The D.E.A.L. – Dining: Featuring a Farm-to-Table Sustainable Menu
Martha Hoover’s Café Patachou is more than a neighborhood restaurant and an award-winning café; it’s been a local institution since 1989. Long described as “a student union for adults,” the five locations of Cafe Patachou all serve a world class breakfast and lunch experience that includes dishes prepared with premium ingredients from scratch and to-order and a commitment to sourcing local and often organic products —omelettes prepared with truly farm-fresh Indiana eggs, vegan Cuban breakfasts, salads and sandwiches featuring locally sourced produce and proteins, house-made soups and desserts, and up-market coffee (selected by their in-house coffee director). They are also known for their refreshingly personal yet professional table service, energy-filled interiors and genuine hospitality. They have five types of mimosa and prosecco cocktails, self-serve coffee bar, yogurt smoothies, and juices on the drinks menu and locals will tell you the Patachou chicken salad is a lunch must.
Café Patachou has garnered local, regional and national accolades, including having been recognized early on as one of Bon Appetit’s Ten Best Places for Breakfast in the Country and cited among the Best of the Midwest by Midwest Living. Patachou Inc., formed by Martha Hoover in December 1989, operates multiple restaurant concepts in the Indianapolis area: Café Patachou, Petite Chou Bistro and Champagne Bar, Napolese Artisanal Pizzerias, Public Greens Urban Kitchen and Crispy Bird. Additionally, Patachou Inc. has created a 501c3, The Patachou Foundation, which feeds at-risk and food insecure children in the Indianapolis community and teaches them to make healthier choices through experiential food-literacy lessons about farm-to-fork nutrition and its impact on health.
Independently owned and female-led, Patachou Inc. is a company that uses its 2020 vision as a guideline to create a radically different and radically better company in these five critical areas: food sourcing, customer experience, leadership opportunities, sustainability and commitment to the community. Cafe Patachou is a must visit for both the farm-to-table sustainable menu and the impact of food and social change in Indianapolis.
Owner Hoover opened Public Greens as an urban, farm-market inspired cafeteria with a community focus that is now a Level 1 Certified Green Restaurant. It’s first location (there’s soon to be three, a downtown Indy site opens in winter of 2019) is situated at the head of the Monon Trail, the city-wide walking and cycling public greenway. It employs a dedicated farmer for the block-long grounds, fully planted with crops and edible flowers used in the restaurant and in the feeding program of The Patachou Foundation. The monthly changing menu features locally grown produce, humanely raised proteins and house made desserts, all served in a modern cafeteria style. A one-of-a-kind, for-profit restaurant, Public Greens dedicates 100 percent of its profits to The Patachou Foundation.
With its classic bistro fare, Petite Chou Bistro and Champagne Bar is Patachou’s American reinvention of the iconic French neighborhood restaurant with customer favorites including made-to-order crêpes, tartines and omelettes. Napolese is about artfully made pizza and stone hearth baking, using the finest ingredients available, carefully sourcing cheeses, meats and local farm produce grown specifically for Napolese. The seasonal menu and incredible Patachou service make for a world class pizza experience.
The downtown location for Patachou Café is located directly across from the State Capitol Building.at 225 West Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204, 317.632.0765, www.cafepatachou.com. There is another location pre-security in the Civic Plaza at the Indianapolis International Airport.
This story originally appeared in the January/February issue of Exhibit City News, p. 76. For original layout, visit https://issuu.com/exhibitcitynews/docs/ecn_flipbook_janfeb2019web?e=16962537/66750078
