SCHOOL DAZE Oya Woodruff is back in the game … sort of. The founder of Indy seafood place The TRAP closed her business nearly a year ago, a shock to her multitudes of fans. After months out of the spotlight, she’s back with a contributor gig on the food beat at Mirror Indy, as well as a job teaching kids how to cook at Pike High School. “I think it’s exactly what I need to be doing right now at this moment in my life,” she tells the Star.
BIG BUSINESS It’s a great time to be an Indy bar and restaurant owner. The confluence of the Indianapolis 500 and the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs brought a jaw-dropping $450 million boost to the local economy, WTHR reports, with much of that cash going toward the region’s drinking and dining destinations. (One of those bar patrons, proud Pacers point guard papa John Haliburton, has since been allowed back in the arena, so the dough he’ll drop will be from the suites.) Even when the action moved to New York, local bars continued to reap big rewards; with the series returning to Indy this weekend, expect a second East Coast influx in the coming days. I’m here for any and all Indy celebrity sightings (Where will Stiller and Chalamet dine? And folks, if Charles Barkley wants his St. Elmo filet well done, let him have it!) and playoff gossip, but as the series continues, be cooler than this now-jailed Danny Boy Beer Works patron, a Carmel man who allegedly stabbed a Knicks backer while at the brewery. That’s how Dodgers fans act. We should know better.
DING DONG DITCH About 260 Indy workers are expected to lose their jobs next year, when the J.M. Smucker Co. shutters its Hostess plant near Shadeland Avenue and East 30th Street. The bakery, which has been putting out Wonder Bread and other lunch box favorites since 1957, will go dark in early 2026, a company spokesperson said via written statement. This isn’t the first time the factory has fallen on hard times: In 2012, Hostess declared bankruptcy and closed for about a year. The Smucker Company purchased the baked goods company in 2023, and will announce the full shutdown timeline after the company’s June 10 earnings call. It looks like it’s a wrap on locally made Twinkies and Ho Hos, as the nearest Hostess plants are in Kansas and Georgia.
BIG BREAKFAST Noblesville’s wave of breakfast and brunch spots continues with Cafe Noricha, now open at 190 Westfield Rd. The restaurant, which is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, promises “bold flavors, exotic drinks, and our modern twist on brunch and boba.” A multi-page menu posted to social media reveals a lineup that ranges from lobster mac and cheese to tiger prawn truffle toast to Oreo milkshakes. Very intriguing!
NASHVILLEOPOLIS? Bedford-born country singer Clayton Anderson dropped some more details on his upcoming pair of Indianapolis bars this week, telling the IBJ that he thinks his venues can draw conventions and meetings to the Circle City. He believes his Clayton’s Country Bar at 49 S. Meridian St. and Clayton’s Ripple Rodeo at 812 Broad Ripple Ave. follow a model set in Nashville, where “they’re putting every country singer’s name on a bar.” According to Anderson, “Nashville is driven by weekday conventions. It is packed Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The bachelorette parties roll in around Thursday and stay through the weekend. Everyone wants to have their convention there, because it’s so fun.” It’s unclear if Anderson intends his bars to cater to tourists or locals when they open, and maybe he isn’t sure, either. “I don’t know anything about running a bar,” he admits. “The bar business is probably harder than doing country music. It makes me nervous.”
CHEERS TO THIS A new bar is headed to The AMP (1220 Waterway Blvd). SipEasy, a wine bar from Sip & Share Wines founder Nicole Kearney, will open on June 10. In addition to Kearney’s vegan wines (animal-free wines are rarer than you might think), expect local beers, wines, and spirits, as well as a lineup of wine cocktails. Keep an eye on SipEasy’s Instagram for menu offerings and details on a summertime grand opening shindig.
