Bloom Archives
Author: Dave Martin
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Restaurant Tallent: âA Contemporary American Jewelâ
BY CHRISTINE BARBOUR Big-city restaurant reviewers donât routinely come down to Bloomington on business, but Chicago Tribune writer Phil Vettel had heard good things…
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Afghan Food: Exciting, Exotic, Haunting, A Cuisine Worth Trying
BY CHRISTINE BARBOUR Afghan food tantalizes the American palate like a half-remembered melody, at once exotic and familiar. Flavors we have learned to love…
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Tasting Menus: When the Chef has Carte Blanche
BY CHRISTINE BARBOUR Sometimes you just need to leave it to the chef. You would never tell a painter how to capture a sunset,…
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The Owlery: It’s Hip, It’s Friendly, It’s Vegetarian
BY CHRISTINE BARBOUR Welcome to the Owlery, a fun and quirky eatery in Bloomington’s Near West Side neighborhood, whose name pays whimsical homage to…
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Nick’s English Hut, Still the Same, Well, Almost
BY CHRISTINE BARBOUR In the same Kirkwood Avenue location for 69 years, owned by the same man for 49 of them, Nick’s English Hut…
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My Thai Cafe: For âGorgeousâ Food & Decor
BY CHRISTINE BARBOUR When Jit Carpenter’s health required that she give up her restaurant, Jit’s Thai Cafe, last September, those of us who had…
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âDon’t Mess with Lennie’s Menu!â Its Longtime Customers Warn
BY CHRISTINE BARBOUR It was boredom with the pizza delivery business that got Mease and his then-wife, now partner, Lennie Busch interested in opening…
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Spinning Anyone? A New Fitness Regimen Comes to Town
BY KELLY KENDALL Given Bloomingtonâs iconic stature as a bicyclistâs town, itâs surprising that no Spinning studio has existed here until recently. In October,…
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A New Era at Bloomington Playwrights Project
BY JEREMY SHERE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHANNON ZAHNLE This past December, before the debut production of the Bloomington Playwrights Projectâs new, award-winning comedy I…