Review of Honest Eats

Keith Elchert and Laura Weston-Elchert have written a wonderful new book Honest Eats – Celebrating the Rich Food History of Indiana’s Historic Lincoln Highway.
The book is now available through Amazon. Use the AmazonSmile homepage when you shop, and Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price to the Indiana Lincoln HIghway Association. Please bookmark this link for all your future Amazon shopping – thanks:  http://smile.amazon.com/ch/68-0661158
Honest EatsHere’s a review by Jeff Blair, president of the Indiana Chapter of the Lincoln Highway Association:

I had heard for the past couple of years about this book on restaurants along Indiana’s portion of the Lincoln Highway and looked forward to seeing it when it was to be released. I had personally walked the two Indiana alignments twice, once in 2011 and again in 2014, so felt I was a pretty knowledgeable guy about places to see and eat on its paths. I might even be the first one to order a copy the very day I got the email that it was about to be released from publication. Boy am I glad!

Laura and Keith’s book is terrific and a good read for everyone…Hoosiers, Lincoln Highway tourists, history buffs, even those who love a good picture or postcard.  Photographer Brian Tombaugh and Graphic Designer Amanda Reyher, along with many other contributors, make this a visually stimulating book in addition to the fine verbal content.

The Lincoln Highway from New York City to San Francisco is often considered the “Main Street of America” and the Elchert’s book is a marvelous walk down that Main Street. It is full of old and new descriptions and photographs of nearly 100 Indiana restaurants that bring the Highway to life…through food.  It introduces you to innumerable Hoosier entrepreneurs who have left their footprint on northern Indiana over the years. Along the walk they point out additional points of interest either on the Lincoln or nearby. And you get the added pleasure of some of the divine recipes they collected in their travels.

My congratulations and thanks to the Elchert’s for this book. It is extremely well researched and they give ample praise to the many historical societies and individuals that made contributions. Here are my summary recommendations to anyone reading this review…

  • SHOW IT by putting the book on your coffee table or business waiting room table for everyone to see…your guests will be both surprised and pleased to learn about this historic road and its significance.
  • DRIVE IT…the Indiana Lincoln Highway that is. Use the book as a great guide across the state to find the listed points of interests and many more of your own.
  • DIGEST IT…whether it be through testing the many great looking recipes or supporting the wonderful restaurants and diners depicted throughout the book.  Find the perfect Indiana tenderloin, the finest candy, great little diners, outstanding ethnic stops all along the route.  But first I highly recommend you…
  • BUY IT! It will be a great addition to your home or library.  You will not be disappointed.

Fort Wayne’s Cindy’s Diner in the news

Cindy’s Diner was recently reviewed in the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel.com, by Cindy Larson:

“If anybody ever asked me for a list of the top 10 must-experience restaurants in Fort Wayne, of course Cindy’s Diner would be near the top.

This little gem anchors the corner of Wayne and Harrison (Lincoln Highway) streets downtown and is beloved by many. The 1953 luncheonette owned by John and Cindy Scheele was moved to its present location in 1990.

Cindy’s motto is “serving the world, 15 at a time” because that’s all the seats the tiny diner holds, although they have added a few tables outside.”

Photo by Cindy Larson of The News-Sentinel

Cindy’s Diner is actually bigger than normal for a Valentine Diner, as many models from this Kansas manufacturer only had 8 – 10 stools.  You can read more about these diners at the Kansas Historical Society website:
http://www.kshs.org/p/travel-by-theme-diners/10398