Page 94 - 0619

FOODSERVICE PROFILE
Indy’s Culinary Scene Shines
Local produce plays standout part on plates from city’s top chefs.
BAy Linda Brockman
lthough meat and potatoes still rule in the Midwestern city of Indianapolis, chefs and restaurateurs are expressing their love for vegetables too. India-
napolis was among the cities listed in Food & Wine’s “32 Places to Go (And Eat) in 2019” and has also been recognized by Travel and Leisure, Zagat and Conde Nast as a favorite city for foodies.
“Because Indy continues to grow, more and more restaurants continue to open, and our talented chefs are choosing to stay in the city because they can open brick and mortar restaurants more affordably,” says Morgan Snyder, director of public relations for VisitIndy.com, the city’s tourism site. “There’s a hunger for new, local restaurants among visi- tors and residents. Our chefs are delivering. We’ve never had a stronger culinary scene than we do right now.”
Snyder says that three-fourths of all downtown restaurants use local and home- grown products. This trend continues to grow each year. There’s been a lot of movement lately to provide healthy options for diners, which results in great vegetarian-friendly spots in the city.
Indiana grows more than 30 major fruits and vegetables every year, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, and is the national leader in growing peppermint, spearmint, pumpkins, tomatoes and watermelon. Indiana’s main growing season is April through November.
Vida restaurant sources its baby greens and herbs from its own hydroponic wall.
Hoosiers like to help their neighbors, says Suzi Spahr, program manager for Indiana Grown, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture’s statewide branding initiative. More residents are picking up local produce, whether that means buying from down the street, two towns away or the next county.
An Indiana Grown store, selling produce, spirits and other Indiana-based products is scheduled to open in the Indianapolis Interna- tional Airport next year. Indiana Grown, which began in July 2015, holds events including the daylong Monumental Marketplace — Spahr says is more than a farmers’ market — and has a strong presence at the 17-day Indiana State Fair held in Indianapolis.
Finding vegetable-centric restaurants in Indianapolis can be difficult, says Jeff Clawson, culinary specialist with Gordon Food Service in Indianapolis. He cites Tinker
Street, Nesso and 45 Degrees as restaurants with “talented chefs who are giving some cool treatments to produce.”
Another favorite for Clawson is Vida, which has an in-house herb and baby greens wall. Vida holds the AAA four-diamond award since its opening in 2016. Cunningham Restaurants Group, which owns Vida and Nesso, also has a hydroponic farm that provides vegetables year-round.
The local Patachou Foundation uses the proceeds from food sales to feed at-risk and food insecure children. Its restaurant, called Public Greens, is in three locations and sources from its own microgarden
“Farm to table lives well within Indiana culture,” says Rick Hopkins, food and beverage director of Table restaurant by Market District in Carmel, IN. “We take trendy items and make them comfort foods.”
94 / JUNE 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS
PHOTOS COURTESY OF VISITINDY.COM, KELLEY JORDAN, SKYLER CREATIVE
S I NA DN I F A R N A A N P C O I L S I CS O