by Jolene Ketzenberger | Aug 27, 2024 | People
Bake Sale Indy, the dream of 36-year-old artisan baker Cuylor Reeves, sits at 62nd Street and Allisonville Road, wedged between a bar and pizza shop. Before opening, Reeves plied his trade at the local outdoor farmers’ markets near his new brick-and-mortar; now the shop is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. After a brief stint in the molasses swamp of Washington, D.C., politics, Reeves mastered his yeasty art in New Orleans and trained at renowned establishments there before rising to souffle heights at Link Restaurant Group. He moved to Indy for love and his wife, Anne, a native Hoosier. While he once dreamed of opening a fine-dining restaurant, after studying pastries, he decided a boulangerie with smatterings of European and Southern influences might be better suited. Indy is so glad he did.
What made you want to become a baker?
I started as a dishwasher and fell into pastry. I worked at several incredible restaurants with great pastry programs but thought none took it seriously. I got a job at a proper bakery and knew I wanted to do that.
What is your favorite type of food and why?
Chicken wings are my immediate answer, but it’s probably potatoes. I love french fries, potato salad, mashed potatoes and potato bread. There are so many things you can do with a potato.
Where do you get your inspiration?
These days, most of my inspiration comes from our guests. Our main goal is to provide a consistent product. Creativity takes a back seat to consistency. Providing our guests with a great experience that is damn near identical to their previous experience is what keeps us going.
What is your favorite thing to make for yourself and your family?
Stock is my favorite. It’s easy; the only thing it really takes is time. Homemade stock is leaps and bounds better than the stuff you buy at the store.
If you could eat anywhere in the world, where would that be, and what would you eat?
Probably Vietnam. Pho, lots of pho.
If you could choose a favorite place in Indiana to visit, where would that be located, and what would you eat?
[The restaurant] 3-in1 [in Indianapolis]. Their pupusas are out of this world.
What items are always in your fridge?
Duke’s mayo, Crystal hot sauce and pickled Fresno [chilis].
by Jolene Ketzenberger | Aug 27, 2024 | Places
Thirty-five minutes from Evansville and nearly three hours from Indianapolis sits historic New Harmony, Ind., a creative community of almost 700 residents with rainbow flags and progressive architecture and situated along the banks of the Wabash River. According to the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, the town’s original 1814 formation originated from Christian separatists called the Harmonists, founded by a German preacher named George Rapp. He sold the area to wealthy European industrialist Robert Owen a decade later, who began a commune, “Community of Equality,” although the effort failed two years later. All this utopian history occurs amidst a two-century-old farming region that hosts unique culinary events such as the annual German-inspired Kunstfest or Monthly Market Auction.
While visitors can explore the historic village and learn about the area’s enlightened philosophies and ideas, they can also enjoy Midwestern hospitality and deliciousness. Start your day at the Black Lodge Coffee Roasters, a small-batch roastery and cafe named after David Lynch’s 1990s “Twin Peaks” TV series. Locals and visitors can partake of handcrafted matcha lattes or an Icelandic-inspired dimmubürg (“dark castle”) made with activated coconut charcoal and topped with black volcanic salt. Alex Gale, a coffee sommelier, and his husband, Ben Ward, purchased the business, which is housed in a historic former cooperage, in 2019. Follow their social for events such as sound baths and talks by area artists.
Down the street, Sara’s Wine Bar is a cozy café and wine bar that provides a nice respite for community gatherings. It offers a laid-back atmosphere where diners can enjoy handcrafted sandwiches and homemade desserts. In the evening, the café transforms into a lively wine bar featuring selected wines from Indiana vineyards.
Open every day but Sunday for breakfast and lunch, The Main Cafe offers classic diner food and desserts made from scratch and in-house. Complete with a full-service ice cream soda fountain, the café offers indulgences like a root beer float, ice cream with one of the house-made cookies or brownies, or the cinnamon roll breakfast sandwich. Pounded thin and large enough to cover a plate, the hand-breaded pork tenderloin sandwich is also worth a drive. Their social media pages feature daily lunch specials and regular menu items.
The home goods and cooking store, Capers Emporium, is also not to be missed. Owned by Oklahoma City transplants Mary Beth and Michael Guard, the well-curated general store stocks all manners of cooking and table accessories, from meat thermometers and small appliances to ceramic platters, glasses and cocktail napkins. Visitors can even find home decor, body products and more. In the back, partake in one of the cooking classes taught by Guard herself or sample any of the baked goods made in the commercial kitchen.
