The Loft at Traders Point Creamery - Revisit

It has been awhile since I had been to Traders Point, because frankly, my last meal was a little disappointing. My friend Suzanne had been more recently and really enjoyed her meal, so we decided to meet out there for lunch.  The menu has changed somewhat since the last time I was there and had several interesting menu items. It was just lunch, so we went with sandwiches, but we also started with a cheese plate.

They do a really nice job with the cheese plate ($16) and give you samples of just about all of of their cheeses—two of the soft fromage blancs—the spicy one and an herbed one. These are sort of similar to cream cheeses and I liked both of them.  They also gave the Boone County Bloomy, the Fleur de la Terre, and the Brick Street Tomme. They are all great cheeses and they do a very nice job with the accompaniments—some sliced grilled Amelia’s bread, some chunk honey, and fig chutney. A great thing to share—possibly with more people as we didn’t finish it all, but a nice way to sample nearly all the Traders Point cheeses.

For our lunches we got two sandwiches and shared them. We had the grilled cheese with bacon, avocado and spinach ($13) with a side of chips and the BLT with a side of slaw (around $10). Both sandwiches were good. The grilled cheese was back up to the one I had the first time I went and was delicious. Nice and cheesy and rich with the additional avocado and bacon. They are using Goose bacon I believe and it is really good. The bread was toasted perfectly this time (one of the big problems I had the last time) and was nice and crunchy. The pepper kettle chips on the side hit the spot if you are one of those people who want chips with your sandwich. The peppery taste was unique as well.

Honestly though, I think I liked the BLT even better. More of that really good bacon, ok, a not so ripe tomato and lettuce but with a wonderful basil mayo that was what made the sandwich. It was plentiful and had a great fresh basil flavor to it as well as the tanginess of the mayo. The bread was nicely toasted as well and I wouldn’t hesitate to get this one again. I have always been lured into trying to make sure I get something with cheese on it because it’s a cheese place, but they’re doing other great things as well and I need to just order what sounds good.  We got this one with a side of slaw, which I really didn’t care for that much because it had that slightly sweet pickled flavor to it. I am so weird about slaw. There are very few that I really like.

Overall, Traders Point is a good place to remember on the west side. Often people ask me for recommendations for a nice-ish place to go out that way. They have seemingly re-vamped the menu and I think have done a nice job. I would happily go back and try some more stuff (plus you can buy all their cheese downstairs in the farm store like I did and go home and make a giant helping of mac and cheese.)

The Loft

Traders Point Creamery

9101 Moore Road

Zionsville, IN 46077

317/733-1700

www.tpforganics.com

The Loft at Traders Point Creamery--Revisit

We finally got around to taking the kids to Traders Point Creamery for lunch the other day—my in laws were in town and we thought it would be a nice place to go with everyone.  I haven’t been since my last post and honestly, couldn’t wait to try the grilled cheese again. I remembered it being so good.

Since there were so many of us, we also got a starter—it was the  “Bloomy Puff” ($14) which is one of Traderspoint’s cheeses wrapped in puff pastry and served with a bunch of fruit and veggies alongside—there were apple slices as well as zucchini, squash, and peppers.  There was also a bit of fruit preserves on the side.  The bloomy cheese is a fairly mellow cheese—it sort of has the texture of a goat cheese, although it is a cow’s cheese.  It is light and has just a little tangy kick—and when you wrap any cheese  in puff pastry, I am going to be a fan.  I did think the portion of cheese, particularly for the price, was a little small. I was expecting something a little bigger.

To continue with the cheese theme (it is a dairy after all), I got the same thing I ordered last time—the grilled cheese with avocado and bacon ($9) and upgraded my side dish to the mac and cheese ($4).  Sadly, I was disappointed with my sandwich.  The bread was much thicker and not really grilled much at all (I would call it very lightly toasted) and there was nowhere near enough cheese (just look at the one I had in my first post, they look really different).  The bacon and avocado were plentiful and tasty, but you really want to taste the cheese here.  Last time, the bread was really thin and grilled even flatter with a nice crispy exterior.  This sandwich made me a little sad, because I was so hyped up for it (and had recommended it to everyone at the table).  The side of mac and cheese was my saving grace—everyone really liked it and I ended up having to share mine with hubby and both my kids.  It was not over creamy, and had good flavor from the Fleur de la Terre cheese (which is a Gouda and also happens to be one of my favorite Traderspoint cheeses).  I will say, I thought it needed a little salt and pepper, which I added, and then it was perfect.  I picked up some of the cheese and am making my own variation of it at home tonight.

Hubby ordered the patty melt (we actually split half and half) ($12) and we both liked it much better than the grilled cheese. They raise their own cattle and the beef was great (and cooked to order properly).  There was Swiss cheese and grilled onions as well as a “special sauce.”  The meat was really super tender and juicy and there was more cheese here than there was on the grilled cheese.  The thicker bread worked on this sandwich because there was a lot of filling—you needed it with that big patty.  It was a good burger.

I like the atmosphere of the place—and the fact they have beer and wine.  The interior is like the inside of a nice barn—woodsy but with modern tables.  The service was good and very friendly. And my kids liked checking out the cows after lunch.  I just wish they hadn’t changed my grilled cheese, but at least now I know I will try something else next time.

The Loft

Traders Point Creamery

9101 Moore Road

Zionsville, IN 46077

317/733-1700

www.tpforganics.com

The Loft at Traders Point Creamery

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