Liz Biro: Fountain Square’s new Italian restaurant, Restaurant Pioneer

• Restaurant Pioneer chefs are alums of acclaimed Bluebeard restaurant
• 125-seat venue will also include entertainment space

An uncommon take on Italian food lands in Fountain Square in early September, or maybe as soon as late August.

Restaurant Pioneer, at the crossroads of Shelby Street and Virginia Avenue, features the food of northeastern Italy and its Alpine neighbors Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

That means homemade bratwurst with sauerkraut and beer-braised apples atop creamy mashed potatoes in onion gravy. The thick, almost spätzle-like Italian pasta called cavatelli mingles with broccoli rabe, percorino romano and plenty of cracked black pepper for a spin on the famous Roman dish cacio e pepe, meaning “cheese and pepper.” Refreshing white wine and a coffee-infused Negroni play parts on the drinks list.

Those dishes were part of a tasting that chefs Justin Eiteljorge and Bryan Kanne served recently during a Pioneer test-run dinner at Milktooth.

The region’s cuisine is not one on which many restaurants focus, but the dishes may feel familiar to Hoosiers acquainted with German influences on Indiana cuisine. Rehearsal dishes were hearty but polished. For instance, cooks blanched carrots cut into 2-inch lengths and then roasted them in brown butter. They crisscrossed the pieces over a bed of plain yogurt and a sauce containing carrot juice and brown butter.

“I did lots of research, figuring out what is traditional and figuring out how to make it slightly more modern,” said Pioneer head chef Eiteljorge, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, in California’s Napa Valley.

He and Pioneer sous chef Kanne (more like “co-chef,” Eiteljorge said) are alums of the acclaimed nearby restaurant Bluebeard. Kanne also cooks at the Fountain Square/Fletcher Place neighborhood favorite Milktooth.

The 125-seat Pioneer restaurant and performance venue, 1110 E. Shelby St., includes a small, raised stage overlooking the dining room where small and full-sized plates will be served. An open doorway leads to a bar area adjacent to a 65-seat beer garden.

As for drinks, expect beer cocktails such as radlers and “definitely a lot of vermouth stuff, definitely some amaro-driven stuff. Not as much tequila and rum, but going to stick with gins and whiskeys,” said Pioneer bar manager Ryan Gullett, who is also transferring from Bluebeard, where he works as a bartender.

For the recent tasting, Gullett served the coffee-infused Negroni. He used the sous vide cooking method to infuse a blend of gin, sweet vermouth and Campari with coffee beans, orange peel and pink peppercorns. Everything went into an airtight, plastic bag placed in a hot water bath for several hours. Afterward, the mix was bottled and aged, allowing the flavors to mellow.

Another Bluebeard alum, J.B. Andrews, serves as Pioneer’s general manager and beverage director. Andrews was key to development of Bluebeard’s bar program when that restaurant opened. He has also clocked time at Ball & Biscuit and Dorman Street Saloon.

Pioneer’s owner is Bryce Caldwell, a music lover with a background in supply and logistics. He planned originally to enlarge the building, once host to Santorini Greek Kitchen and Deano’s Vino restaurant and wine shop. Caldwell said he had hoped to create a concert venue but discovered development was too expensive and that the neighborhood had enough traffic to support another restaurant/lounge. Performance remains part of the Pioneer mix. Anticipate music, comedy and maybe other types of shows, Caldwell said.

Call Liz Biro at (317) 444-6264. Follow her on Twitter @lizbiro, Instagram @lizbirodish, Facebook and Pinterest.