edible traditions
Holidays with the Bluebeard Crew From their kitchen to yours, the four owners of this Fletcher Place spot share recipes that make the season bright BY SHAWNDRA MILLER PHOTOS BY KELLEY JORDAN HENEVELD
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n every culture and family, we have them: those tried-and-true holiday recipes that are handed down and changed up by generations over the years. We wouldn’t expect anything less from the four co-owners of Bluebeard, the welcoming Southeast Indy restaurant where history is entwined with the here and now. Every year, Bluebeard’s husband-and-wife co-chefs John and Abbi Adams and their partners Tom and Ed Battista, father and son, mark the holiday first as families. Then, they celebrate as a group, with an annual Christmas night tradition that started in the early days of John’s and Ed’s friendship. In fact, Bluebeard may owe its existence to a mutual trust solidified over many shared meals through the years. Whether it’s John’s grandmother’s traditional Christmas Eve oyster stew (kicked up a notch), Abbi’s mother’s holiday bread
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edible indy
pudding recipe (with her own twist) or Tom’s family standard of spaghetti and meatballs, holiday meals at these folks’ houses are mouthwatering affairs. Every Christmas night, they get together for a pitch-in to share their Christmas dinner leavings—and judging from the sublime fare at Bluebeard, you can bet there’s nothing left after that smorgasbord. Respect for tradition is evident when you walk into Bluebeard in Fletcher Place, sunlight beaming through the painted windowpanes, the air scented with fresh bread from the inhouse bakery, Amelia’s. The Adamses blend rustic Italian tastes with contemporary touches, resulting in inspired combinations like pork belly confit with collards, white beans and rosemary cornbread. History lives in the décor as well. Just like the recipes that bind families while undergoing various shifts through the years, the renovated 1924 warehouse housing the restaurant and bar is a classic.
“We repurposed as much of the building as we could and kept as much as we could,” Tom says. In the courtyard, guests can sit in the shade of a magnolia at a long table made from the trunk of an Indiana sycamore felled by lightning. The bar’s boot rail is made from a piece of the interurban rail excavated when Virginia Street was torn up for the Cultural Trail. Antique typewriters give homage to native son Kurt Vonnegut: His 1987 novel inspired the restaurant’s name. In all ways, this neighborhood establishment is deeply rooted in the place it finds itself. Curious to see what the Bluebeard crew cooks for the holidays? Turn the page for their recipes. Details: Bluebeard, 653 Virginia Ave., Indianapolis; 317-686-1580; bluebeardindy.com
winter 2012
