INDIANAPOLIS -- On a rainy Indianapolis day, just hours before the opening of his new restaurant, Kimbal Musk can be found in the farmland, what he likes to call the “heartland” of the Midwest.
Kimbal Musk is known for his close ties with to innovative companies like PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX. For the past several years, he has taken on the food industry, with putting an emphasis on “real food.”
Musk has been working alongside a handful farmers for the past two years to create the menu at his new Mass Ave restaurant, Hedge Row.
“A lot of the farmers we work with are really great business people,” says Kimbal Musk. “They do really a good job, so they are pretty sold out. So we have to convince them to support us. So for us, it is really a sense of gratitude for us to have them include us in the restaurants and grocery stores that they serve.
One of those farmers is on the south side of downtown Indianapolis, South Circle Farm, part of Mad Farmers Collective.
“It is really important to keep in mind where the food comes from, when you go out to these nice places on a Saturday night, to know that there is a lot of hard work and care that goes into that food,” says Amy Matthews of Mad Farmers Collective. “In supporting our farms, it is keeping other small businesses profitable and viable in our community.”
For Musk, the reasoning behind all of this is simple.
“It's just going to taste so much better,” explains Musk. “It is also really great for the community. Because you get to connect to your farmers.”
Musk takes pride in Hedge Row’s cooking style, taking the fresh produce and meat to the wood roasted environment.
“We wanted to pay homage to the fact that we put in so much time into our ingredients, that we don't want to do that much to them that a wood oven is a perfect way to celebrate our local ingredients,” says Musk. “It is wood fired on the spot, scratch cooking, so you get that incredible, intense, fresh, wood roasted flavor.”
Hedge Row in Indianapolis is collaborating with 25 local farms and companies to bring you locally produced, Indy flavored food.
“That is really our goal behind Hedge Row celebrating the local farm community, bringing their food, and doing as little as possible because it is already so delicious and wonderful to eat,” says Musk.
Musk is not only focusing on Central Indiana’s farmers but also working with our students here too. His goal is to open 100 outdoor schools in the Indianapolis area to provide sustainable living education to students at underserved schools in the area.
Hedge Row opens April 3rd.
