Week 20: The last Statehouse Market of 2018!

Chef Bricker’s Brick House Vinaigrettes — Five Questions

Batch No. 2 — Five Questions

Hot Toddy’s — Five Questions

Limelight Coffee Roasters — Five Questions

Gluten Free Creations — This week’s items include cookies, brownies, sweet breads, scones, pecan tartlets, paleo items, yeast breads and more!

Food Trucks:

Edwards’ Dashboard Diner — Five Questions

BoxBurger — Five Questions

Serendipity — Five Questions

5280 Bistro

Chef Dan’s Southern Comfort — Five Questions

Der Pretzel Wagen

General American Donut Company — Five Questions

Nacho Mama’s — Five Questions

Market hosting ‘DNR Wildlife Science Day’ this Thursday!

posted by SPD Communications on September 24, 2018 DNR

Every Statehouse Market is something special, but we think Week 19 is especially, um, special.

You might say it’s “super special.” Or “ultra special.” Or “stupendously super-duper special.”

No matter what adjectives you choose to use to describe it, the second-to-last Statehouse Market of 2018 is packed with fun thanks to the good folks at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources!

Thursday, Sept. 27 is officially (drum roll, please) “DNR Wildlife Science Day” at the Statehouse Market!

Start the morning off right by stopping by conference room 19 of IGC-South for the series “Cookies, Coffee and Conservation.” The talks, which are conducted by DNR experts, run from 9 to 9:50 a.m. and will cover wildlife disease management, the Hoosier State’s diverse duck population, conservation funding, coyotes’ relocation to urban areas, an analysis of car-deer collisions from the past five years, and a peek at Indiana’s underwater salamanders.

When the market proper kicks off at 10:30 a.m., DNR staff will have informational booths set up on the plaza to help you “Find Your Next Adventure” this fall!

And speaking of critters that bear more than a passing resemblance to dinosaurs, visitors may get an up-close and personal look at a hellbender salamander — one of Indiana’s largest underwater lizard-like amphibians. Don’t worry! Although the name sounds like something you’d hope not to find in your swimming pool, hellbenders are entirely harmless.

Week 19 SHM

You can even commemorate the day by taking a selfie with “Herbie the Hellbender” — a costumed DNR staff member, not an actual salamander with a waterproof smartphone. Although, admittedly, that would be kind of neat too.

All this, plus the usual market goodness: the best produce around, artisan goods crafted with care, and delicious street food to suit every taste.

Don’t miss this Thursday’s Statehouse Market! Meet us on Robert D. Orr Plaza for food, fun and the opportunity to learn about Indiana’s truly “Great Outdoors.”

That’s definitely something special!

And we can’t wait to see you there!

Vendors:

Limelight Coffee Roasters — Five Questions

Chef Bricker’s Brick House Vinaigrettes — Five Questions

Simple Taste — This week’s items include paleo, sugar free, pies, chicken pot pies, muffins, cinnamon rolls, Simple Taste’s famous sandwich cookies, and vegan chocolate brownies.

Batch No. 2 — F ive Questions

Food Trucks:

Nacho Mama’s — Five Questions

Serendipity — Five Questions

The NY Slice

Gigi’s Cupcake Truck

Chomp’Z — Five Questions

Pierogi Love Indy

Johnson’s BBQ Shack

El Venezolano

Rolling Asian Delight

Tommie’s Ooo Weee Chicken

Chef Dan’s Southern Comfort — Five Questions

2018 SECC ‘kickoff party’ headlines Week 15 Market!

posted by SPD Communications on August 27, 2018

This week’s Statehouse Market is extra special as the myriad food trucks and produce vendors will be joined on Robert D. Orr Plaza by numerous dignitaries and state employees for the formal kickoff of one of the year’s most important — and most anticipated — programs.

