Smoking Goose

When asked about the Indiana scene, Gunthorp says Indianapolis is taking the sustainable trend to new levels. “It’s going gangbusters,” he says. Chicago’s Rick Bayless is his biggest customer, but Chris Eley from Smoking Goose is a close second.

Man does not live on meat alone. But since finding the offerings of the new meatery Smoking Goose (407 N. Dorman St., 317-638-MEAT) around town, we are determined to try. First came an elk pate, dense as a star (if stars were made of game meats), rich with spice, and rimmed with a thin layer of caul fat. It’s simultaneously sweet and luscious, and available at Vine & Table (313 E. Carmel Dr., Carmel, 317-817-9473). Then, from the Indy Winter Farmers Market, we took home a package of sliced, spicy capocollo—tender pork neck and shoulder, laden with chiles, paprika, black pepper, coriander, and probably some other magical stuff. We couldn’t stop eating it, despite the slow burn. There are numerous others we can’t wait to try; next up, heaven be praised, a sausage composed of duck, pear, and port.

Gorgeous beets of several varieties (the goldens get snapped up fast), ice cream from Lick, crepes from 3 Days in Paris, lettuces of every stripe, fresh eggs, sausages from Smoking Goose (alas, the bacon sold out early, save for the lamb variety), bright Brussels sprouts, bison steaks from Circle L Bison Farm and, oh goodness, just about everything else you might want to eat was on offer this weekend at the Indy Winter Farmers Market, enjoying its inaugural Saturday in the west wing of the City Market. The Star had some great photos of the bin action. But our favorite discovery of the week were the colorful and super-delicious breakfast boxes from Fermenti Artisan: local eggs, veggies, cheese (goat, from Capriole), and sausage griddled up hot, topped with bright Fermenti kraut, and served in a Chinese-food takeout container.

Chris Eley’s Smoking Goose Meatery got a mention in a piece in The New York Times on The Lost Art of Buying from a Butcher.

An idea three years in the making, Smoking Goose (407 N. Dorman St.), a wholesale charcuterie from Goose the Market’s Chris Eley, is weeks away from its grand opening. The 12,000-square-foot space in the Holy Cross neighborhood will house sausage-making and curing equipment, and though the majority of the business will be in selling smokehouse and sausage offerings (packaged with the Smoking Goose label) to restaurants and stores around the country, Eley will open the doors to the public on select evenings, a la Friday nights at Sun King Brewery.