- [Bill] I'm Bill Addison, Eater's ever roving National Critic. Indianapolis is hitting itsstride as a restaurant scene. Its modern restaurantsare creating dinner menus that celebrate theregional bounty and draw on flavors from around the globe. (hard pounding music) As exciting as Indianapolisis becoming, the first meal I have on my mind when Icome to town is breakfast. My destination isMilktooth, Jonathan Brooks' post modern diner whileoffering plenty of comforts also reveal some cutting edge creativity. (electric guitar riff) - Normally breakfast iskind of like a throw away disposable meal for most chefs. It's where they use up thescraps or leftovers sauces. And our goal here at Milktoothwas really to take the fine dining mentality of buyingthe best ingredients possible, doing as little to themas possible to really make them shine and just applythat to breakfast fare. (relaxing mood music) - Milktooth sort of came along and said, "Here are some new flavors." there's a line at the bottom of the menu that specifically says "Modifications "will be politely declined." Sort of a situationwhere John Brooks said, "Trust me you can thankme later, just eat this." And Indianapolis kinda went along with it. (relaxing mood music) Hoosiers, a lot of us are maybe two generations removed from hillbilly. We've had a cousin who hunts, we've had rabbits in our freezer. So these are all sort oflike vaguely familiar flavors and familiar ingredients to us. And we've maybe neverreally been as proud of them as we are now that John Brooks has started making them these delicious dishes. (country music jingle) - [Bill] The signatureDutch Baby's are served either sweet or savorywith seasonal ingredients. Roasted apples and lemon caramel. Or Welsh rarebit, a richcheese sauce off set with pickled sweet corn and greens. The Lamb Steak Burger comeswith ever changing toppings, like fennel marmalade, blue cheese and a fried egg sunny-side-up. When Eater's editor-in-chiefAmanda Kludt and I visited Indi recently, we both lostour minds over the waffle. Brooks reimagine thewaffle with things like sour dough and zucchinibread as inspiration. It's both familiar andstartlingly original. I would go as far as to say it is the best waffle I have ever eaten. - Being a young chef here in Indi and opening up a restaurant that I thought would push theboundaries a little bit. We certainly had to gainpeople's trust and that's why we have things like a waffle anda pancake on the menu that are still somewhat recognizableas breakfast food. One of my favorite thingsabout cooking breakfast is that I can use a lot of different world influences like Banh Mi flavorsor like a Reuben sandwich flavor or a ham and cheeseflavor, just something to get a little more creative with. (upbeat jingle music) A huge moment for mewas in that first year, we had a chopped chickenliver dish on the menu. And I remember it like10:30 in the morning on a Sunday, just ticketafter ticket rolling in for these chopped chicken livers. And outselling the waffle andthe pancake and that's really when I had this moment of claritylike man we kinda made it. It is a little bitharder for us to survive as a restaurant, our profitmargins are pretty slim, our food costs, our labor costs is high. But that's what Milktoothis to me, is being able to provide thisexcellent breakfast service. This quality food thatyou don't see very often. But that I still really love and my son loves and eat on a weekly basis. (fast-paced jingle music) I think this is a really exciting time for Indianapolis as far asthe food scene goes. It continues to grow andget better and better. I feel blown away by the opportunity that I have to work withthe best ingredients. We certainly didn't setout to change the breakfast scene but we just wanted to open up a really cool, honest, little diner. And I think we've honestly retained both those goals in really unique ways. (fast-paced jingle music) - [Voiceover] Everybody hastheir pizza rotation basically of the places you order fromand hardly anybody doesn't have Pequod's in their rotationis the way I think of it
Indianapolis' dining scene has exploded in the last few years overall, but no single restaurant has changed the landscape like Milktooth, where Chef Jonathan Brooks is cooking up the countries best waffles and dutch babies. Eater is the one-stop-shop for food and restaurant obsessives across the country. With features, explainers, animations, recipes, and more — it’s the most indulgent food content around. So get hungry. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel now! http://goo.gl/hGwtF0 Our Video Crew: https://www.eater.com/pages/masthead-video