Indiana Department of Revenue Commissioner Adam Krupp is heading that statewide initiative — the 2018-19 State Employees’ Community Campaign (SECC). The SECC is a charitable effort that sees thousands of state employees donate to nonprofit organizations each year.

Taking charge immediately, the dynamic and driven Krupp helped set a new goal for this year’s SECC that hopes to net at least $1.5 million dollars.

Krupp’s chosen charity is Project 44, a nonprofit that encourages bone marrow donor registration at Be the Match, the goal being to connect potential donors with compatible transplant recipients. Project 44, so named in honor of former Butler basketball star Andrew Smith who wore the jersey number during his collegiate career with the Bulldogs, hopes to save at least 44 lives.

During Smith’s tenure, the team reached back-to-back NCAA Basketball Championship games. The 6’11 center was instrumental in those tournament runs and was popular with students and fans. Tragically, the talented Zionsville native Butler faithful often called “Moose” died from an aggressive form of cancer in 2016. He was only 25-years-old.

After his passing, Andrew’s wife, Samantha, worked to create the charity that bears his number. Andrew Smith had received a bone marrow transplant in 2015 that family members believe extended his life.

The charity made news when one of the first matches facilitated through Project 44 led to a 2-year-old boy with leukemia receiving a needed bone marrow transplant. The donor? One of Smith’s Butler teammates.

That’s close to a storybook start for a nonprofit hoping to raise awareness of a life-saving process that organization members believe all-too-often goes “under the radar” of many Americans: the continual need for blood stem cell donors and recipients.

It’s truly an effort aimed at saving lives.

In addition to Project 44, dozens of other charities can be the recipients of donations from State of Indiana employees. The results of those donations are real, tangible and often come at just the right time for those in need. Read about the impact of last year’s campaign here.

INDOR Commissioner Adam Krupp (left) meets with IDEM Commissioner Bruno Pigott. Krupp is set to lead the 2018 SECC. Pigott headed the campaign last year.

With plenty of motivation to give back to organizations that fight everything from food insecurity to homelessness, it appears Krupp’s lofty goal is a reachable one.

Last year’s campaign, which was headed by Indiana Department of Environmental Management Commissioner Bruno Pigott, brought in about $1.4 million that was divided among more than 1,600 nonprofit agencies.

Those are the kinds of stories that inspire others to do good in the communities in which they live.

This year’s kickoff will continue to highlight that important point through a series of games and events that coincide with the already-fun and festive Statehouse Market. Indiana First Lady Janet Holcomb and First Dog Henry Holcomb are expected to appear at the event, which will feature a dunk tank, a pie-in-the face event and plenty of informational booths from several charities. Samantha Smith is also set to appear at Thursday’s SECC “kickoff party.”

What’s more, several vendors and food truck owners have decided to donate a portion of their proceeds toward the SECC! Check out the links below to read all about this week’s lineup and the featured items that can be purchased to give a boost to the campaign.

Great food + helping those in need = win-win for all.

It’s sure to be a fun time, so make plans to have lunch outside this Thursday to learn more about a great cause while enjoying the amazing eats and treats only the Hoosier State’s finest farmers and entrepreneurs can provide.

Vendors: Market Week 15

Simple Taste Specialty Bakery

Wildflower Ridge Honey — Five Questions

Uber Green Farms — Five Questions

Limelight Coffee — Five Questions — Limelight Coffee Roasters will donate $1 from each 32-oz. cold brew jug or bag of coffee beans sold Aug. 30!

Groomsville Popcorn — Five Questions — Groomsville Popcorn will donate $1 from each large bag of sea salt and kettle corn popcorn sold Aug. 30!

Hot Toddy’s — Five Questions

Oberweis Dairy

Food Trucks:

Nacho Mama’s — Five Questions — Nacho Mama’s will donate $1 from every indescribably delicious mini taco salad sold Aug. 30!

