Dish crawling downtown

Eighteen hungry families and couples dug into the Turkish kebab, hummus, grape leaves and tarator on the long table at Anatolia restaurant on Fourth Street.

The group participated in Bloomington’s first annual Dish Crawl, an event that invites community members to visit several restaurants in one night, sampling food and meeting the chefs and owners.

Anatolia was the second stop on the night’s lineup of five local restaurants.

Tickets were $39 each and included the price of each meal as well as tax and tips, Dish Crawl Bloomington ambassador Brittany Bland said.

Participants were not given the itinerary of restaurants until Monday, in the hope of keeping the list a much anticipated “secret,” Bland said. 

The night began at Nick’s English Hut, where the group was given an antipasto appetizer of locally produced cheese and smoked meats.

After Anatolia, the group enjoyed meals at Esan Thai and Crazy Horse, walking to and from each restaurant.

Dish Crawl CEO Tracy Lee first began organizing Dish Crawl events two and a half years ago in San Jose, Calif.

The idea was to gather community members to experience a night of great food while also supporting local businesses and entrepreneurs, Lee said.

“The community started going crazy over it,” Lee said. “All these people in different cities started emailing me.”

Lee and a staff of two other directors now oversee Dish Crawl events in 40 cities across the United States and Canada.

She said after visiting Bloomington a couple of months ago, she decided the local dining scene was perfect for Dish Crawl.

“We’re helping provide a lot of marketing to the local restaurants,” Lee said. “We believe in small businesses.”

Lee said Dish Crawl also provides the unique opportunity to go behind the scenes and meet the chefs.

“That’s something people don’t always get,” she said. “Being able to put a face to the food is something we’re able to do with Dish Crawl.” 

Bland said she hopes to organize about two Dish Crawl events each month, and she plans to incorporate different themes and audiences into each event.

“I really want to have some student ones,” she said.

She said the prices would most likely be lowered for college students.

An event called Dish Walk, which should take place in January or early February, will provide community members with a self-guided scavenger hunt through eight local restaurants in one night.

Sarah Huguenard, an IU senior studying biology and psychology, said she was invited to the Dish Crawl Facebook event and decided it was a good opportunity to get an overall taste of Bloomington’s best restaurants.

“When I first started out at IU I said ‘I want to go to as many restaurants as possible,’” Huguenard said. “I realize it’s my senior year and I haven’t been to that many.”

Bland plans to expand the Dish Crawl audience to people in surrounding regions who might not come to Bloomington often.

Dish Crawl participant Amber Cates traveled from Linton, Ind., to support Bland and to experience the Dish Crawl.

“It sounded like a really neat idea to try some new food and meet some new people,” Cates said.

As the group left Nick’s for Anatolia, Bland gave them a warning.

“You’re gonna be really, really full,” she said. “Hopefully you’ll walk some of
it off.”

Rationing the Dish Crawlers’ food intake was not on the agenda for Anatolia manager Sibel Cekic.

She encouraged the waiters to bring out dish after dish, giving each participant a four-course meal.

While most restaurants were paid a fee for participating in the dish crawl, Cekic decided to instead donate the money to a local charity, the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.

“You have to practice giving, not always receiving,” Cekic said. “That’s one way of enlarging your heart. That’s my philosophy.”

Cekic said the Dish Crawl is a great way to encourage Bloomington residents to try new foods.

Dish-Crawler and Bloomington resident Keith Pledger said he appreciated the opportunity to try the Turkish food at Anatolia.

“It was excellent, and this is coming from someone who’s never tried anything like this,” Pledger said. “I will definitely be coming back.”