The name of a new Speedway restaurant is also a guide for the two chefs.
Borage, at 1609 N. Lynhurst Drive, took its name from a Mediterranean herb that is used in salads or as a garnish. It attracts honeybees and other pollinators while repelling pests like hornworms.
The interior of the Borage market is seen June 11, 2024, in Speedway, Indiana. Credit: Alayna Wilkening/Mirror Indy 
Borage employees Emma Eastridge, Rachel De Masi and Vanessa Aviles prepare bread for baking. Credit: Alayna Wilkening/Mirror Indy 
Merchandise is seen in the Borage market June 11, 2024, in Speedway, Indiana. Credit: Alayna Wilkening/Mirror Indy 
The entrance to Borage is seen June 11, 2024, in Speedway, Indiana. Credit: Alayna Wilkening/Mirror Indy
Zoë Taylor said that she wants her restaurant’s relationship to the community to be like the herb’s relationship to its environment.
“Borage is a flower that is originally from Europe, but is considered a beneficial non-native in the states,” she said. “And that’s our goal. That’s what we want — to be a part of the community. We want to be considered beneficial, but also acknowledge our privilege and what we can do to be better going forward.”
Taylor and Josh Kline, the chefs and partners behind Borage, are veterans of Milktooth, a Fletcher Place restaurant that has been a semifinalist for some of the most respected culinary awards. Taylor worked as the restaurant’s original pastry chef while Kline was the head chef.
Now the two hope to help people on the west side grow comfortable trying new things — such as rillettes, tartines and confit — in an environment free of pretentiousness. Or, if that’s too adventurous, that’s fine, too.
“In our times as chefs, we have been the ego-driven chef that is like, ‘You have to eat this the way I make it,’ We now have two kids together, and going through life and therapy and all that, you realize that’s not the way to be,” Taylor told Mirror Indy.
The menu features Progressive American cuisine, which reinterprets European dishes with U.S. ingredients from local farms. It also presents classic dishes, such as turkey sandwiches and big breakfast plates, in new ways.
Prices for dishes range from about $10 to $30. The space also functions as a cafe, bakery and market.
The restaurant, which opened June 12, is a dream become reality for Taylor and Kline, who have tried to get the restaurant up and running for about three years.
A fresh take on the classics
The chefs drew inspiration from Chicago-based Chef Jason Hammel, whose Lula Cafe was recently awarded the James Beard Award for Hospitality.
“(Hammel’s) vision of providing really comfortable and accessible hospitality without pretension is something we really strive to be,” Taylor said. “We want to have something like that where there are these staples that are accessible.”
Borage buys locally grown produce and proteins from local farmers, like the Mad Farmers Collective near the Old Southside, Full Hand Farm in Noblesville, Arnold Farms in Rushville and Becker Farms in Mooreland.
What differentiates the menu
Their breakfast offerings include items you’d typically find at other restaurants — such as a breakfast sandwich and a breakfast plate — but what sets their offerings apart are the ingredients.
Borage’s breakfast sandwich is made with croissant bread, fluffy eggs and Jarlsberg cheese, a sweeter version of Swiss cheese. The eggs are smeared with a cream cheese aioli and a garlicky spread, and pickled onion is added. You can also add a sausage patty.
Their breakfast plate includes a maple fennel sausage patty, sourdough oat toast with butter and jam, two eggs made however you want them and your choice of a potato cake, called a rosti, or fried potatoes.
The menu is the result of three years of planning.
“It was born of things we loved cooking at home and how we know ourselves as chefs,” Taylor said. “We’re very seasonally-driven and we knew we would want things on the menu that would be able to be swapped out.”
That includes dishes like Gooey Gobbler Sandwich, their take on a turkey sandwich that combines turkey breast with Muenster cheese, house-made mustard, a strawberry onion jam, dill pickles and gem lettuce.
When strawberries go out of season later this month, the sandwich will switch to a raspberry jam.
If you’re having a hard time choosing from the staples, Taylor recommends starting with the Taylor Family Caesar Salad. It’s made with gem lettuce, radish, sourdough garlic croutons, white anchovies — which are milder and less salty than traditional anchovies — and a cheese made with sheep’s milk, called pecorino.
Adventurous eats explained
Beyond the reimagined comfort food, there is a new culinary world to explore at Borage. All the French words and uncommon ingredients might be a bit intimidating, so Mirror Indy asked Chef Taylor to explain some of the dishes.
Smoked Salmon Rillette Tartine
First off, it’s pronounced ree-yet tar-teen. So what is it?
“The rillette — you combine smoked salmon and poached salmon and you turn it into a herby kind of spread. And a tartine is an open faced sandwich. So it’s a smoky, fishy, creamy spread on a housemade bread,” Taylor said.
The tartine also comes with lemon aioli, dill pickles, onion and arugula, which is a spicy, sharp-tasting leafy vegetable.
Chicken Liver Mousse Dirty Farro
“This one was inspired by dirty rice. (Farro rice) is Josh’s preferred grain. He loves it,” Taylor said. “(Mousse) is like a really creamy spread. The chicken liver mousse is placed on a plate and farro is placed inside of it, and it’s served with an egg.”
The chicken liver mousse is also served with giardiniera, an Italian relish of pickled vegetables, hot sauce and parsley.
Bacon Fat Confit Quarter Chicken
“One of our guiding principles is that we don’t throw anything away. We use everything, so all the bacon that’s cooked, all the fat is saved and used to cook the chicken,” Taylor said. “Confit is a French term for basically cooking something in fat. So, Josh takes the quarter chickens and covers them in bacon fat and then cooks them low and slow. It’s so good.”
The dish is served with a fried bread salad with arugula, called panzanella.
A Better Way to Eat Pork Belly
“Pork belly is great, but it has to be rendered low and slow because it’s so fatty,” Taylor said. “(Kline) slowly cooks it and then shreds it, so it’s almost like a pulled pork. But then he puts it in a pan and compresses it and chills it overnight. You slice it and reheat it so it gets super crispy on the outside and really shreddy and moist in the middle. So, it’s like all of the best things about pork in one.”
The dish is served with creamed and marinated corn.
Questions welcomed
Taylor said she wants patrons to feel comfortable asking questions about the menu.
“We’re going to do everything we can to make people feel like they’re comfortable here,” she said. “Don’t ever be afraid to ask. There are no bad questions.”
Borage’s cafe and bakery are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
Its restaurant serves a dinner menu from 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Brunch is served from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Reservations are available, but walk-ins are welcome.
For a full menu and other information, head to the Borage website.
Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @heyEnriqueSaenz
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