Valparaiso's Valley Kitchen and Bar is a locavore's haven

There's a fresh and interesting gastronomic concept taking root in downtown Valparaiso.

Husband-and-wife team Blair and Cory Muro are heating up the regional culinary scene with Valley Kitchen and Bar, their farm to table restaurant.

The 75-seat restaurant opened its doors in October 2011 on Valparaiso's Franklin Street.

"We thought why not start (a restaurant) which concentrated on something people should be doing and that's eating healthy," said Blair Muro, Valley's manager and co-owner of the restaurant with her chef/husband Cory. "We also wanted it to be affordable."

Muro said the fare is not necessarily all organic and is not meant to be, but it is fresh with many of the ingredients coming from regional and local farms around the immediate area and the Midwest.

Locavores or diners interested in eating according to the concept of farm to fork with an emphasis on local ingredients will feel right at home here.

According to Muro, the menu right now is fairly small which allows them to concentrate on quality preparations. "We really want to focus on every item," she said. New dishes will star depending on the seasons.

"We have specials that go along with the seasons and our soups change regularly," Muro said.

Main entrees currently feature a Miller Amish Country chicken recipe; a pork dish, steak, a fish recipe (currently it's wild caught Bluegill); and a vegetarian option. Appetizers are an eclectic mix including black bean hummus; pickle chips and truffle fries.

Valley's website (www.eatvalley.com) states it's a restaurant "specializing in fresh food in a casual atmosphere."

And that's just how the owners want it. Blair and Cory, who recently celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary, both come from homes where quality food was important.

"I come from LaCrosse, Ind., which is a farming community," said Muro. (The town is in LaPorte County). "My whole family — my dad, uncles, cousins and my grandpa — were all farmers."

While they don't get any specific ingredients from her father's farm — he grows soy beans and works with other seedlings — she said there's a network of farmers her family knows. Many of the eatery's ingredients are sourced from area farmers among others.

"And everything that can be house-made is made here," Muro said.

Cory, who grew up in Destin, Fla., learned to cook from his great- grandmother.

"His great-grandmother grew up in New Orleans. And when he was in elementary school she was always cooking. He learned the French/Cajun style of cooking from her," Muro said, adding that Cory learned a lot about flavor from that early cooking experience.

"He likes flavor and so do I," she said.

The couple met while both were building their careers in Colorado.

"I was going from one ski resort to another until I found my husband," Muro said, laughing.

When they met, Cory was working as a chef at Sweet Basil restaurant at Vail Ski Resort. Blair was working in hospitality management at a Park Hyatt at Beaver Creek Resort.

They eventually ended up moving to and working at Telluride Ski Resort.

Muro said the emphasis on healthy eating was strong out West in the mountain towns and they wanted to bring that concept back to the Midwest.

That their restaurant is in Valparaiso, so close to the farming community where she grew up, Muro said, is perfect.

"When we decided to open here, we thought it would be good because we could have my family help out with what we needed," she said, about obtaining the fresh ingredients they use in their fare.

The couple wanted Valley's interior design to be inviting and attractive yet not stuffy. The restaurant was built in a 121-year-old building that was the former home of a scuba business.

"We renovated the interior," Muro said, explaining that they refurbished the original maplewood floor. The long, narrow eatery also features various hues including muted yellow and blue throughout and red brick. There's a bar and open kitchen as well.

"If customers want, they can watch the food being cooked," she said.

When the Muro's first opened Valley, they offered lunch but as of the first week in January they are only serving dinner. Dinner hours are 4 p.m. to "late," which Muro explained is usually until about 9 p.m. for ordering food. "But, there really is no set closing time," she said.

Valley also features live entertainment on Thursdays which runs from 7  to 11 p.m.