Terry Kirts
Locally Grown Gardens (1050 E. 54th St.) owner Ron Harris took to social media to announce the sudden closure of LGG, a massive, iconic loss for the 54th Street area of shops and restaurants. Harris was one of the first to master the garage farm-to-table cafe concept that has become common among the hipster restaurant set. Harris sold prepared foods, seasonal produce from small farms around the country, and beautiful tableware for hardcore cooks. And if you ever got a slice of warm sugar cream pie and ate it at one of his outdoor picnic tables, you got to experience one of the more sublime sensations of Indianapolis living.
Amelia’s Bread announced last week that it will open a second location right by Kan-Kan Cinema, which we hope starts the trend of bringing whole loaves of bread for snacking, sharing, and passing during the movies like some kind of pop culture communion. No date has been released yet for the Windsor Park opening, but you can count on their social media skills to keep you up to date.
Black Circle Brewing (2201 E. 46th St., 317-426-0143) reopened for outdoor entertainment after an unimaginably difficult year for the bar and music venue. Owner Jesse Rice moved brewing operations out of the Refinery 46 building and into Loom, Rice’s brewery and tap room concept featuring Log food truck, to make room for a small dining room for sister Cuban restaurant Elena Ruz. Having organically become a frequently at-capacity music venue, Black Circle has had to endure it on multiple fronts, with staff canning beer one at a time to make four-packs to help the place survive, and survive they did. Keep your eyes peeled for show announcements on their social media.
Modita, a Cunningham Restaurant Group concept, has opened in the Bottleworks as an anchor restaurant (separate from The Garage food hall) with room for up to 150 guests. The restaurant will serve dim sum, noodles, and rice dishes along with robata grilled entrees—items on skewers grilled over narrow, extremely hot charcoal grills. Executive chef Braedon Kellner will be a familiar face, as a prominent alumnus of Tinker Street. It’s the 15th restaurant concept from CRG.
FitFlexFly is teaming up with Field Brewing for a Barbells & Beers event on Saturday, April 3rd to celebrate their new location in Westfield. For a $30 ticket, you’ll get a 45-minute full-body conditioning class and a beer from Field, with three class times at 9, 10, and 11 a.m. The large, open restaurant space will have plenty of room for working out, plus their complete menu of brunch options will help refuel you for the rest of your Saturday.
With baseball opening on April 1st, Hoagies & Hops (4155 Boulevard Place, 317-426-5731) has an extremely cute promotion going for the serious ballpark fanatics: buy a hotdog and get a box of Cracker Jacks for free with your purchase.