Struggling for new lunch places these days, hubby and I headed west to check out Traders Point Creamery’s restaurant, the Loft, in search of something tasty. I have always loved their products, particularly the Fleur de la Terre cheese—I always pick up a wedge when I am at the Farmer’s Market. That stuff is seriously good. It is a bit soft in the middle although tends firmer toward the rind. While not super strong, it does have earthy taste and a little bit of sharpness. But my kids love it as much as I do, so you there you go. Anyway, I was interested to see what the restaurant would be like and I like the motto on their website, “We milk it. We make it. We serve it.”And the interior of this place is quite homey and rustic but with a modern flair. Cool barn loft space with aluminum tables. The service is very friendly and accommodating (even when there was a film crew in there the day we ate lunch filming extra scenes for a TV show).
The lunch menu has a nice selection of sandwiches, wraps and salads as well as a few other items like mac & cheese. Now, since we were sitting in a dairy, I figured, I needed to hit the cheese
hard right? So I asked our server if she recommended the mac and cheese or the grilled cheese more. She said the grilled cheese was one of the best things on the menu. Well, that sealed it. Originally I thought, a grilled cheese seemed kind of boring, but their grilled cheese was amazing. It is thinly sliced whole wheat bread made with the Fleur de la Terre cheese, and your choice of one additional item. You could choose between bacon, avocado, caramelized onions, spinach, mushrooms or roasted red pepper. You get one included and any additional items are $1 extra. Wow. I could have pretty much taken all of them. They pretty much all sounded good. But not wanting to overdo it, I just went with my perennial favorites, avocado (natch), and bacon. Wow, this may just have been the best grilled cheese I have ever eaten. The bread was quite thin and the entire sandwich was pressed quite flat so it was really easy to eat, and there wasn’t too much bread to sandwich fixings. There was an appropriate amount of fillings and they were all delicious. Wow. I would be hard pressed not to get it again. It is very rich because the cheese is quite distinctive and combined with the other things, it was extremely filling. And hey, I dipped a couple bites into the side of garlic aioli that hubby ordered with his lunch and that was a nice little tasty addition as well. You also get a side with each sandwich—I had the salt and pepper kettle chips which were tasty, but didn’t knock me out or anything.
Hubby ordered the burger with Fleur de la Terre cheese as well as the aforementioned aioli. He said it was a really really good “gourmet” burger. Apparently he has categories of different types of burgers, which when pressed was a little vague about. But he ate every bite and also really loves the cheese. The beef was properly cooked medium and was very juicy.
I really wanted to get some ice cream as well, but as it was lunch and I had a big dinner coming up we skipped it. I really look forward to taking the kids here, as it is all their favorite things (grilled cheese, quesadillas etc) and they also give tours of the farm which I know they would enjoy as well. Not to mention, how could it not be cool to have lunch in a barn?
The Loft
Traders Point Creamery
9101 Moore Road
Zionsville, IN 46077
317/733-1700
www.tpforganics.com
Great timing. We went there for the Saturday of Valentine's Day and was pleasantly surprised. It was a fixed menu that started off with a good salad that included some of their cheese. They then served a delicious butternut squash soup with a crispy strip of bacon in it. What doesn't taste better with bacon! The entrees were mixed. They had three choices of which we got a tenderloin and a chicken dish. The tenderloin was good, not great. The chicken was a bit dry and had some overpowering sauce that was almost inedible. They then served a chocolate torte with almonds for dessert. Overall it was a nice ambiance that breaks away from the traditional Indiana strip mall feel. We are looking forward to returning with the standard menu and giving the main courses a second chance.
ReplyDeleteMy Mother and I ate lunch there for the first time last winter. It was one of the first meals out I had since undergoing bariatric surgery. I had the fruit and cheese appetizer and enjoyed it tremendously. Most of it went home with me to munch on for the next couple of days - one of the benefits I still enjoy is being able to be satisfied after eating very small portions of really good food. My Mother was pleased with her crab cake sandwich, of which I tried a small bite. Since then, I've been to the Saturday Farmer's Market and have purchased more of their cheeses and their awesome yogurt. I even used their yogurt as a starter for making my own yogurt at home! This place is a real local treasure.
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