INDIANAPOLIS — Owner and pastry chef Jazimen Morgan has been inspired by both her family and the city to expand, showing Indy its dessert destiny.
"I really believe it was divine timing," Morgan said.
When she first started out in baking and pastry, Morgan made an apple pie for her family and learned something new about herself: She loved the process. And she knew she wanted her own area to bake in, instead of using a shared kitchen.
After going to culinary school at Ivy Tech, she invested in a food truck.
"We started off with just a mid-sized school bus and we flipped it, and started doing events around the city," Morgan said. "And the people love us."
Morgan says The Sweet Potato's food truck frequents a lot of the same events each year because they've been honored to be invited back again and again.
She loves adding new items to the menu and taking ideas and feedback from customers.
"I was a little nervous at first," she said. "But to see it — like, everyone enjoying my product — it made me really happy and it made me want to create more unique desserts."
Morgan recently opened a brick-and-mortar location on West 16th Street after her father flagged it as a possible spot to settle in. It was a barbershop at the time.
"I do love this area because we're close to the track, and there's an abundance of small business over here," Morgan said.
The menu is wide and evolving at The Sweet Potato, with plenty of namesake-linked treats listed.
"Our sweet potato cupcake has sweet potato pie filling, and sweet potato pie on top," Morgan said. "I would say our specialty would be our sweet potato cheesecake bars."
You can find The Sweet Potato at 3616 W. 16th St. from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. You can also book its food truck for events.
