Nicole-Taylor's Pasta + Market + Backroom Eatery
Nicole-Taylor's Pasta and Market on 54th
By Mario Morone
Rosa Hanslits describes the fresh pasta products and family dinners she creates at Nicole-Taylor's Pasta and Market, located at 1134 East 54th St., Studio C.
"We make fresh pasta in 22 kinds of an all non-egg product that is healthy for anyone who has an egg allergy or is a vegan. It's sold in a nested four-ounce serving and is good for family members who life different flavors if they mix and match pasta. We're the only place in town that makes fresh pasta", she said. For special orders, customers can e-mail ntpasta@yahoo.com or call 257-7374.
Nicole-Taylor's menu items include cheese, mushroom, and pumpkin-flavored ravioli, fusilli, linguine, penne, raditore, rigatoni, and tagliatelle pasta, chocolate and walnut biscotti, tiramisu, sweet and spicy Italian sausage and rustic Italian bread. "There are six different kinds of pasta and lasagna dishes. We make meatballs and our own mozzarella cheese once a week and add something new every week where customers can purchase pasta, sauce, salad and bread as a one-stop shop. We also have some imported meats and cheeses. (Her husband, Chef Tony Hanslits, makes mozzarella cheese, soup and salad that are sold there.) Ninety percent of our product is made here at the store and the other 10 percent is locally made by vendors that I've met through the farmers market," she explained.
The Hanslits participated in the first Carmel Farmers Market in the summer of 2005 and also at the Broad Ripple Farmers Market where they met future customers in addition to local merchants. Their products are also available Saturdays from 9 am to 12:30 pm through April 24 at the Indy Winter Farmers Market at 901 North East Street.
Opening in June of 2009, Nicole-Taylor's Pasta and Market hours are Tuesday through Friday 10 am to 6 pm and Saturday 9 am to 6 pm. They are closed Sunday and Monday. The shop is named after their daughters, Ashley Nicole and Katherine Taylor, who worked at the store last summer during its initial months of operation and currently on and off during weekends. Their business is part of a retail renaissance at 54th Street and Monon Shops that has revitalized the area.
Rosa mentioned how some pasta varieties match with various entrees and others food: "Lemon pepper pasta goes well with seafood or chicken. Papparedelle is thick flat pasta that is nice with meat, mushrooms and a hearty sauce. Mushroom pasta can have real mushrooms added to it giving it a unique flavor," she noted.
A native of southern Italy's Reggio Calabria region, Rosa's family moved to America when she was three years old. She grew up within two blocks of Tony in a South Bend, Indiana neighborhood. They attended the same grade school.
A graduate of Johnson and Wales Culinary Institute in Providence, Rhode Island, Tony Hanslits' culinary artistry is known by numerous patrons where he has resided as Executive Chef at 14 West, Malibu on Maryland, Peter's Restaurant, Something Different/SNAX Restaurant, Hilton n the Circle and Woodland Country Club. He has been Directory of Culinary Education at The Chef's Academy since it opened in September of 2006. More information on the school is at www.thechefsacademy.com that is located at 644 East Washington Street. He was a finalist in the 2004 Italian Cooking and Living Magazine competition that was held in New York.
"I've have been given to opportunity to have a big impact on the culinary scene not only in Indianapolis, but nationally. Training future chefs has been a passion of mine for years and the dream for me has come true. The Chef's Academy is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The industry needs well-trained culinarians and that is what we provide," he emphasized. His gastronomic colleague, Pierre Giacometti, makes bread weekly for Nicole-Taylor's. He began his career working for a pastry shop in his native Monaco and graduated from the French Culinary Institute in Nice.
