From Zoë Taylor & Josh Kline, Borage is about food that we love to create and eat, in a comfortable neighborhood space that we hope is inviting for the residents of Speedway as well as the many visitors. Borage is a restaurant where you can leave with a seasonal, Indiana farm-focused meal under your belt, a bakery to pick up a house-made croissant made from grains grown and milled in the state, and a market stocked with provisions from the very same farmers and vendors we will be using ourselves. Borage is one of the highest nectar producing blooms you can put in your garden and while it is not native to the United States, it has been adopted by native species for the ability to provide sustenance to pollinators and ward off unwanted pests. Brent grew up in Speedway and has since established his business, Kennmar, refurbishing a vacant bank building, with the dream of making 16th & Lynhurst a destination corner. When Brent approached Zoë and myself, his enthusiasm for the community quickly convinced us this is the perfect location for our dream business. So much like the plant Borage, neither Zoë or myself are native to Speedway but it is our goal to be the restaurant version of that flower for the Speedway community and greater Indianapolis. The food at the cafe will have a range of comforting staples to rely on, in addition to a rotating menu that will show what my team and I are excited and inspired by seasonally from local farms. Whether you’re a solo diner who happens to come in on a Thursday night or a family of four with raucous young children on Saturday morning, you’ll find a welcome and encouraging space to find a delicious meal for all palates. In the bakery, Zoë and her team will create everything from sandwich loaves to inventive croissants to specialty cakes. Her sourdough, affectionately named Gus, will be a staple--providing our baked goods with a not-too-sweet component and our bread with that distinctive tang and chew. The market is where our joy in the kitchen and community will be more sustaining than just a bite for lunch--you can walk out with a freshly baked loaf of a bread, a bottle of our fermented hot sauce, a variety of locally grown produce, a candle from a gifted local vendor, and a stash of frozen prepared meals to last you through the week. We want our guests to talk about Borage with a sense of shared ownership by becoming a staple of the community. We hope to partner with a food pantry to donate meals, produce, and baked goods. We will gladly open our private dining space for community gatherings. We will have a commuter special of a breakfast sandwich or burrito and a drip coffee on the way in to work and a family meal for 4 to pick up on the way back home. We are greatly looking forward to meeting our guests as they become regulars.
