A Founder's Story

Martha Hoover owns a successful collection of restaurants in Indianapolis, Indiana —Cafés Patachou, Petite Chou Bistro & Champagne Bar, Napolese Pizzeria, Public Greens, Apocalypse Burger and Bar One Fourteen. Founded in 1989, Hoover used premium ingredients, prepared from scratch, and partnered with local vendors and farmers — years before the phrase “farm to table” was first uttered.

In 2013, Hoover created The Patachou Foundation to feed healthy meals to food insecure children in Indianapolis. The Patachou Foundation is projected to serve it’s 500,000th meal to children who live with pervasive food insecurity in 2023. In its ten years of serving its community, the Foundation has grown to include Pataschool cafeteria consulting, the Food Fellowship summer workforce development program, a dedicated Urban Farm and Foundation Coffee Company, a social enterprise attached to the headquarters and production kitchen.

Hoover has been nominated for Restaurateur of the Year by the James Beard Foundation six times, Food and Wine named her “One of The Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink”, Eater named her “Empire Builder of the Year”, Vogue Magazine profiled her and the company for their sustainability practices, and InStyle Magazine named her to their list of “50 Badass Women”. Additionally, Bar One Fourteen was named one of the Best Bars in the US by Esquire Magazine, Café Patachou was named one of Restaurant Hospitality’s Top 25 Coolest Concepts, and Won’t Stop Hospitaity Inc. was named among “19 great restaurants in the US to work for” by Food and Wine.

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