McCormick & Schmick's - Indianapolis, Indiana

We went crab-crazy tonight at an invitation-only tasting at McCormick & Schmick's!Chef Marc (the Chef Director at our school the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Indianapolis) approached me and asked if I was free tonight to represent the school at an event he couldn't attend. And of course I was all in! I got my friends Carla and Kim to go with me.

The chef at McCormick & Schmick's created a special menu, just for our select group, in celebration of the arrival of Dungeness crab season. We sampled seven courses and each of them contained crab!

We had Petite King Crab "Corn Dogs", Crab Bruschetta - blue crab and tomato piled on a toasted crostini, a Dungeness Crab Fondue served with bread and fruit for dipping (surprisingly delicious with the fruit!), Blue Crab-Stuffed Flounder, an Apple and Crab Tart (it actually was good!) and the last dish was a surprise...King Crab Ice Cream Profiteroles (it was King Crab mixed in Vanilla Ice Cream sandwiched in between puff pastry and it was amazing!)

Barcelona Tapas - Indianapolis, Indiana

Back in September, we participated in a culinary event in Indianapolis, called Taste of Mass Ave, and we met some crazy chefs from Barcelona Tapas. They were hilarious and told us to come out and eat with them and they would take good care of us! So we finally got around to eating there and I am so mad we didn't make it out there sooner!

We got a big group together for my friend Carla's birthday to go out there

We all ordered several items and either ate it all ourselves or shared with each other! We had Bacalao (Crispy Codfish and Potato Cakes with Lemon Garlic Alioli), Patatas Bravas (Roasted Potatoes in a Spicy Tomato Sauce), Gambas al Alioli (Garlic Shrimp with Chili Oil and Fresh Lemon), Albondigas (Spanish Meatballs in Tomato Sauce with Manchego Cheese), Queso de Cabra al Horno (Baked Goat Cheese in Tomato Sauce with Garlic Bread) and much more!

Here I am with my 2 favorite dishes there...Gambas al Alioli and Bacalao...and I ate every bit of it! If you haven't tried Bacalao (dried, salted codfish) you must!

The atmosphere is bright, colorful and much like you would expect in a Spanish restaurant