Simply Divine Cupcakes — Five Questions

Droopy’s BBQ — Got a hankering for some mac ‘n cheese? How about barbecue mac ‘n cheese? Droopy’s BBQ will donate $.50 from each barbecue mac ‘n cheese dish sold Aug. 30!

Chomp’Z — Who doesn’t like a delicious tenderloin? It’s called “Hoosier Comfort Food” for a reason, after all. Chomp’Z will donate $1 from each tenderloin sold Aug. 30!

Da Blue Lagoon

Las Tortugas — Five Questions

Serendipity — Five Questions

Chef Dan’s Southern Comfort — Five Questions — Chef Dan’s will donate 10 percent of Aug. 30 sales to the SECC!

Soladine Concessions

Pierogi Love Indy

The NY Slice

We’ll see you on Robert D. Orr Plaza Thursday, Aug. 30!

Five Questions with Chef Dan’s Southern Comfort

posted by SPD Communications on August 21, 2018 Five Questions

You don’t have to go all the way to Louisiana for a true taste of the bayou!

Chef Dan’s Southern Comfort has been offering authentic Cajun dishes to the Indianapolis area for nearly a decade via a menu that is anything but standard food truck fare. Chef Dan Carter and Sous Chef Cyrus Braud are the architects behind an array of sandwiches that are as unique as the Mississippi Delta.

Catfish, alligator, oyster and more “po’ boy” sandwiches are staples of the truck, and those treats join sides fashioned in just the way Cajun cooks have been preparing meals for decades.

Talk about southern comfort!

Read on to learn more about Chef Dan, Chef Cyrus, their popular food truck and the inspiration for its deliciously eclectic menu below, and be sure to check them out this season at the Statehouse Market!

Q: Your mother was an obvious inspiration for your career, but who else had a hand in setting you on this career path?

A: Chef Dan’s has been around since 2009. Cyrus came to work for me in 2013 as I showed him how to prepare the dishes that my mother and grandmother showed me. My grandmother was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana. Those recipes have been in the Carter and Brady families for years, so I brought them to Indy.

Q: Chef Dan’s Southern Comfort prides itself on serving authentic dishes from the bayou and the Mississippi Delta. What do you use for inspiration in creating your menu?

A: My grandmother cooked Cajun food for the family, and I just loved it. So, I created my menu from the same meals I grew up on.

Q: What is your favorite thing about appearing at the Statehouse Market?

A: To hear the [State of Indiana] employees tell me how they love the flavor of the food and how good it is makes me want to appear more.

Q: What are some new items this year that fans can look forward to trying at your food truck?

A: Cajun chicken pasta, shrimp creole, Cajun potato salad and seafood gumbo

Q: Chef Cyrus’ mother often visits the restaurant and prepares authentic New Orleans pralines. What, exactly, are New Orleans pralines and how do they differ from traditional versions?

A: Praline is a candy made with brown sugar, pecans and butter.

Market Week 14 looks peachy-keen!

posted by SPD Communications on August 20, 2018 Peaches

Contrary to what some may think, you really don’t have to move to the country to eat a lot of peaches.

Actually, all you have to do is drop by the Statehouse Market between 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. this Thursday to see an array of nectarines that might be the envy of even the most accomplished Georgia farmers.

And the peaches brought by our amazing lineup of produce vendors certainly don’t come from a can, nor were they put there by someone in a manufacturing facility… downtown or anywhere else. Nope. They’re Hoosier-grown and painstakingly cared for to peak ripeness.

Personally, if we had our little way, we’d probably go ahead and eat peaches every day, and we think you’ll feel the same.

Okay, that’s enough quasi-obscure ’90s Alternative music references for one week, but, in case you haven’t already noticed, we think the Statehouse Market is the perfect place to celebrate National Peach Month. You’ll find plenty of those delectable treats sharing booth real estate with dozens of other fruits and veggies just waiting to be part of your healthy dinner.

All that joins coffee, honey products, pies, artisan ketchup and mustard, dairy products, fresh flowers and so much more!

