“Man has climbed Mount Everest, gone to the bottom of the ocean. He's fired rockets at the Moon, split the atom, achieved miracles in every field of human endeavor... except the perfect breaded pork tenderloin!” If I’m remembering correctly, that’s what Goldfinger said before invading Fort Knox. Although the city of Knox in Starke County, Indiana doesn’t store within its depths the country’s bullion depository, it may still hold what we are all are really looking for, the perfect breaded pork tenderloin.
The Tenderloin
The best-laid plans don’t always come to fruition, but sometimes the back-up works better than the original. In my research I had staked out a tenderloin place just outside of Knox. I verified they were open, but when I arrived they were unexpectedly closed. The backup was Birdie’s Main Street Diner. The only reason they were the back-up is that I had no verification on the tenderloin. Usually I get a referral, see picture on the internet, the menu states “hand-breaded”, or some other guarantee that the place isn’t just throwing a frozen circle in a deep fryer and calling it good. So when I crossed my fingers and walked into the small diner on Main St, I asked right away, “How is your tenderloin?” The server said something of, “he pounds it out and hand-breads it before frying”. I had never felt that combination of relief and excitement at the same time while sitting down for a lunch. So, how was the sandwich when it came out? James Bond said it best – “Shocking. Positively shocking." It was everything I look for in a tenderloin. The meat was thick and juicy, the breading crisp and seasoned, and the bun nicely toasted. The shape was non-uniform and deeply pitted, perfect for sucking up some hot sauce giving that extra kick to every bite. A few years ago Birdie’s was damaged by a fire that raged through downtown Knox and was closed for a while. Luckily for us, they opened back up and now have a tenderloin that ranks up here with any other in the state.
The Town
The coffee shop downtown in Knox is called “Rabbit Coffee Roasters Co.”, but the sign on the store just says “Rabbit”. It is a cozy place where you can pick up a brew and pre-packaged pastries before the start of the day. They do roast their own beans there as you can see the giant machine right behind the counter, so you can be assured a fresh cup with every visit. I sure enjoyed my cup, ordered shaken, not stirred.
A few years ago my son had gotten into rock collecting a bit. We went to a gem and mineral society meeting and even attended a rock and gemstone show. It was fun, but like all 8 year olds, he lost interest and went on to the next big thing. I had done a some research with him and I found it a bit more interesting and learned more about it. When I saw there was a little shop called Geodes and Gemstones right north of the river, I wanted to stop in and see what they had. There was an abundance of different elements and minerals for sale of all shapes, sizes, and costs. You could get anything from precious stone jewelry to petrified wood. The owners were nice as we chatted about the giant geodes I had seen in a hotel in Savannah, GA as well as the original location of some of the rocks I picked out for display on my desk at work. Even if you are not into rocks, it is a site to be seen and, who knows, you may pick up something really cool looking. Of course, I ain’t no fool, I picked up a glamorous shiny cube of pyrite to display on my desk. Auric would be... disgusted.
There are antique shops, but sometimes there is a shop in an antique that sells antiques. That’s what you get at “Born in a Barn”, where the store is in an old house. You can wander around the living room, kitchen, bedroom, and even the bathroom looking for old stuff. You could even call this a part museum as the outside is decorated with old pieces like an old go-cart and a decommissioned stop light.
Wythogan park lies between of the business section of town and the yellow river (if they had just called it the Golden River…). Inside there are numerous ballfields, a walking path by the river, and courts for the only sport that has young people complaining that the old people are making too much noise – pickleball. Tucked in the back is also a 9-hole Frisbee Golf course. I really loved this course as it weaves between old tall trees. Some courses are dug into a forest where if you have a wayward disk, you can spend an hour searching the brush to get it back, or they have no trees at all and present no challenge as you just “fire away”. This one had enough trees to deflect, but no worries on losing in the deep stuff. I did hit a few trees and, unlike Oddjob and his hat which would have taken down half the forest, my disk mostly bounced squarely off the trunks. Playing “strict rules of Frisbee golf” I had to throw where it lied, which still gave me motivation to aim carefully to avoid the hazards.
Although the major roads seem to have avoided Knox, your trip should include a detour to check it out.The people were friendly and talkative, the shops were full of coveted items, and the tenderloin is one of, if not the best, in northern Indiana.
by Michael Tomko
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