Chef Jonny Rhodes Will Close His Acclaimed Neo-Soul Food Restaurant Indigo In 2021 (2024)

by Brittanie Shey@brittanieshey Jun 22, 2020, 1:42pm CDT

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Indigo, Houston’s critically acclaimed neo-soul food restaurant, will close its doors for good in 2021.

The groundbreaking eatery, which showcased chef Jonny Rhodes’s stunning dishes and sharp cultural commentary, will reopen for its final year of service on July 23, according to an Instagram post from the chef. The restaurant will operate for one year, with plans to serve its final plates on July 24, 2021. The closure will allow Rhodes and wife Chana to focus on their long-term project of building a grocery store and farm to serve the residents of Trinity Gardens, where Jonny Rhodes was raised.

The Rhodeses just launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the projects, called Food Fight Farms and Broham Fine Soul Food and Groceries, which seeks to raise $250,000. “The proceeds will allow us to continue the physical development of the farm which in turn will provide the necessary produce for Broham Fine Soul Food & Groceries,” Chana Rhodes wrote of the fundraiser. Funds will also go towards making Broham “the grocery store our community deserves”, including the purchase of coolers, cash registers, display cases and more.

Indigo opened in 2018 and quickly became a critical darling. After Indigo’s debut, Rhodes won Eater’s 2018 Chef of the Year award, and Indigo was named one of the country’s best new restaurants. In a Texas Monthly profile from March, Rhodes spoke of a conversation with chef Marcus Samuelsson, who encouraged Rhodes to start using the term “food apartheid” instead of “food desert” to better describe the economic systems that have prevented communities like Trinity Gardens from having their own access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food.

In March, when the city of Houston issued a stay-at-home order, Indigo quickly pivoted from serving meals to selling groceries like okra seed oil, chicken rosemary breakfast sausage and produce grown in Indigo’s garden.

The Rhodeses have already secured the land for Food Fight Farms and are working on clearing and prepping it for planting. They are also searching for a larger location for Broham grocery. Funds raised through GoFundMe will aid both projects. The couple hopes to open the grocery store by Juneteenth of 2021.

• Here’s What’s for Sale at Indigo Chef Jonny Rhodes’ New Neighborhood Grocery [EHOU]
• Chef of the Year Jonny Rhodes Battles Soul Food Stereotypes at Houston’s Indigo [EHOU]
• Chef of the Year: Jonny Rhodes [EHOU]

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