Behind the Knife
SECRET INGREDIENTS 20 Things You Haven’t Heard About Chef Jon Brooks BY ELIZABETH NOTESTINE | PHOTOGRAPH BY MARY MCCLUNG
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ince the opening of Milktooth in downtown Indianapolis’ Fletcher Place, all eyes have been on chef and owner Jon Brooks. The breakfast-fare-inspired spot opened just last October, and Brooks has already been named one of Food and Wine’s 2015 Best New Chefs, an honor bestowed upon only 10 other chefs nationwide. We wanted to get to know the man behind one of Indy’s most popular new restaurants. Here are 20 things you haven’t heard about Chef Brooks. The worst thing I’ve ever eaten was an iguana tamale in Oaxaca. I got to meet and feed one of my culinary heroes, Jim Harrison, after a poetry reading in Montana. I hate butternut squash. I love vegetarians: they’ve given up meat so I don’t have to. I had never cooked breakfast at a restaurant before opening Milktooth. I wanted to run away with the circus when I was younger. I can ride a unicycle and juggle pins. I was an amateur boxer when I lived in Missoula, Montana. I would really love to revisit Japan, where I was lucky enough to spend two weeks when I was 15. I would really appreciate the food a lot more today. I delivered my son, Roman, at home with my wife, Ashley, in our apartment above Bluebeard. I thought I was allergic to octopus once but...y’know drugs. I stumbled upon Kreuz barbecue in Lockhart, Texas, on a drive from Houston to Austin. My mind was blown, then I later found out they are pretty famous. I met my wife, Ashley, at a backyard pudding-wrestling contest. I almost drowned the first time I attempted surfing in Montanita, Ecuador. My favorite films are Down by Law, There Will Be Blood and Before Night Falls. The first beer I ever drank was a Franziskaner. I got expelled from a Japanese language class for trying to climb out the window during a lecture. I’ve never owned a new car. I proposed to my wife on video before jumping out of an airplane. I wore the same shirt every day for a month on a bet. I am the first person who doesn’t serve dinner to be given a Best New Chef award by Food and Wine.
Visit Milktooth in historic Fletcher Place at 534 Virginia Ave., Indianapolis, and you will find Chef Brooks cooking up his local flare. Counter coffee service and pastries, 7–9am, brunch, 9am– 3pm, every day but Tuesday. MilktoothIndy.com. 317.986.5131.
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edible INDY fall 2015
Elizabeth Notestine is an intern with Edible Indy and a recent graduate from DePauw University where she received an anthropology degree with a focus on food studies. She is an Indianapolis-based freelance writer, and hopes to continue studying and developing her passion for food.
