News Archive
IU McKinney Alumni under Consideration for Top Restaurant Awards
02/27/2019
Martha Hoover, ’80, is once again under consideration for the James Beard Foundation Awards’ Best Restaurateur honor. Hoover has been in the running for this honor in 2013, 2016, 2017, and 2018. There are four restaurant concepts under her Patachou Inc. umbrella, and her Patachou Foundation delivers meals to food insecure children. She was inducted into the Junior Achievement of Central Indiana Business Hall of Fame in 2015 in recognition of her work. Hoover also serves on the IU McKinney Board of Visitors.
Other nominees with IU McKinney connections include chef Abbi Merriss at Bluebeard, which is owned by Ed Battista, ’14. Merriss has been nominated for Best Chef, Great Lakes Region, the same honor for which she has been considered every year since 2016. Bluebeard was a semifinalist for the Best New Restaurant Award in 2012.
Finalists will be announced on March 27, with the winners named May 6.
