing that had signage designating space for patrons of Field Brewing. That's where we both ended up parking when we got there.
As you enter Field Brewing, the bar is off to the side. It wasn't very long - about 8 seats total - and was partitioned off with a half fence to keep minors from coming up to the bar. The list of current beers was on the wall near the bar.
The main dining area was part of the large room that contained the bar. A number of tables with mismatched chairs - many of them were repurposed from old schools in the area - were scattered across the dining space. It was very well lit with both large windows allowing natural light to come in and large light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. Light sconces on the wall allowed for additional lighting above banquette seating. The tables could be easily moved on the concrete floor for larger groups. To be quite honest, the atmosphere was rather sterile at Field Brewery.
There is a large outdoor patio/game area just off to the side of the dining area. Just beyond the outdoor patio was a smaller building that is used for groups, parties or private events. It had rained earlier in the day and there was still a heaviness to the air with all the humidity. Other than that, it would have been a nice night to sit on the patio.
Before we were seated, I decided to go to the restroom and wash up. Walking back toward the restroom, I was able to see into the large open kitchen they have at Field Brewing. The kitchen was bustling when we first walked in, but by the time we were getting ready to leave it around 9 p.m., it was pretty quiet.
We were seated at a table in the center of the dining area and given food menus to look over. It wasn't long before we were greeted by our server that evening, a really laid-back guy by the name of Mitch. Mitch was a great server for us all night long. He asked us what we wanted to drink and I was sort of surprised our male friend ordered a Bull Pen Bavarian Pale Ale. He and his wife aren't big drinkers and I'm not certain if I've ever seen him drink a beer. His wife ordered an Amaretto sour, which didn't surprise me as she had the same thing the night before when we went out to dinner. My wife got her usual Tito's and cranberry juice, and I ordered their Camshaft hazy IPA.
Our male friend didn't think much of the Bavarian Pale Ale - he was hoping to get a German-style wheat beer, but they didn't have that on tap that night. Mitch suggested that our friend get a beer flight. Our friend thought that would be a great idea and he told Mitch what he liked. Moments later, Mitch came back with five samples - the Luna White IPA (an American IPA and Belgian wheat beer combo); the Cream of the Crop cream ale; the Dopple Dribble doppelbock; the du Champ Ouest (French for West Field) saison beer; and the Red Handed red ale/IPA combo. While he didn't care for the Luna White IPA or cream ale, he really liked the saison best. And he declared that it was probably a tie between the doppelbock and the red ale/IPA as his second most favorite. He ended up getting a snifter of the saison.
While the food menu wasn't extensive, it was pretty interesting. Field Brewing's menu changes seasonally depending upon what local food sources they can get hold off. Appetizers included wings, a soft beer pretzel, loaded fries with parmesan ranch and beer cheese, and a fried chicken salad served on flat bread with bitter greens and herbs, with black pepper, lemon and topped with a Spanish koji fermented hot sauce. They had burgers made with quality beef from Fischer Farms, a marinated grilled chicken sandwich, and a couple three pasta dishes that included a rigatoni pasta with marinated grilled chicken in a feta cheese/vodka sauce. That one sounded pretty good to me.
Our male guest got the Lime Leaf Curry Rice Noods - a complete vegan dish consisting of noodles and rice with a house-made coconut lime/greens curry, stir-fried mushrooms, chopped eggplant, broccoli, and baby bok choy. He thought he'd better go vegan since his party was catered by one of my favorite Indian restaurants in Indianapolis, Amber Indian Cuisine in Carmel and he'd had a lot of curry chicken and butter chicken earlier in the day. Our friend thought his noodle/rice dish was outstanding.
My wife and our female friend got the same thing - the Denver Steak Frites. It featured an 8 ounce Fischer Farms sirloin steak cut into strips sitting on a bed of hand-cut steak fries drizzled with a smoked house-made Thousand Island dressing. My wife got a side of grilled Brussels sprouts. My wife ordered her steak medium-rare and it came out what I would call rare-plus. But she ate it and she was more than happy with the steak. I had to try some of her steak fries and they were great - they had a nice puffy inner core with a crisp outer shell.
I, too, had eaten a lot of Indian food at the party (and there was a lot left over), and I really wasn't certain what I wanted - or even if I wanted anything. But there was one thing that just jumped out at me when I first looked at the menu - the chile verde meatloaf sandwich. It came with a spicy tomato mayo and pickled jalapeños. I thought that would be good without the bread, so I asked Mitch if I could just get the meatloaf on its own. I also had my choice of sides and I had my choice of mac & cheese, fries, Brussels sprouts or soup. I really didn't want any of those and was still demurring about even getting a side when my wife said, "Can you just get a side salad for a side?" Mitch said that would be no problem.
And I have to say the meat loaf was outstanding in flavor. The green chile sauce was grilled onto the slice and it was topped with mild pickled jalapeños. The beef was tender and juicy, and the zippiness of the michelada spicy tomato sauce helped wake up my taste buds. I would have no problem getting that again if I went back to Field Brewing.
Knowing that Field Brewing had A) amaretto; B) an espresso machine; and C) vanilla ice cream on their dessert menu, I contemplated getting an affogato for after dinner. But given all the food I had eaten that day, I wasn't certain that I could eat another bite. But I would have to think that having affogato with amaretto after having the spiciness of the meat loaf would have just exploded on my taste buds. Oh well... Next time...
And I hope there is a next time at Field Brewing. It thought the hazy IPA I had there was very good, and the green chile meatloaf was outstanding. The service we had from Mitch that evening was exemplary, and everyone loved the food they got. I can't think of one negative thing about our visit to Field Brewing. This is definitely an upscale brewpub that focuses on a community feel, something that other Midwestern brewpubs could learn from. (Photo courtesy Field Brewing Facebook page.)
Comments