Monday, October 22, 2007

The Goose, Lafeyette Square, Slow Food, and Fast Blogs

Goose, The Market Opening --Popped in on Saturday night to the opening of the Goose, the new market at 25th and Delaware. What a party! It seemed like half the neighborhood came out to celebrate the opening of the new gourmet market (and the Orange Moon salon just across the street.) Chef and owner Christopher Eley has put together a tantalizing inventory of cheeses, aged meat from several excellent -- and lesser known -- local producers cut to order and house-made cured meats like his own bacon and guanciale. (It's refreshing to see someone who's done their research and is carrying meat from some of the many excellent Indiana producers who don't happen to be "names" in central Indiana. Frankly, some of those "names" aren't as great as everyone thinks.) Along with his terrific meats and cheeses, he even has gelato. The first thing I want to try? The cocoa cardamom Wisconsin goat cheese. I didn't spend any time with the wines, but he has a nice selection of craft beers and gourmet staples in the basement as well. Plus, he's just a nice guy with lots of great experience from his last few years in Chicago (at Tru and others.) Chris, welcome to the neighborhood!

Lafayette Square Celebrates Its Ethnic Restaurants: In a very clever move, the Lafayette Square Area Coalition (a local business and neighborhood development group) is putting together it's own mini-restaurant week -- Taste the Difference, November 13-18 -- promoting the wide range of ethnic eateries in the 38th and Lafayette Rd area. With everything from Ethopian and Puruvian to Japanese and Greek, 16 restaurants in the Lafayette Square area will offer lunch for $7 or less and dinner for $15 or less. Check out their website for the list -- with addresses and hours.

Slow Food Indy: Chef Thom England sends over a note to remind us that Slow Food Indy will be meeting next weekend at Ivy Tech. From Chef Thom:
We will be enjoying a tour of our facilities and a light lunch prepared by the students. Chef Jeff Bricker will discuss the schools present make up and where it will be heading. At this meeting we will be learning more about what Slow Foods is, where it came from and what the future of the local chapter will be. The meeting will start at 11:30 in room 407 of Ivy Tech's North Meridian Center.

New Blog -- Dallas Eats: I've added one of my favorite new blogs, Dallas Eats, to the blog list. It's a group blog from the editors at the Dallas Morning News covering Dallas restaurant and chef news, foodie tidbits of interest, and good old fashioned gossip. Clearly, my kind of blog

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What are the great little known meat producers, Renee? Name names -- inquiring minds want to know!

Anonymous said...

Chris and Mollie are bringing sorely needed foodstuffs and booze to those of us who hate having to head so far north to get even decent items. There is really no place in the city that combines such a great selection with the expertise Chris has developed over the years. Hopefully Indianapolis will show some love and make The Goose a great success.

Unknown said...

I'm with anyone who's trying hard enough that they're curing their own guanciale and selling it here in Indy. (That's Roman-style, salt-cured pork jowl, in case you have never been fortunate enough to eat this part of the pig.)

Anonymous said...

O Gabe, you wascally wabbit, good to see your thoughts. Go Goose.

Anonymous said...

Producers Chris is using are: Sennett Farm for beef (part of a co-op in Western Indiana) and Gunthrop Farms (for chicken, duck, and pork).

Anonymous said...

I am stoked about The Goose, I live two blocks away and plan on using those two blocks to work off all of the Guanciale and other cured meats I plan on taking in.

John said...

An interview with Christopher of Goose here:
http://asthmatickitty.com/sidebar.php?sidebarID=304