Maxine's offers a fine fusion of food
You're Duke Ellington. You're Lena Horne. And you're
hungry.
Your gig is over, and it's too late for dinner, too early for
breakfast. Well's Restaurant in Harlem has your answer. A merger of
meals: sweet and salty, protein and carbs, righteous and awesome.
Yes, chicken and waffles.
Sixty years after the former New York establishment -- which
closed in 1982 but is trying to make a comeback -- offered the
popular combo, Maxine's Chicken and Waffles opened in Indianapolis,
putting all its music into the food.
"We didn't want to have a traditional hole-in-the-wall soul-food
restaurant," says Brian Bunnell, Maxine's grandson and a kitchen
manager in the family-run restaurant. "We wanted common fair, made
from scratch, in a nice place."
He and the gaggle of Maxine's descendents who started the place
consulted Chef Tony Hanslits, director of culinary education at The
Chefs' Academy, to build their menu, and they grabbed one of his
students to serve as chef.
The restaurant is a tribute to Maxine Bunnell, who cooked -- as a
career and for her family -- so tantalizingly it almost caused
trouble during a family reunion when two ministers intent on
grabbing the last piece of chicken nearly came to blows. That's
when the idea of opening the Indianapolis restaurant struck.
"If two guys of God are getting that upset over a piece of
chicken, we have something we need to share with the world,"
Bunnell said.
The sharing goes on in a cheery Downtown dining room, where diners
get fried corn bread and peach butter while they mull over the menu
of Southern cooking.
Pan-fried chicken ($11.80 for three pieces) is reason to make the
trip; it's crisp-tender and vibrantly seasoned. But so is the
catfish dinner ($12.95), which includes two spicy pounds of
cornmeal-crusted filets.
Burgers keep up the good vibe, especially the delicious absurdity
known as Max Out ($12.95) -- a half-pound burger on Texas toast
with sauteed onions and mushrooms, French fries and gravy.
And the sides, people. The sides include luscious candied yams,
snappy black-eyed peas, collard greens, and rich mac and
cheese.
The restaurant offers a $5 menu, which includes a barbecued turkey
sandwich and a few other options, including a downsized version of
the chicken and waffle.
Whether you're a man of God or not, there's no doubt you would
fight for that chicken, too.
See this story in the Indianapolis Star
