Visit the Pop-up Shop at Newfields in Indianapolis

This past spring on a trip to Indianapolis hosted by Visit Indy, I had a stop on my itinerary to visit Newfields. I wasn’t quite sure what it was as the name doesn’t really give you a hint. It’s actually a large campus that consists of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Lily House, extensive outdoor gardens, a cafe, a beer garden and more. It incorporates so many things I love in one place - art, history, nature, food.

I had always wanted to visit the Indianapolis Museum of Art, but was never able to fit it into a trip. I was solo on this most recent trip, which was perfect. I was able to linger and look around more than I would have been able to with teenage boys tagging along.

One of the current exhibits is “Step into the Seasons of Japan” and along with the exhibit an open space at the top of the second-floor stairwell was turned in to a little pop-up shop. It was such a cool and creative use of what had been an empty, blank space. This spring the space was occupied by the Pop Up: Tea House and it was such an inviting spot to sit and relax with a cup of tea surrounded by some simple Japanese-inspired design elements. 

The Pop-Up just switched over last week to the Pop Up: Noodle Shop. The Noodle Shop brings in a familiar food and serves it up in a creative, authentic way using local ingredients. The menu includes ramen, chicken soup, miso soup, pho and cold noodles. Hot teas, craft beer and cocktails are also available. Noodles are made from scratch by the culinary team and can be ordered in whole or half portions. 

I love everything about this pop-up cafe and how it ties in the with the exhibit on Japan so that you can examine Japanese art pieces and then extend the experience with food and drink. How awesome is it that you can be enveloped in the Japanese culture and then go sit down and enjoy a bowl of ramen soup with pork cut, egg, radish, nori and green onion along with a cup of oxidixed purple oolong tea?

The Noodle Soup runs through September 1, so be sure to get there and try it out before it’s gone.

There of cousse is much more to see in the museum - including an exhibit on Japanese Fashion, the stunning Studio Drift exhibit in the atrium and the original Love sculpture by Robert Indiana. There’s also much more in the way of food - both in the cafe and in the beer garden. It’s a fabulous place to just get lot for the day both indoors and outside. For more information, visit discovernewfields.org.