Fort Food: Give this person a reason to relocate here

Recently, the website CHOWHOUND, featured an appeal from a potential Fort Wayne area resident for information about restaurants, farmer's markets and fresh food sources.  From the CHOWHOUND post:

Possible Move to Fort Wayne, IN

I am going to be interviewing at a company in Fort Wayne, with the possibility to relocate there. I am a big food and wine fan, and was wondering what the scene was like in Ft. Wayne. Mainly I am looking for info. on the availability of Farmer's markets, wine stores, good restaurants, specialty stores (i.e. bakeries, cheese monger, butchers), etc. I dabble in cooking so places where I can get good fresh produce, meats, cheeses are of special interest. Generally any information on the food seen in the Ft. Wayne area would be welcome!

bluedevil33 May 07, 2008 10:38AM

Some of the replies:

"I will attest to Joseph's Decuis in Roanoke being absolutely fabulous and has the best wine list around. They also have a small store that sells meats and their soups. They have their own farm and raise cattle in the Kobe method."

"Farmers market is downtown on Berry st and also in Roanoke on Main St."

"Park Place is another restaurant in Ft. Wayne, a steak kind of place. Catablu is a steak and fish place that gets great reviews. Cork-n-Cleaver is the best steak place in town. Paula's on Main St in Ft. Wayne is a great fish restaurant. The Fresh Market is in town and is a specialty market. On Broadway there is a fresh fish market called Chappell's, it is also a seafood restaurant."

"The Three Rivers Coop is a good source for things healthy--bulk foods, etc. You can get locally sourced meats there too, but in the freezer section (it's a smallish coop)."

Other farmer's markets would include the South Side market on Warsaw north of Oxford and Smucker's Farm Produce among others.  A few additional restaurants include Hartley's on Fairfield, Opus 24 at Covington Plaza, The Oyster Bar, Club Soda, Hall's Gas House and Henry's.    There are, of course, other good restaurants.

Fort Wayne has great meat markets. We shop at Hill's in Waynedale quite often; two NY strips from Hill's are in the refrigerator right now.  And the Waynedale Bakery is a good spot just east of Hill's. 

I miss having BreadCraft on W. State; they made great artisan breads. 

Jeff Armstrong's Wine Time in Jeffeson Pointe is a good spot.  Cap 'N Cork and Belmont's also have good wine selections and knowledgeable people.

These suggestions are not exhaustive . I know FWOb readers have their own recommendations and suggestions.  FWOb readers may also have a desire for some food selections that may not be available in the Fort Wayne area. 

The comment area is open.  You can enter your comments below or you can advise "Bluedevil33" on the Chowhound site.

Comments

[John Wallace]

Fort Wayne does have a lot to offer when it comes to American foods but is lacking in a few areas:

DELI - If you come from the East Coast the absence of deli food is startling. Out east every strip mall and downtown has a deli or two, either an Italian deli, a German pork store type deli, and of course Kosher too. You are hard pressed to find good deli here or a good deli sandwich, which leads me to lacking area two, good bread.

I miss fresh REAL bagels, artisan Semolina breads, and Kaiser rolls. The key to a good sandwich is the bread, seems obvious though. My substitute is the rolls from the Mexican bakery next to George's, which is a great food find also. You can also buy the hoagie rolls from Jimmy John's (my favorite hero in the fort).

EAST COAST PIZZA - Unless you've had pizza in New York City or a 50-mile radius you haven't had pizza. I haven't found anything even close.

ITALIAN - For an Italian kid from NJ it's hard not being able to find good Italian. I just don't like CASA. Biaggi's is chain food albeit good chain food. Italian Connection has some good offerings but I find their portions on veal & chicken to be stingy and they're not always convenient with getting in. I'm used to regional Italian styles and you don't see that here.

We're also a little lacking on other ethnic offerings. I love Saigon. Could use less Asian buffets and more sit down regional Chinese, like Sichuan or Hunan food. What has baffled me since I first came to Indiana in 1989 is this: How can we have so many Germans and no German restaurants or even a good pork store (with smoked meats, sausages, etc).

The post mentioning Three Rivers Coop left out my favorite part - they sell Boar's Head deli meats. I also do like Chappels, and Bryan Adams is a very talented chef. If I buy seafood here it's from them or Fresh Market. Fresh Market has enough to peruse to keep most foodies happy.

I say the Chowhoud poster will be happy here because the cost of living here makes up for a few favorite foods. Plus you can order almost anything online that you can't find fresh here.

[Jim Billings]

I have lived the last two years in the New York City/Long Island area and John is spot-on about delis, bagels and pizza. As a Fort Wayne native, I was a devotee of Chicago-style (deep-dish) pizza. But it's true -- there's nothing like New York pizza. And it does seem there are so many foods here that you can't get anyplace else.

Having said that, however -- I've traveled around quite a bit and have NEVER found anything to equal a Coney Island hot dog (and that includes the Nathan's hot dogs sold on the real Coney Island here). I found a place in Providence, Rhode Island, once that came close, but not quite.

Same for Power's hamburgers -- White Castles and Crystals just aren't the same.

And then there was the Big Boy at Azar's. There are a couple of Big Boy's on I-95 between here and DC (I think they are in Maryland), but they don't seem as good as they did at Azar's. Hall's Big Buster or Penguin Point's Big Wally were pretty good, too. A Big Mac is OK, but only a substitute.

I miss the chicken at Penguin Point. It's too bad they all left Fort Wayne.

It's only 8:30 in the morning and all this is making me reminiscent and hungry!

Ed. note: What do you mean "too bad [Penguin Point] left Fort Wayne. :) There is a still a Penguin Point in Waynedale at Winchester Road and Lower Huntington north of the St Marys bridge at Fairfield/Tillman Roads.

http://www.mapquest.com/mq/9-r3Db

[Jim Billings]

The last of what was once a mighty legion ...

[john wallace]

I have been kicking myself over leaving one Fort Wayne favorite off my foodie list -- Powers Hamburgers. I come from Bergen County, NJ, home of White Manna, a classic burger stand built for the 1939 World's Fair.
They are consistantly rated among America's best bugers, yet they have nothing on Powers. Same concept, as a buddy described it to me, an onion patty with meat. Before I moved here 75% of what I knew about Fort Wayne was Powers. Not bad knowledge.
Fort Wayne is also a great place to find lunch deals, given the competitive market and the fact that many people have the same lunch hours.
I also have to suggest just soaking up Three RIvers Festival as a newbie, and just enjoying those few perfect months of Indiana summer.
Go to Adams County, buy some stuff at AMish markets, go to Hilty's dry goods, and go to Troyer's.
Swim at the lakes, go to Indiana Dunes. I often complain about what I miss and forget to note what I like here. When in Rome...
Our radio stations are better, our TV news is a parody of it's own existance. At least they dropped the farm news for the most part. The Fort Wayne Newspapers are ok, and lately the N-S is fun to read and informative. We have an active web community and blog-o-sphere (a word I hate).
Anyway, the poster (who is from Tucsan, AZ area) is in town for his interview, etc. Perhaps a city councilman should take him around town...