Northern
WINTER
DESTINATION
Blending Local
Traditions with
Contemporary
Flavors
Nestled in the rolling hills and dense
forests of south-central Indiana,
BLOOMINGTON is a town with a
unique culture.
I
t’s a small town, but the annual influx of new students and faculty at Indiana University make it a
diverse community. Because of this diverse and
ever-evolving population, Bloomington offers a balance of cultural amenities with an unpretentious and
welcoming sense of place, a town where tradition and
history blend with contemporary ideas. This type of
complimentary contrast may best be exemplified in
the food.
As the home of IU, most people know Bloomington
has a storied basketball tradition, but it has also long
held a reputation for offering a varied culinary experience. There are restaurants that have been serving up
local favorites for decades, like the flavorful steaks at
Janko’s Little Zagreb, the Cajun meatloaf at Uptown Cafe
or pad Thai at Siam House. That groundwork has paved
the way for new culinary developments, bringing more
variety and quality.
In 2012, Bloomington was one of six finalists in the
Best Small Town for Food contest held by Rand McNally and USA Today. This year the city was named as
one of the top ten foodie cities in the nation by Livability.com. The area was also recently named the second
best hidden-gem wine region by Away.com, and the
seventh fastest growing destination for wine and culinary enthusiasts by Orbitz Travel Research.
Many of the 100 or so local restaurants get their
ingredients from the weekly farmers’ market. Live music, art shows and food vendors add a new energy to the
traditional market, making it the hottest spot in town
on a Saturday morning. There’s a focus to use seasonal
and local items at restaurants like FARMbloomington,
where Chef Daniel Orr updates his menu monthly.
The upscale, slow-food style menu at Restaurant Tallent (helmed by the James Beard Award nominated