Indiana has good food.

I just had the most incredible croissant in the world. I know that it is the most incredible croissant in the world, because I am full. Let me repeat that; I had one croissant, and I'm full. I could not eat another bite, not even one wafer thin mint. I'm stuffed. And I am pretty sure that is how I am supposed to feel after eating a croissant, but no one ever told the bakers. For ages bakers have been baking croissants to be light, fluffy, airy and light. No one ever told them that what they should have been baking was chewy, dense, flavorful and, most surprisingly, crunchy. No one ever thought to have a croissant that went "crunch" when you bit into it... until Honey on the Table opened in Fort Wayne, Indian, on the corner of State and Hobson.
I've been to Paris, London, New York City, all over the US, Ireland, Germany and more, and I can say - with absolute certainty - that the best croissant in the world is right here in Indiana, and I'm not just saying that because I'm full and happy. Take the best croissant you've ever had, turn it up to eleven and you still wont be close to the flavor. I can still taste in on my lips and it brings me fond memories. It was so good that a light shone down from the heavens and the angels of mercy and baked goods came down from their lofty seats and sang to me, and the song they sang was of the wonderful food to be found all around me.

Ok, it might not have been that dramatic, but I did have an epiphany. For all the moaning and wailing I hear about the supposed lack of culture in the Midwest, we really do have some spectacular food. Off the top of my head I can think of half a dozen eateries that rival just about anything I've had abroad, but it isn't the restaurants that make our food great, its the ingredients.
For a city as small as Fort Wayne, we have an absurd number of specialty grocery stores. We have Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Burmese, Thai, Mexican, Caribbean, Croatian, Greek, and Halal grocery stores, not to mention Georges International Grocery, the co-op or the farmers markets. If you are a home chef, this is the place to be. You can find local produce for at least 6 months of the year, and we have bakeries, breweries, coffee roasters, tea importers, fish mongers, butchers (Jameson's Meats, I love you) and that's only the tip of the iceberg. Take a drive out in the country and you will find farm stands selling anything you want and more (more being zucchini. No matter how many ways you find to use zucchini, you will always have too much.), pick-your-own orchards, Amish stores, back-woods moonshine distilleries, amateur taxidermists, survivalist militia, men that think you have a pretty mouth... what was I talking about? Right, food. Well if you want to avoid all that; the ground is fertile and growing your own food is no problem at all.
So the next time I hear you say that there isn't anything good to eat in this town I will hit you repeatedly with a spoon until you realize that not having anything good to eat is nobody's fault but your own.