Global soul food hits Fountain Square
Pork ribs marinated in cognac or bourbon, garlic, soy sauce and hoisin. Steam-roasted, basted with the marinade along the way and then lightly smoked. Charred outside, tender insider but clinging to the bone.
This is chef John Adams’ kind of soul food. It’s not American. These ribs are Cantonese-style, a preparation named char siu, some might say “Chinese barbecue.” Adams plans to serve it at the global soul food restaurant he and partners are developing in Fountain Square.
Adams’ plans to serve family-style meals at the 80-seat Marrow, opening mid-October at 1106 Prospect St. Imagine a table laden with serving dishes, an international feast with your friends.
“Soul food (in America) shares a same kind of culinary language as a lot of Asian cultures: rice, leafy greens, really hot condiments, fish, different types of barbecue, using funky parts of the chicken cow and pig,” Adams said. “And (American) soul food, it is kind of a melting pot of so many different things.”
Adams’ global soul food interpretations may mean Vietnamese-style whole, fried catfish. He mentions curry macaroni and cheese made with coconut milk and grilled paneer, a fresh Indian cheese. Expect pho rich with bone marrow. A Malaysian-style marrow dish tosses roasted or boiled marrow bones in red curry chili sauce. They might be served with straw for sucking out the marrow.
The name Marrow is about more than the food or the roasted marrow-bone-washed rye barman and beverage director Steve Simon (currently at Broad Ripple Tavern) stirs into the restaurant’s signature Old Fashioned. Marrow is deep down in all of us, “the essence, what’s inside our bones. It kind of speaks to the offal, it kind of speaks to the soul,” Adams said.
Adams previously worked the kitchen at nearby Fletcher Place’s Bluebeard when that restaurant opened in 2012. Within a year, Bluebeard earned a James Beard Award nomination for best new Great Lakes-area restaurant. Adams also helped conceive and helmed stoves at Downtown seafood spot Plow & Anchor.
His fondness for global fare dates to Adams’ travels in Malaysia, Thailand and other Asian countries when he was a teenager.
Simon, well-known for his milk punches, slings one using rye, sweet corn milk and Chinese five spice at Marrow’s 13-seat bar. His nine specialty Marrow cocktails lean “global tiki” with an emphasis on rum and gin, Adams said. The Tiki Sazerac includes pineapple and cinnamon.
Part of the bar is dedicated to walk-up service near a lounge/waiting area by the front door. Reservations will be accepted for portion of the dining room, furnished with a communal table, banquette seating and traditional tables and chairs. Rustic wood and metal finishes mingle with spice tones.
Adams’ Marrow partners are real estate brokers Darren Block, who also owns Broad Ripple’s Landsharks bar, and Brian Epstein, who, along with Block, operates the firm Urban Space. Block was looking to open a restaurant Downtown. Epstein, a food enthusiast, knew of Block’s plans, told him about the Fountain Square place and introduced Block to Adams.
Call Liz Biro at (317) 444-6264. Follow her on Twitter @lizbiro, Instagram @lizbiro, Facebook and Pinterest.