The Feed: Craig Baker And Nesso Part Ways
Chef Craig Baker is out at Nesso (339 S. Delaware St., 317-643-7400), two months after the Italian restaurant opened in the Alexander hotel downtown. Layton Roberts, a veteran with the Cunningham Restaurant Group (Nesso’s parent company), is now the executive chef, alongside executive pastry chef Hattie McDaniel.
La Cholita Mexican restaurant and Tiki Tiki Lounge (1001 Broad Ripple Ave., 317-289-2555) are now open in the former home of 10-01 Food & Drink in Broad Ripple. Cholita is upstairs, and the tiki bar is downstairs. Owners Michael Cranfill and Bob Kort also operate The District Tap (3720 E. 82nd St., 317-288-8251). According to the Indianapolis Star, Maxi Cortez, formerly of Cunningham Restaurant Group’s Livery, is running the kitchen.
Field Brewing (303 E. Main St., Westfield, 317-804-9780) is now open for lunch, with Sunday brunch plans to be announced soon.
A new entertainment complex is moving into Union Station in 2019. According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, Sam Cahill will own and operate the family-friendly venue, with a large restaurant on site and games like duckpin bowling. No additional details are known about the project. The IBJ also reports that Taxman Brewing will open its third location in a former livery building downtown. It’s part of phase two of the CityWay development, on the corner of Delaware and South streets. Taxman currently operates two locations, one in Fortville and the other in Bargersville, and hopes to open the downtown spot in the fall of 2019.
Calling all Gilmore Girls fans. The Lemon Bar (96 E. Pine St., Zionsville, 317-344-0472) is hosting a Gilmore Girls trivia night November 14. The winning team will take home a gift card to The Lemon Bar.
New Day Craft (1102 Prospect St., 888-632-3379) is gearing up for its annual release of Imperial Breakfast Magpie on November 23, the day after Thanksgiving. The yearly tradition usually starts with a line out the door, and ends with a quick sell-out. The blackberry mead is aged for 14 months in bourbon barrels, with just a hint of Bee Coffee Roasters espresso. Get there early, and the New Day crew will supply the Long’s donuts.
Smoking Goose Meatery (407 Dorman St., 317-638-6328) is having a Thanksgiving marketplace event on November 20. Shoppers can get wholesale pricing on Smoking Goose favorites (smoked meats, sausages, salumi, and others), and buy from other local producers like Lick Ice Cream, Tulip Tree Creamery, Tinker Coffee Co., and West Fork Whiskey Co.
Local chocolatier Julie Bolejack’s Chocolate for the Spirit made Forbes Magazine’s 2018 Holiday Gift Guide, with a special nod to the Golden Tiger Swirl (dark, milk, and white chocolate with peanut butter, pecans, sea salt, and edible gold), and Gingerbread Bark (gingerbread and candied ginger).
Another Indy favorite got some love from Forbes this week. George Turkette of Turchetti’s Salumeria (1106 Prospect St., 317-426-3048) is in the 2019 class of 30 under 30, an annual list highlighting what the magazine calls the “brashest entrepreneurs” across several industries in the United States and Canada. Turkette does whole animal butchery and charcuterie in his Fountain Square production facility and recently opened a deli in the same building, open only on Friday and Saturday.
Wow. The geode cookies from Confectioneiress (80 Brendon Way, Zionsville, 317-873-0880) are almost too pretty to eat. (But we love a good cookie, so we’d eat them anyway.)
