Before I launch into a story about how the lunch I ate today MOVED MY SOUL TO JOYFUL TEARS, I must share with you a Sara story.  As I was brushing her hair and showing her the lovely up-dos I could do for her Ariel Halloween “look” she sighed and said,

Sara: Mommy, Ariel wears her hair DOWN.

Mommy: Yeah, I know (very dejectedly, after another failed attempt at getting either daughter to wear anything in their hair).

Sara: Please, please, please, can Kelly go as FLOUNDER?

Mommy: Can Kelly go as your short, round, chubby sidekick who would follow you through the depths of the ocean, even if it were a terrible idea?  (At this point I had laughed my way to tears.)

Sara: (excitedly, as if this were even a remote possibility): YES?!

Mommy: No honey.  The idea behind Halloween is that you dress as something you ARE NOT on a day to day basis.

Sara: (sadly) So Cinderella then.

Mommy: Yes honey.  Kelly is going as Cinderella.

Now, back the concept of food so rooty-kazooty delicious that you’ll want to hang it on your wall and celebrate it as art. For our 5th Anniversary, Greg and I attended the opening of a new restaurant in downtown Indy named Zing.  Loved it, loved it, have gone there as often as we can, loved it.  Mom stayed with the girls during naps today so we could eat at Zing on our 6th Anniversary.  On a sunny Monday afternoon, we ate mind-blowing food that inspires me to tell you to GO THERE AND EAT AS SOON AS YOU CAN.  You might get hit by a bus tomorrow and you’ll go to heaven not knowing that your taste buds were capable of such glorious foody adventures.  Just telling you what I ate should change your religion (they serve small plates; we usually order 4 things and share):  Medjool dates with chorizo and smoked bacon in a sweet pepper tomato sauce, ginger shrimp wontons with juniper aioli and red pepper coulis, mahi tacos with cilantro cream,  Bombay turkey mini burgers, and a 3 berry shortcake that I can’t even describe except to say I’ll never eat a store-bought shortcake again.

OH GOOD LORD THANK YOU JESUS FOR GIVING ME THIS FOOD.  Every bite, every whiff was heaven.  And the funny part is I don’t even prefer spicy foods.  Most people use the word “spicy” to indicate “will otherwise overwhelm every other flavor in this dish”.  It’s spicy for spicy sake, and I just don’t go there.  I like to actually TASTE the food I’m eating.  The spicy at Zing will take you to a new place entirely.  Every flavor is layered upon another flavor that goes so well with all the other flavors in the dish that it sings like a symphony in your mouth.  I swear, parts of my brain turned on that I didn’t even know I had.

First of all, you can’t go wrong with bacon.  Dates wrapped in bacon which also includes chorizo…SIGN ME UP.  After I dip the date in the sweet pepper tomato sauce, I like to take what’s left and rub my cheeks in it,  so I can lick it off for the remainder of the meal.  The ginger shrimp wonton was so light it floated to me on air, and one taste of the juniper aioli and red pepper coulis explained to me why my lime and cilantro aioli is so DAMN BORING.  It needs a kick.  The mahi tacos came in a shell so delicate and crispy that it must have been made fresh.  Don’t even get me started on the cilantro cream, because I’d shower in cilantro if I could.  The Bombay turkey burgers are spicy, but in that addictive “I gotta have just one more bite” kind of spicy.  I wanted to tear it apart to figure out what was in that tiny burger, because that isn’t turkey I’ve ever eaten.  That turkey was so good it might have been a barbecue rib.  Maybe that’s it!  Maybe it was turkey ribs on a bun!

My eyes shoot all over the menu every time…prosciutto, rosemary, smoked turkey and gouda, mango salsa, feta chimichurra sauce…AHH!!  Let me move into this kitchen and drown in this stuff.  I came home to make dinner and could only feel a deflated, “What the POINT?” kind of sensation.  Shrimp with honey dijon sauce.  Woopity-doo.  Been THERE, done THAT.  I’ll post tonight’s menu anyway, but it’s just not the same as eating at Zing.  To quote Kelly, “Ooooh Mommy, nummy nummy.”  (yummy, yummy).  Happy Eats You’all!