The Hoppy Gnome Brings new Dining Trends and Choices to Downtown Fort Wayne

203 E. Berry Street, Fort Wayne. Locals would recognize this as a downtown address. Downtown is changing, though - there are condominiums, and parking in this high-rise building, and what else? Now, there's The Hoppy Gnome. Trendy food is not traditionally Fort Wayne. The old institutions in town - family owned Casaburos restaurants (Casa D'Angelo and others), Bourounis family (Cosmos), Hall's family restaurants, the Oyster Bar, etc., and others have consistently good (often excellent) food.

The owners of Baker Street Steakhouse seem to understand that folks are sometimes looking for new options and experiences. Generation X'ers and more significantly, Millenials, are looking for new dining and taste choices. Smaller plates, tasting menus, tapas-style dining, and sampling of beers and appetizers are all ways to try new things. The foods themselves are often fresher (more farm-to-table) and more globally styled. So Baker Street has branched out and created this - The Hoppy Gnome.

The Hoppy Gnome claims to specialize in tacos, but these are not the traditional Mexican variety. One can order choices including duck confit, Korean short rib, and ahi tuna. The menu rotates regularly. A guest may choose from flour or corn tortillas, and the tacos are served in beautiful stainless steel V-shaped tool trays.

The restaurant also serves some wonderful small plates, including kimchi chicken fingers, pan-seared scallops, steamed clams, short ribs, and tuna tartare. There are also vegan and gluten-free selections, and a great kids' menu. Soups full of vegetables and unique salads round out the menu.

The Hoppy Gnome is much more of a beer place than a wine bar. So I'll talk more about the beers - there are dark stouts, Belgian beers, ciders and IPAs. If you like good ol' American, have a blast from the past and order an Old Style lager made by Pabst. Want a pale ale with a sexy label? Order the Six Foot Blonde from Nashville, IN. Hey, I should go get a Honey Badger, brewed in Granger, IN, since I like the animal so much. You can get small servings of five different beers or so brought to you on a tray holding small glasses if you want to sample and choose for next time.

The decor looks fresh, modern and new. I like the polished stainless steel tables, and the large windows make for outstanding views. I was treated to an amazing, full-length panorama of the wonderful, historic Allen County courthouse and the skyscraper behind when I was recently there. If you're looking for something new to visit when you're out in downtown Fort Wayne, give The Hoppy Gnome a try if you want to push your taste buds and have a new adventure.

Fort Wayne's Civic Theatre, holding court for 90 years, gives performances at the city's Arts United Center

There's quite a history to Fort Wayne's Civic Theatre. For over 90 years, it's been the home for local, volunteer talent to perform. Singers, dancers and actors have a showcase for their takes on Broadway musicals and plays, performing for community audiences. In 1927, Fort Wayne established a Community Theatre Guild. By 1931, it was called the "Old Fort Players" and was housed at the Majestic Theatre, 220 E. Berry Street. It must have been quite grand - a website describes a Ben Hur production with live horses in a chariot race on a treadmill.

In 1940, the name changed to the Civic Theatre and the organization became tax-exempt. It's remained so to this day, and the Civic has performed in the same location since 1973. What was then called the Performing Arts Center is now Arts United Center, renamed in 2004. Some of the productions I have seen over the years have seemed a bit amateurish, and that's to be expected - these are volunteers, not professionals. Recently though, the Civic pulled off a very professional production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with local casting.

If you're not familiar with Rocky Horror, here's a bit of the story: two sweethearts are stuck in a storm, and they come upon an eerie mansion. There they meet unusual characters and break into song and dance. When they are introduced to a Frankenstein-like character, Rocky, lots of shenanigans ensue. The film digs into our moral codes, and also parodies many science fiction and B-horror movies of the 1930s-70s.

I fondly remember the Rocky Horror film from the 1970s. The movie featured stars including Susan Sarandon and singer Meat Loaf, among others. I just read that the writer of the whole show and who created this musical for theatre in Britain's West End, a man named Richard O'Brien, also portrayed the character Riff Raff on the big screen.

The show has always been famous for visitor participation, which helped spur a nearly cult-like following at midnight movie showings. Toilet paper, newspapers, water guns, flashlights, party hats, playing cards and other props all have their place in the story. At the old midnight showings of the film, audiences brought these things with them and some of the stuff would fly through the air.