Oh, and be sure to scope out the dozen or so food trucks lined up to provide customers with an amazingly delicious lunch. As always, these entrepreneurs will be bringing some of the best street food the Indy area has to offer!

We’ll be enjoying it all on Robert D. Orr Plaza Aug. 23; and if you’d take time to join us, well, we think that would be just peachy.

Here’s this week’s lineup:

Vendors:

Wildflower Ridge Honey — Five Questions

Oberweis Dairy

Limelight Coffee — Five Questions

Gluten Free Creations

Generations Pie Company — Five Questions

Batch No. 2 — Five Questions

Food Trucks:

Soul Sista On the Move

Boxburger — Five Questions

Chef Dan’s Southern Comfort — Five Questions

A dozen Statehouse Markets down, plenty to go

posted by SPD Communications on August 6, 2018 Statehouse Market Week 12

We’re already a dozen weeks into the 2018 Statehouse Market season!

That’s 12 wonderful weeks of peaches, blueberries, potatoes, cantaloupe, eggplant, peppers, green beans and so much more!

And we, of course, can’t forget the food trucks who’ve brought us nachos, tacos, cheeseburgers, pizza, hot dogs, sausages, salads, quesadillas, crab cakes and just about every other kind of food under the summer sun.

With 10 more markets to go, we hope you’ll visit us on Robert D. Orr Plaza each Thursday and see the selection of amazing goods for yourself. You can start this week by meeting us outside from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

While we (impatiently) wait for Thursday, check out this week’s scheduled lineup:

Vendors:

Brick House Vinaigrettes — Five Questions

Oberweis Dairy

Limelight Coffee

Tommie’s Ooo Weee Chicken

Gluten Free Creations — This week’s items include sweet breads, cookies, brownies, scone bites, pecan tartlets, Paleo items, and pound cakes.

Batch No. 2 — Five Questions

Food Trucks:

Citizen Hash

The Twisted Sicilian — Check out the new Sicilian cold cut sub with ham, capocollo, salami, calabrese, hard salami ,provolone cheese giardinniera!

Pi Indy

Johnson’s BBQ

The Legendary Kitchen — Five Questions

Serendipity Trailer — Five Questions

Tacos Without Borders

Lucky Louie’s

Chef Dan’s Southern Comfort

Market marches on to Week 7

posted by SPD Communications on July 2, 2018 Statehouse Market Week 7

Celebrate your independence from a boring, banal or otherwise bland lunch by visiting the Statehouse Market this Thursday!

Almost a dozen food trucks will line up from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Robert D. Orr Plaza with a selection of cuisine we declare is delicious.

As always, this week’s vendors will bring along top-of-the-line Hoosier-grown produce and lovingly-crafted, homebaked goods sure to be the stars of any summer get-together.

We think that visiting the Statehouse Market each week is pretty much the definition of the pursuit of happiness. After the fun and fireworks of this Fourth of July, why not join us for our weekly celebration of Hoosier farmers and good, old-fashioned American entrepreneurship?

We hope to see you there!

Vendors:

Limelight Coffee Roasters

Hot Toddy’s — Five Questions

Simple Taste Specialty Bakery

Brick House Vinaigrettes — Five Questions

Food Trucks:

The Twisted Sicilian — Cucumber salad is this week’s special.

5280 Bistro

Pi Indy

Simply Divine Cupcakes — Five Questions Simply Divine will be offering gluten free and vegan options this week.

Droopy’s BBQ – Special will be a Cubano Sandwich (pulled pork, honey ham, Swiss cheese, pickle and Droopy’s mustard BBQ sauce) with a bag of Grippos potato chips for $12.

Boxburger — Five Questions

Edwards’ Drive-In Dashboard Diner — Five Questions

Chef Dan’s Southern Comfort — Vegetarian red beans and rice is this week’s special.

Da Blue Lagoon

Ooo Weee Chicken