New in Town: Wildwood Market

Back when he was selling his family’s sweet corn and pumpkins along the roadsides of rural Putnam County, Craig Sanders had little idea he would one day be in the vanguard of Indy’s resurgent local grocery scene. But in the seven years this former Traders Point Creamery director of sales and distribution was on the road selling the organic farm’s yogurts and cheeses, he got to see plenty of independent grocers and specialty food markets across the country, and he quickly fell in love. Now, Sanders is offering a carefully curated selection of local produce, cheeses, meats, and staples at his own shop, Wildwood Market, which he opened in Fountain Square in mid-December.

Need a last ingredient for that batch of cookies you want to bake? Sanders likely has it. And while he could never stock as many options as big-box grocery chains do, he plans to listen to his customers and build his inventory based on what the neighborhood needs. At the same time, he hopes to introduce patrons to some of his favorite products, such as Capshew Cellars’s small-batch vinegars and Martha’s Pimento Cheese. He features many of these goods in daily rotating sandwich creations, like a Smoking Goose mortadella with Fermenti Artisan apple-ginger kraut on Cornerstone Bread Company marble rye. Home cooks needing a little inspiration can browse Sanders’s library of cookbooks. “We really want to walk people through dinner and help them get the ingredients they need,” he says. 1015 Virginia Ave., 737-2653, wildwoodmarket.com