Alison Keefer is Making Sweet Moves

Gallery Pastry owner Alison Keefer

Photo by Tony Valainis

Gallery Pastry owner Alison Keefer

 

AS A CHILD growing up in Fort Wayne, Alison Keefer sometimes helped in the kitchen. Mostly, she liked to eat. While perfect pie crusts and homemade noodles were part of Keefer’s Hoosier pedigree, the principal owner of Indy’s four Gallery Pastry destinations never gave a thought about culinary school. Instead, she headed off to the University of Florida to pursue event management. After a few years in radio marketing and sales, and an occasional front-of-house restaurant gig, she landed a job as an enrollment specialist at Harrison College. That eventually brought her to The Chef’s Academy in Indianapolis, where she taught classes in nutrition and met her original partner in Gallery Pastry, Ben Hardy. The two opened their first bakeshop on 54th Street in 2016. “After that first week, we looked around and asked what more we could offer, and we landed on brunch,” Keefer says. That took the form of crepes, omelets, and sparkling cocktails. In 2020, Keefer opened a second location downtown, across from Gainbridge Fieldhouse. A year later, the ground floor of 16th Street’s Three19 building became the third iteration.

Keefer fourth Gallery Pastry Shop recently opened in the former Next Door American Eatery space in SoBro, full of Art Deco touches and amber glass wall lamps inspired by Netflix’s Blown Away. Keefer, who is also raising two young boys, hopes to lend this latest shop a true neighborhood spirit. “We want to have a wood-fired oven, and a smoker that customers will be able to smell when they approach the restaurant,” Keefer says. “Mostly, we just want to make people feel welcome.”

 

A collection of photos
Allison’s Favorite Things: (1) Tulip Tree Trillium. “It’s basically a Brie, but it’s milder without so much funk.” (2) Bodhi. “I love Thai food, and this is one of my go-to spots.” (3) Miami. “For its variety of cultures and cuisine.” (4) Sparkling wines. “Especially the Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs from Napa.” (5) Peanut butter mousse. “I love the rich saltiness that peanut butter brings to desserts.” (6) French butter cookies.
For Keefer’s recipe for French butter cookies, click here.