Plainfield’s comfort food hotspot, The Oasis Diner, 405 W Main St, will air on an upcoming episode of State Plate on Monday, Nov. 26. The show is hosted by American Idol winner Taylor Hicks and will feature the ICON’s own food writer, Faith Toole.
Oasis Diner co-owner, Doug Huff, was onsite when the episode was filmed back in July.
“We’ve actually done this quite a bit. We’ve had some film shoots and photo shoots here and are pretty used to it by now.”
Despite owning a business that’s commonly thrust into the spotlight, Huff was nonetheless excited to showcase what he calls a piece of American history.
“This diner deserves recognition because of its history and importance to our community and really to the country. Diners as a whole help bring attention to something that was part of our past. The more exposure we have, the more people will appreciate what the diner means to our community. It’s a piece of Americana.”
The Oasis Diner was manufactured in New Jersey and shipped via railroad to the east side of Plainfield in 1954. In 2010, Indiana Landmarks listed the Diner on their 10 Most Endangered Indiana Buildings list. This prompted the Town of Plainfield to look into moving it 4 miles west towards its revitalized town center. Huff and the other current owner, Don Rector, took on the challenge and reopened it at its current location on West Main in 2014.
State Plate features one signature dish at each location, and Huff said he was surprised they didn’t focus on Oasis’s tenderloin.
“We are certainly known for our tenderloin but I think that’s good because that they doing something a little different than what we are used to. So it will give people the opportunity to see that we do other things than just the tenderloin.”
So what dish will State Plate feature? You’ll have to tune in to the INSP network, Monday, Nov. 26, 12 p.m. EST.