The show is just fun. The music is catchy and and makes one want to sing along. It explores societal assumptions about sexuality and other cultural norms, blithely moving right on past these in its alternate reality. How can I describe it? The Civic's website called the work "kitschy rock 'n' roll," "sci-fi gothic," etc. It brings in lots of themes. O'Brien managed to tweak in and play off our ideas about language, authority figures, and notions about gender without seeming to get serious at all. Touché, Mr. O'Brien, and praise be to our local Civic Theatre and Arts United Center; and especially to the cast and crew of this production of the wonderful Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Brookside Mansion, formerly known as Bass Mansion, is a Fort Wayne gem

Fort Wayne is full of history and landmarks. While there are many fantastic modern structures, I think it's important to stay in touch with history, our heritage and older local structures. One favorite of mine is the mansion constructed with hand carved sandstone by industrialist John Henry Bass in 1902. It was his family's private residence until 1944, when it was purchased by an order of nuns for their college.

Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration bought the home and 65 acres, then relocated their college to the spot. On 1889, John Bass employed architects Wing and Martin to build a Romanesque summer home. A gas fire explosion burned and destroyed most of the home in 1902, but the place was rebuilt in 1903. Stone, steel and concrete have enabled the home to remain much the same to this day, after some restoration in 2009-2010.

The mansion now serves as administrative offices most of the calendar year. But every December, the home is opened for the public for five days or so, four hours at a time.

Professional decorators compete by dressing up the home for the Christmas holidays. Eighteen trees were trimmed with ornaments and tinsel in 2016, and strategically placed in rooms around the house. Winding staircases allow for tours on all three floors. Antiques, ancient tapestries, expensive sculptures and paintings, and stunning granite firplaces charm and entrance visitors.

The old home is topped with a starlit ballroom on the third floor, windows giving sweeping views of the heavens. This mansion, located at 2701 Spring Street, has been wonderfully maintained and promises delightful surprises around every corner. I was particularly stunned by the numerous large murals in many of the rooms.

Fort Wayne certainly has some fascinating history. This particular house jewel nestles discreetly on the edge of a well respected institution of higher learning. I hope future generations will continue to value and invest in it, and work to continue to preserve it.

Transform photos from your phone into printed books with Groovebook

Sometimes, a person wants a few prints, whether to send to one's mom, put on a bulletin board, or use in a project for school. Living in this digital age, many of us take lots of photos; alas, the pics often stay on our smart phones. Are you old enough to remember exposing film in a camera, then rewinding the roll and taking it to the shop or drug store to be developed?  Ah, the good old days.  Polaroids, cardboard disposable cameras - but I digress. I've been using an application called Groovebook to order monthly photo books of my prints, delivered to my home.

I simply log into the app and choose photos to upload every month.  The company prints the photos, up to 100 a month, and binds them in a small, 3" X 5" bound booklet with tear-out pages.  If you upload less than 100 photos per month - you can just send them a few at a time - Groovebook will make duplicate copies of your choices for a total of 100 copies per book.

The prints are not the greatest quality - that is my biggest problem with the app.  But every month I am mailed a new book, and the pages are perforated so they can be torn out and used elsewhere. You can also reorder or gift copies of books you like.  I pay only $2.99 a month for my subscription, and because I defaulted to the standard shipping (14-21 days to wait) my shipping is free.  You can get your books faster if you pay a little more to upgrade.  

The site also offers other gifts such as magnets, ($5 each), mouse pads, playing cards, and notepads, but I haven't tried any of those yet.  You need to find a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 100 photos a month, but you can go back in your photo archives each time and pull up old ones if you don't have enough recent ones.  

I've liked using Groovebook - I've mailed parts of books to family and friends, and have kept most for myself.  Colorful covers change every month.  This app does not replace the local CVS or Walgreens, Tiny Prints or Shutterfly for me, all of which I sometimes use for my photo products.  I'll probably decide to end the subscription at some point. But, for now, I'm glad to have a handy way to not have all my photos stuck just on my computer, phone, drive or cloud.

Embassy Theatre Rooftop Patio Open on Wednesday evenings in Summer

The Embassy Theatre has undergone lots of renovations recently, and it's worth taking a moment to talk about this one - the opening of a rooftop patio to the public. An elevator or stairs takes one to this panoramic view of downtown Fort Wayne, with cool breezes and a railing to look over. The Grand Wayne Center is to the north, Parkview Field and Lincoln National Corporation are within site, as is the Ash building, the Botanical Conservatory structures, and many beautiful old church steeples. There is seating, weather permitting. Because it had been rainy, the live music was not set up on the roof.

Beginning Wednesday nights in the summer of 2016, the 6th and 7th floors have been unlocked to host live music and other entertainment for patrons who bought $5 tickets. The night I went, a live combo played and sang familiar rock, jazz and blues cover songs - many of them, I noticed, with the word 'sunshine' in the title or lyrics. They really sounded great.

