The Feed: Crispy Bird Closes

Here’s what’s cooking in Indy this week.
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Just 13 months after opening, Martha Hoover’s Crispy Bird (115 E. 49th St., 317-744-0000) is closing. The last day of service is January 12. Founding chef David Hoover has already moved out to the West Coast, where he is pursuing culinary opportunities in Los Angeles, and beverage manager Isaiah Estell is in eastern Europe exploring the wine scene. After the restaurant closes, the space will be used as temporary headquarters for Hoover’s nonprofit Patachou Foundation (until the permanent HQ is finished this summer), and an incubator kitchen for new restaurant concepts at Patachou Inc.

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Is it something we said? Chef Regina Mehallick is also closing her specialty market, R2GO (1101 N. College Ave., 317-737-2543), on January 19. Mehallick made the announcement this week, citing long work hours and a desire to spend more time with her family. Mehallick, a four-time James Beard Award semi-finalist, opened the shop in December of 2014, just months before closing her popular Mass Ave restaurant, R Bistro. She was a pioneer of the local food scene, serving farm-to-table menus before it was a catchphrase. Mehallick will continue to host cooking classes in the space for the next few months.

Advertising agency MilesHerndon is opening a coffee shop in the lobby of its Fountain Square headquarters. Indianapolis Business Journal reports that former Bluebeard bartender Kevin Sanders will be the general manager of Gavel (902 Virginia Ave., 317-915-8693), operating in the 900-square-foot lobby of the agency. Expect coffee, beer, wine, cocktails, and small plates when it opens in February.

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Fort Ben’s Porter Books & Bread is moving its coffee-roasting operation to a new space in Greenfield this spring. Marten Development posted an update on the building on Instagram. The Porter Books & Bread cafe will stay in Fort Ben, while the Greenfield Porter Coffee space will strictly be for roasting and expansion of the wholesale coffee business. Porter will share the new space in Greenfield with Butterchip Bakery, a new coffee and pastry shop.

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Daredevil Hall (2721 E. 86th St., 463-221-2200), the new taproom and restaurant in the Ironworks Hotel, took to social media to announce a January opening and call for employees. Speedway-based Daredevil Beer will be in the taproom, and the restaurant menu will be overseen by executive chef Neal Brown of Ukiyo and Pizzology.
Tickets are on sale for Second Helpings’ annual Souper Bowls event on January 26 at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Center (1121 Southeastern Ave., 317-632-2664). A $10 ticket includes samples of soups from several local chefs, with attendees voting on a winner. Proceeds benefit food rescue and culinary training operations at Second Helpings.
Beekeeper Ross Harding of Hardwood Honey is teaming up with Bluebeard (653 Virginia Ave., 317-686-1580) for a Cheese & Bees event on January 20. Tickets are $40 and include four kinds of cheese, four types of honey, four alcoholic beverages, and a Bluebeard-branded cheese board.

The first (and only) Indianapolis location of Chicago-based Broken English Taco Pub (141 S. Meridian St.) is closed. The restaurant opened in November of 2017.

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