With its mix of restaurants, cozy cafés, and unique culinary events, New Harmony offers a dining experience as unique and diverse as the town’s storied past. Whether you’re a foodie, a history buff or both, New Harmony’s culinary offerings will surely satisfy.
by Jolene Ketzenberger | Aug 8, 2024 | News
The Indiana State Fair runs through Aug. 18, and all of us here at Culinary Crossroads hope you’ll get to enjoy all the food, animal encounters, agricultural displays, music, rides and games that the fair offers.
But there’s a new face that we hope you’ll look for too, someone who has a great message about a big event coming to the fairgrounds this fall. Mark Conway of the World Food Championships will be at the fair throughout its 18-day run, tasting his way around the fairgrounds and getting everyone primed for the largest event in food sport.
The World Food Championships will take place at the Indiana Farm Bureau Fall Creek Pavilion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Nov. 8-12. More than 1,200 chefs, home cooks and professional barbecue teams will be competing in a dozen categories to take home the top prizes.
One of the food vendors at this year’s state fair will be competing too. The winner of the Taste of the Fair will receive a Golden Ticket to compete in the WFC along with all the Team Indiana chefs who have already qualified. So there will be plenty of Indiana chefs to root for in November!
Tickets for the competition are now on sale, and in addition to general admission tickets, you can add special Taste of the WFC and VIP tix as well.
We’ll see you there!
by Jolene Ketzenberger | Aug 8, 2024 | People
Chef Brian Therkildsen, a Fort Wayne native, brings his culinary expertise to micro-creamery Brooklyn Pints with his life and business partner, Trisha Tran. With a passion for creating innovative dishes and a Culinary Institute of America degree, he honed his skills in some of New York City’s best kitchens. He infuses his Midwestern roots into the duo’s culinary creations using locally sourced ingredients and sustainable practices. At Brooklyn Pints, chef Therkildsen, along with Tran, combines their love for traditional flavors with modern techniques, delivering unique ice cream flavors delighting both locals and visitors.
What made you want to become a chef?
I have a few photos of me as a small child helping my mom in the kitchen, and I always wanted to bake by myself as I got older. It was more of a hobby but turned into a profession after I entered a culinary competition team in my high school, and we won state! That’s when I knew I would be a pastry chef for a living.
What is your favorite type of food and why?
I would have to pick Asian or Mexican. Both have some great flavor combinations that I’ll never get tired of.
Where do you get your inspiration?
A lot comes from reading other chefs’ books that I’m familiar with and also from chefs I know. One of my biggest inspirations was the chef I worked under when I was working at Gramercy Tavern in NYC. He pushed me to be a better chef and a leader.
What is your favorite thing to make for yourself and your family?
I love baking bread, by far my favorite thing to make. If I had to pick. it would be brioche, milk bread or sourdough!
If you could eat anywhere in the world, where would that be, and what would you eat?
I want to visit Japan and go back to Scandinavia. Both are such unique cultures and what fascinates me the most about a country’s culture is its food. I want to visit the best ramen spots in Japan, and I want to go to Bergen, Norway, mostly because it is so pretty. But it is right on the coast, so I’m sure their fish is incredible.
If you could choose a favorite place in Indiana to visit, where would that be located, and what would you eat?
To be honest, I haven’t explored much outside of Fort Wayne and Indianapolis. But I will say I always look for those hole-in-the-wall places – the ones that deserve to be popular but are really only talked about by the locals. I’ll always gravitate towards those.
What items are always in your fridge?
Nothing surprising, ha ha. Eggs, some sort of starch and a protein. When you work the hours I do, the time for cooking doesn’t exist, so it’s pretty simple in my fridge. But cheese sticks will always be in there. I love cheese sticks.
by Jolene Ketzenberger | Jul 25, 2024 | News
When the World Food Championships come to Indianapolis in November, the local culinary community will be well represented. Two more Golden Tickets to the Nov. 8-12 event were awarded at recent culinary competitions.
Pitmaster Dave White of Great White Smoke in Bloomington took top honors at the Famous Dave’s All-Star BBQ Series in Louisville recently and won a Golden Ticket to compete in the barbecue category at the World Food Championships.
Chef JJ Boston of Chef JJ’s in downtown Indianapolis also won a Golden Ticket at the Holy Cross Wine & Cheese Festival’s grilled cheese throwdown and qualified to compete in the sandwich category of the championships.
The World Food Championships will take place at the new Indiana Farm Bureau Fall Creek Pavilion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Nov. 8-12. The event is the largest food sport competition in the world and draws more than 1,500 competitors from across the country and around the world. For more info, check out WorldFoodChampionships.com.