Music was sent through speakers to the rooftop above, so patrons sitting out on the patio could hear. Club Soda was catering the food, which was lovely. Coconut shrimp, burritos with fresh toppings, and a dessert selection all proved to be tempting. The dessert we split, a cheesecake with fresh berries, was wonderful. People spread out at tables with their drinks and food to hear the band, or took their items to the roof to look out over the city and have a conversation. It was cocktail hour, and people were partaking. I think the venue cares about its renovations and carpeting, because red wine and some other drinks were served in lidded sippy cups! That was new to me.

This lovely event will soon end for the season, so check the Embassy website, box office, or local Whatzup listings for the featured entertainment, 5 - 9 p.m. Parking is in the structure across the walkway: limited street parking is also available in the area. The year is slipping away, so get it all in if you can.

Foellinger Theatre Summer Concert Series Rocks Franke Park

I had no idea it had been in existence that long, but Fort Wayne's Foellinger Theatre was first constructed in Franke Park in 1949. According to the Parks department web site, the theatre, named for the late Oscar Foellinger, was a gift to the city from the owners of the newspaper News-Sentinel.

In 1972, the theater burned. It was rebuilt into its current incarnation in 1975 and reopened in 1976, with its wooden arcing roof and open sides, allowing summer breezes to cool attendees at events. New seating was installed and electrical systems were updated in 1994. Then in 2005, restrooms, concessions, a plaza, and entrance landscaping were all improved. The landscaping has filled in well.

By 2014, the annual summer concert series was going strong in this beautifully covered, yet outdoor, venue. That year Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Styx and the Beach Boys all sold out. And in 2015, attendance at events at this special place next to the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo approached 50,000, with revenues over $1.7 million. Other improvements with structural beams, sound and rigging for equipment have kept acoustics and technology up to date.

So much smaller and more intimate than the Memorial Coliseum, the Foellinger is the place I'd rather see a concert. There are only about 2700 seats in the house. The back seats are much like metal bleachers, so unless there are no other tickets available I don't recommend seats in that section. Tickets for events can be bought online on the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation website, or at the theater box office. For concerts, there are concessions available. Drinks, including beer, wine, frozen margaritas, waters and sodas can be purchased and taken to seats. Hot dogs, popcorn, and other snacks are also available.

This year Heart played an amazing concert. Ann and Nancy Wilson have amazing voices, and included some Led Zeppelin in their final songs. Joe Walsh and Ringo Starr graced the stage this year. And I saw the band America, the founders of which have been playing together on stage since 1969. Boston also did a tremendous job this year.

I am looking forward to seeing the band Chicago for the first time next week. I'll try to get some photos and let you know how it was. Often a local performer, such as Kenny Taylor, starts the show as a warm-up act. Sometimes the opener has come along on tour with the band. Parking is free, and traffic isn't terrible when an event is over. It's just a few minutes to get out. I hope you go and see an act, and have a great time.

WBOI's reception at Ted's Wine Bar was a great chance to connect

Although late, Spring has suddenly sprung in northeast Indiana, and April 14 was a wonderful day for a meet and greet at Ted's Market and Wine Bar on the north side of Fort Wayne. If you haven't been there, it's in a reconverted building at Coldwater and Union Chapel roads.

The market and kitchen is up on the patio level, and the wine bar is downstairs. Our wonderful local NPR affiliate radio station, WBOI 89.1 FM, had put together a nice reception, and I spoke to several of the on-air hosts, members, listeners and board members.

Katy Anderson, Program Director, was there, as was on-air host Zack Bernard. Lea Denny came up and said "hi," and I had a long conversation with Julia Meek, renounced host of Folktales and Meet the Music, radio shows based out of Fort Wayne and now syndicated.

We chatted about Prairie Home Companion's upcoming loss of Garrison Keillor when he retires this summer. We talked about recent music events in Fort Wayne and the great venues here. Board members came up and said "hi," and we talked about volunteer opportunities at the station, such as for telephone workers on the upcoming fund drive beginning April 21.

We love it when Julia Meek introduces us to the new voices on Meet the Music, and spins her grand stories and themes in our Saturday night favorite, Folktales, featuring music from around the world. From her humble local beginnings in Fort Wayne, she has built her personal brand as an artist and an on-air host, and her show is syndicated all across Indiana and beyond. Folktales is heard locally at 8 p.m.

Ted's Market had great wine choices, and upstairs they offer savory fresh breads and bakery products, sandwiches, a cafe, coffees, hand-carved meats, and all kinds of treats. Fresh vegetables and deli items made for great browsing. The lower level wine bar is open Tuesday - Thursday 5-10 p.m. and Friday & Saturday 5 - 11 p.m., with private rental available days and Sunday - Wednesday evenings.

A fun time was had by all - a jokester named Tim worked the crowd, taking photos and spreading cheer. I assume he'll post some of these pictures for WBOI, or use them for a newsletter. I hope to go back to another one of these receptions for listeners, contributors, and staff. It was a success. Good to see all of you!