Farm bar charm

FARMbloomington took Kirkwood Avenue by storm in January, when it opened its doors to the city's epicurious connoisseurs. The former Oddfellows Building, which used to house Athena, Material Plane and Cowboys & Indians antique store, was converted into a dining complex that included a restaurant, a bar, a marketplace and the basement blues-and-jazz club Root Cellar.\nWalking through the front doors, FARMbloomington reminded me of an old general store with a postmodern mood, with its hardwood floors and huge china cabinets accented by track lighting and warm-colored walls. Glass countertops and a soda fountain supplemented the antiquated atmosphere. \nThe best part was the easy-to-find bathrooms: Just look for the old-fashioned bedpans hanging on the walls.\nWith a Hoosier twist, FARMbloomington Head Chef Daniel Orr incorporated his years of experience in New York, France and the Caribbean to create a menu offering dishes never seen before in Bloomington.\nFARMbar, the tapas side of the FARMbloomington family, offers dozens of appetizers, drinks, desserts and dishes crafted entirely from local groceries. Although less pricey than FARMrestaurant, FARMbar also includes a dinner menu, in case you change your mind and want a bigger meal.\nBeing on a strict food budget this week, I opted to get only appetizers, which turned out to be much more filling than I expected. I ordered white-bean hummus and toast, as well as the garlic-and-chili fries with saffron aioli. Not the traditional chickpea hummus, the white-beans-and-toast concoction came garnished with red pepper and tarragon, adding a spicy, herbaceous aftertaste. But the chili fries were my favorite part: Even if you're one of those people who can't handle spicy dishes, these had the perfect amount to ensure you wouldn't be spending the rest of the meal guzzling water. I wasn't familiar with "aioli" when I ordered the dish, but the French sauce made from garlic, olive oil and saffron was the perfect mellow complement to the zest of the fries.\nMy table also ordered the roasted tandoori salmon with five-grain pilaf, to try out the restaurant part of the FARM establishment. I was more than impressed with the consistency of the fish, but I definitely could have used more flavor from the seasonings. The meal was followed by a chocolate-dipped shortbread cookie, bringing my experience at FARMbar to a delectable close.\nIf you are under 21, you can sit in the FARMmarket area, which serves as a deli-style restaurant during the day. The bar itself offers an impressive wine-and-beer list, expanding past Bloomington city limits and venturing into the rest of the world. In addition to selections from the Bloomington Brewing Company and Upland Brewery, FARMbar boasts beers from Hammond, Ind., Brooklyn, N.Y., the United Kingdom and Ireland.\nIn the end, FARMbar makes up an affordable but scrumptious piece of the FARMbloomington complex.