
During the spring of 2018, discussions began about the opportunity to bring awareness to the emerging food scene, not only in Indianapolis, but also throughout the Hoosier state.
Among food and travel writers, Indy and Indiana had been coming of age, but had yet to reach the “tipping point” with the vast majority of Indiana residents, as well as corporate recruiters, influencers and the general public throughout the Midwest and across the country.
Indiana’s culinary landscape needed a foundational platform in order to create and communicate its ongoing narrative, leveraging four distinct pillars:
People: Stories and backgrounds on the chefs, restaurant owners, farmers, butchers, servers and others that personalize our content.
Products: Descriptions of the state’s diverse offerings such as world-renowned duck, tomato-based products, pork, beef, produce and more.
Places: Tales of restaurants in small rural towns attracting international audiences; emerging neighborhoods in revitalized cities across the state; and scenic dining establishments in Norman Rockwell type communities, among others.
Services: Information on the food manufacturers, processors and distributors leading the way with emerging technologies and helping to ensure that consumers around the world could have access to safe, healthy and environmentally-sound food supplies.
We embarked on the journey to have Indiana recognized not only as “the crossroads of America”, but also as the “Culinary Crossroads of America”, featuring a culinary landscape of people, products, places and services which makes Indiana the preferred destination for people to live, work and play.
Culinary Crossroads shines a spotlight on the people, products, places and services that define Indiana’s culinary landscape and help make Indiana the place where people want to live, work and play. In the course of our journey, Culinary Crossroads will create content and initiatives that amplify the voices that support and represent our cause.

Esteban Rosas participating in the 2021 Spring Dinner Series.