Dining review: Locally Grown Gardens

Grilled salmon with greens (Credit: Michelle Pemberton)

You can't confine or tame a wild animal -- it has to be free.

Good barbecue is a lot like that -- it's a feral beast, best served by the road, on street corners and in parking lots.

Like the lot on the corner of the Monon Trail and 54th Street, where chef Ron Harris opened Locally Grown Gardens earlier this year.

Harris is a former New York chef, and he brings the whole hog of that knowledge to his Broad Ripple operation.

He started slowly, with weekend pork roasts to complement his expansive seasonal produce store. But his food quickly became popular enough that he began doing weeknight dinners. Now, also he offers lunches.

There's no real restaurant space to eat in, although a room with an antique farm table and a shelf of cookbooks is a good place to sit. There isn't a "menu," per se. In fact, there are only two items -- the pulled pork sandwich and the grilled salmon with greens. There aren't even any drinks for sale, beyond water or a two-liter container of apple cider. But Harris does provide two golden parcels of flavor on foam plates, wrapped in plastic, with disposable cutlery, a napkin and a smile, all for
a grand total of $19.26 (including tax).

Pulled pork sandwich: $7.50 This sandwich is large and in charge. Granted, it can be a little messy, and the slice of home-baked bread (white or wheat) can be overwhelmingly large, but the meat is fall-apart tender, good and not too fatty. The sauce is tangy, a little spicy, a little smoky, but not too sweet.

Grilled salmon with greens: $10.50 Picture a perfectly grilled, pepper-encrusted salmon fillet, still juicy, resting on a bed of baby greens drizzled with a citrus vinaigrette, with meaty hunks of fresh orange and grapefruit throughout. Actually, don't worry about picturing it, because you can just eat it.

You should know

Locally Grown Gardens is home to fresh foods from throughout Indiana and beyond, including eggs, honey and pies (pumpkin, sugar and apple). Fruit and vegetable offerings vary with the seasons -- look at the month-to-month blackboard behind the counter to see what's in stock.

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