Home, sweet (grass) home

I was shocked to see youth in the faces of Sweet Grass Restaurant’s proprietors. Luke Combs, 27, and Ryan Andrews, 26, are a few years out of Johnson & Wales in Charlotte, N.C. The two had an appetite for business and the innovation of Americana cuisine.

Combs set out to fuse rich Carolina culinary cuisine with the Hoosier spirit. Combs’ menu is flawless, the Matthews-appointed waitstaff swift and professional. Sweet Grass’ menu is innovating and evolving all the time.

Plopping my bony ass in a chair at Sweet Grass has become a habit.

Old habits die hard.

It’s easy to blame Sweet Grass’ Smoke Shack Burger. This jewel isn’t the most creative masterpiece, but there are just enough smoking facets to impress and inspire. Last summer was hot, and the fresh jalapeños folded into cheddar are even hotter. The burger is finished with tomato, fried onion strings and a western Carolina homemade Blue Ridge BBQ sauce. If you’re not afraid to sweat, go with the Smoke Shack.

Combs has also mastered the fried green tomato and made it available on the infamous B.L. Green T. or as an appetizer with corn relish and milky ranch.

Tomatoes are a slimy breed and far from textural triumph — until you smother them in panko bread crumbs and deep-fry them.

Pimento cheese is still foreign to most, but it’s a simple combination of pimiento peppers, a mild red pepper and sharp cheddar. Sweet Grass takes a traditional approach, adding salt, pepper and a splash of Frank’s hot sauce. This concoction found its way onto the menu with the massive Pimento Mac n’ Cheese and Pimento Burger.

Food isn’t all Sweet Grass will be known for, though.

The way Matthews put it, microbrewing is getting tired.

Sure, he handpicks any and every able-bodied ale and stout to fill his coolers, and he’ll put in a special order for some, but Matthews claims microdistillation will be the belle of the ball. Finding beverages that arouse appetite and heighten flavors is the idea.

Vodka and I don’t always agree, but after tasting Sweet Grass’ Bloody Mary, which is made with vodka that passes through an abundance of habanero, jalapeño and Serrano peppers, I found it a lot more fun to drink.

Sweet Grass isn’t on campus, but if you want a dining experience unlike any other in Bloomington, it’s well worth the trip.

— allshoup@indiana.edu