Indy’s top chefs: Abbi Merriss of Bluebeard

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — She creates each crockery with passionateness and love. Her emotion of nutrient started simmering erstwhile she was younger. Now, she owns a fashionable Indianapolis restaurant.

Chef Abbi Merriss first began cooking erstwhile she was astir 18 years old. She moved retired to Norfolk, Virginia, close aft precocious school. She fell into the work industry, moving her mode up astatine a restaurant

“I learned that I had a knack for cooking. I started to dive into the culinary country a small spot much successful Norfolk,” Merriss said.

That knack and her emotion of nutrient came from her family. She grew up astir nutrient arsenic comfort. Her parent often made definite they had a large repast connected the table. Her begetter would observe bully grades oregon birthdays with a steak meal oregon his celebrated smoky burgers.

“So, similar everything benignant of conscionable ever migrated astir food. It ever made radical happy. It just, yeah, it was portion of my life, and that’s erstwhile it each clicked. I was like, possibly that’s wherefore I person this passionateness to marque radical happy,” Merriss said.

She worked astatine antithetic restaurants and came backmost to Indianapolis successful 2005. She learned adjacent more, got a chef’s academy assistance successful 2007 and a New York internship.

She opened Bluebeard successful 2012.

“It’s our blank canvas each time truthful that we tin make immoderate benignant of nutrient we’re craving, Merriss said.

There are immoderate menu mainstays, but astir of the paper changes regular oregon play due to the fact that the cooking is seasonal.

When I visited Merriss, she cooked up a delicious steak repast for me.

Merriss told News 8 that she has had immoderate chaotic stories since she opened up the Bluebeard connected Virginia Avenue. She tells maine 1 time, Lady Gaga ate astatine the restaurant!

“She kept calling maine Amy alternatively of Abbi and I said, ‘I don’t attraction what she calls me, it’s Gaga!” Merriss said. “She was giving maine hugs. So I was benignant of blown distant by that like, ‘Oh my gosh! Lady Gaga is present astatine the edifice having drinks with maine calling maine Amy each the while. That was great! That was fun!'”

She hopes her nutrient inspires people.

“I would anticipation that erstwhile radical sensation my dishes, that they recognize that it’s each astir the simplicity of the nutrient and letting definite ingredients shine,” Merriss said.

And she does it 1 crockery astatine a time.

This is the first story successful a bid we’re calling “INside Story.” The remainder of David‘s stories looking astatine Indy’s apical chefs — arsenic recommended by Visit Indiana and Visit Indy — volition aerial each evening this week connected News 8.