The Soul Food Place That Started With Six Seats And Became An Indy Institution

FOOD

In 1988, Ms. Jessie opened a six-seat countertop diner in Indianapolis because she loved to cook southern food for her family and neighbors. Thirty-eight years later, Kountry Kitchen Soul Food Place is nationally known, multigenerationally run, and still making everything from scratch. That is the kind of origin story that deserves your business and if you live downtown you’ve probably driven past at least once a week.

Ms. Jessie's daughter Nell eventually joined and added her own recipes. Today Isaac and Cynthia Wilson and their family carry the tradition forward — the same beloved recipes, an expanded menu of southern favorites, and the same commitment to making the best homemade scratch-made southern cooking north of the Mason Dixon Line. Fried chicken wings, savory pork chops, fresh salmon patties, cheesy macaroni, cube steak, lemonade that will ruin every other lemonade for you. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every day.

For over 16 years they've also organized Christmas gatherings for those in need — one year serving over 3,000 meals with the help of community volunteers. This is not just a restaurant. It's a pillar.

📍 1831 N College Ave

ART

Sun-Young Gullery is a painter, a mom, a teacher, and one of the most quietly charming artists working in Indianapolis right now. She paints miniature acrylic and watercolor portraits of the city — Amelia's Bakery, Funky Bones, Ann dancing on Mass Ave, Monument Circle, local parks, the everyday places we drive past without really seeing but can recognize a mile away. Her work is small so it invites you to slow down and look closer.

The paintings are small by design — and the Indy Print Club is an incredible way to collect them. For $14 a month, a brand new 2"x3" print of an iconic Indianapolis spot arrives in your mailbox — packaged with a letter and a bonus item from another Indy artist or small business. These are not past paintings. They're new, unreleased works made specifically for subscribers. It's the kind of thing that makes your mailbox worth checking again. I think we can all agree majority of mail goes straight in the bin, so it’s fun that a local artist is sending frame worthy mail to your door!

For anyone who wants to build a gallery of Indianapolis art at home but doesn’t have a massive budget, one tiny beautiful print at a time — this is it. Go support local artists! They make our city great.

CREATIVE NETWORKING

Once a month, somewhere in Indianapolis — a co-working space, a local theatre, a music venue — a room fills up with designers, artists, freelancers, entrepreneurs, and anyone who considers themselves even vaguely creative, for a free coffee and donut and a short talk that hopefully sparks a creative excitement for attendees. That's Creative Mornings Indianapolis, and if you haven't been, that's a gap in your life worth closing.

Creative Mornings started in New York in 2008 and now happens in 260 cities across 73 countries. Indianapolis has its own chapter, hosted by Ryan Hunley and a dedicated team who organize it monthly around a global theme. It's free. It's open to everyone. There's coffee. There's a talk from a local maker or shaker worth hearing. And the room is full of people in this city who are building things, making things, and thinking about things in ways that will make you want to do the same.

The world's largest face-to-face creative community meets in Indianapolis once a month and it costs nothing to show up. That's the whole pitch! Go meet a stranger. Challenge your brain. Push yourself out of your comfort zone!

📍 Draft Creative Space · Oct 30 · 8-10am