Editor’s Note: Eat 317 is a new blog run by HiLite staff member Danny Goldberg that reviews local food options. Read Eat 317’s inaugural post here.

Oh where can I start with this beautiful establishment? Milktooth, 534 Virginia Avenue, the brainchild of Jonathon Brooks previous chef at SoBro’s esteemed Recess, launched this past fall and is already pushing boundaries. Described as a ‘fine diner,’ Milktooth is as delicious as it is innovative. The restaurant is located, like Bluebeard, on Virginia Avenue. Virginia Avenue, and the neighborhoods it travels through, can be called the chicest in the entire city. New restaurants, stores, cafes and residents have poured into the neighborhood over the past 5 years, truly reinventing the once blighted corridor. Innovative spots, like Milktooth, dot the street earning the area the title as one of America’s top 10 food neighborhoods by Zagat. That means something. This area is pushing the limit, and that mentality is seen no clearer than through the dining experience at Milktooth.

Per usual, let us begin with the setting. The restaurant is set in a space that was previously a car repair garage. The vibe of the space can be described as industrial meets eclectic. Light flows in through the massive garage doors, which provides a refreshing feeling. While waiting, which can often be quite lengthy on weekends, patrons are invited to order a local pastry or beverage from the coffee bar. Patrons can also relax by the outside patio, which provides a Parisian park feeling and fronts herb gardens for the restaurant. Options for dining include single tables, community tables, a coffee bar and a dining bar. I prefer eating at the bar as one can see up close the creativity and culinary skill flow out of the head chef. Each table is made out of repurposed wood and houses silverware in vintage coffee cans, which add to the industrial vibe. The restaurant is decorated with quirky items that help perfect the eclectic side of the vibe. As typical with most places located in Fletcher Place, the restaurant houses a distinct hipster vibe that lets patrons know that they are truly eating somewhere cool and will be treated to an interesting experience.

Now, lets move on to the experience. The food menu is split into three parts: Classic Stock, which stays the same week to week, Of the Moment, which is where the chef truly gets innovative as it changes every week, and Sides&Sweets, which is the side dish portion. Another highlight of the restaurant is their variety of coffees. Not only do they brew Stumptown Coffee, my personal favorite, but they also make some really mean cappuccinos. I ordered the Vietnamese Iced Coffee ($4.50). It was a delightful experience drinking this coffee. Not only did it have a degree of spice, but also one can feel the power and the depth of the flavor from the unbelievable Robusta coffee beans. It was the perfect drink for a warm spring morning.

The food served at this restaurant can be described in one word: unbelievable. For my main course I ordered the Cured Sea Trout Lox and Soft Scrambled Eggs ($18). The plate also came with some gorgeous breads, shaved red onion, capers and radishes. I put it all together to make a breakfast sandwich that was reminiscent of a meal my Jewish mother had prepared for me many times before. The trout was perfect. It melted in my mouth and lacked the salty, fishy flavor many other types of lox have. The combination of potent onion, salty caper, perky bread, silky lox and well-composed eggs provided for an experience that my taste buds rarely encounter. It was the perfect amount of hardy, yet light cuisine. I also ordered the Potato Latke ($5) to complement the dish. The latke was dressed with a vanilla bean applesauce and a thin sour cream. Being a latke aficionado, I can vouch that this latke packs a punch with the great power of the oily, yet light flavor. At times the applesauce seemed overly sweet, but that was cured by one swipe of the knife. It was a perfect addition to place with the flawless lox dish, which made for a mixture of flavor and texture that cannot be beat. I finally decided to indulge in the Sweet Potato Doughnut Holes ($8) with my dining partner. They had an almost crunchy crust that was relieved by the flavorful and fluffy interior. The sugar of the donuts is the type that makes you want to lick the plate. When you think of a good, fulfilling doughnut, this is what I now think of. This dish came with sides of burnt meringue and grains to highlight the flavor, but I found they were ignored as a result of the blissful feeling that the doughnut holes alone gave me. My dining partner ordered the Sweet Tea Glazed Fried Chicken Wings ($14) that had a perfectly crisp and fragrantly sweet crust and were accompanied by a fried egg and a cornmeal mixture. After this meal, all I could do was sit back and say wow.

I prefer to go to this restaurant with multiple people so I am able to indulge in multiple dishes in one sitting. The experience is one rarely achieved globally. Breakfast is a hard nut to crack. A restaurant has to appeal to the light, yet heavy and sweet, yet savory desires each person has. I have been to this establishment multiple times and it never ceases to amaze me. It meets all desires that a person has for breakfast; a refreshing, preparing and invigorating meal. Pushing the bar, pushing the limit. Milktooth is everything that I look for in a breakfast-oriented restaurant, and there is nothing else that comes close in the Indianapolis area. 10/10