The Feed: New Directions For Chefs Greg Hardesty And Craig Baker
Almost two years after closing his fixed-price Recess and its sister spot, Room Four, chef Greg Hardesty is opening his own space again. Hardesty took to Instagram to announce the pending arrival of Studio C, a “culinary studio” offering coffee, classes, event space, and, well, we’re not sure what else at this point. The posts are very mysterious, but more details are expected soon in a grand-opening announcement. Since closing Recess, Hardesty has worked for Indiana-based Fischer Farms, and is the consulting chef at Spoke & Steele (123 S. Illinois St., 317-737-1616).
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Fresh off his stint at Nesso (339 S. Delaware St., 317-643-7400) in downtown Indy, chef Craig Baker launched Nostalgia Catering and Events. In addition to the catering side of the new business, Baker plans to do consulting for restaurants and food brands.
Ash & Elm Cider Co. is moving its tasting room from the Niedhammer building to the old Ford assembly plant at 1301 E. Washington St., in the Holy Cross neighborhood. Co-owner Andréa Homoya expects to open the new location, which will double the craft cidery’s seating capacity, in mid-2020.
Field Brewing (303 E. Main St., Westfield, 317-804-9780) is now open for Sunday brunch. The busy family spot (with James Beard nominee Alan Sternberg in the kitchen) expanded hours gradually, starting with dinner in September, and adding lunch service in November.
Speaking of brunch, Martha Hoover’s Crispy Bird (115 E. 49th St., 317-744-0000) is getting in on the Saturday brunch scene, serving up Crispy Bird–style dishes like chicken-skin chilaquiles, Nashville hot chicken biscuits, and kombucha eggs Benedict.
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The Fishers LouVino (8626 E. 116th St., 317-598-5160) is celebrating the holidays with Harry Potter Feasts on December 4 and 5. Tickets are $70 per person and include four courses inspired by the Hogwarts houses (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff), plus alcohol pairings. There are only two seatings on each night, and the event sold out within hours at the Louisville location. Better plan ahead, wizards.
St. Elmo Steak House (127 S. Illinois St., 317-635-0636) is gearing up for its sixth annual shrimp cocktail–eating championship on December 1. The event is in conjunction with the Big Ten Football Championship festivities on Georgia Street. Reigning champ Joey Chestnut will return to Indianapolis to defend his title, after eating 10 pounds and 6.4 ounces of shrimp cocktail in eight minutes last year. (Which didn’t touch Chestnut’s world record, set in 2016 when he ate 15 pounds of shrimp cocktail in eight minutes.) The contest takes place at 3 p.m. at the Meijer Tail Greater party.
