By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com
Indianapolis surgical sales specialist David Rivotto and his wife Shayre are new restaurateurs who will open Indiana’s first Voodoo Brewing location at 8729 Front St., Fishers. The restaurant is set to open this fall, well before Halloween.
The Reporter spoke to David Rivotto about the journey into the world of Voodoo Brewing.
Rivotto has been in the medical industry for the past two decades, but he has experience working in a restaurant. His first job was at a Fishers restaurant as a dishwasher. He eventually worked his way up to bartender and has always had a passion for the industry.
“The main Voodoo Brewing started out in Meadville, Pa., back in 2005,” Rivotto said. “They turned it into something a little bit different in 2012 with a taproom experience modeling it after a European beer hall. You go in and you sit at community tables. You order yourself. You serve yourself. You go in to order and then they call you when your food is done and you go pick it up.”
The Rivottos often riffed on ideas they thought the community would enjoy as they drove around Fishers.
“We’re always like, ‘Hey, you know, a breakfast place would be good there,’” Rivotto said. “Or we’d say, ‘I think a roller rink would be really good there. Just kind of little fun conversations on what would be cool and what Fishers could use. Then we stumbled upon this franchise with Voodoo and fell in love with the idea of the whole non-corporate franchise. Bringing something unique to Fishers just hit me. That’s how we started this journey.”
The Voodoo franchise is a little different than most. All the brewing is done in Meadville, Pa., then shipped in refrigerated trucks to each Voodoo Brewing location. Also, while the menu has a core set of items that are standardized across the country, each local Voodoo has the freedom to add their own local flavor with other dishes.
“There is a core menu with, for the sake of discussion, the Voodoo pickle pizza,” Rivotto said. “You can get that at any Voodoo franchise and it should taste exactly the same. At the other end of the spectrum, they understand that we know what makes Indiana Indiana. They have allowed us the freedom to do something that is relevant for the area and the demographic. They call it local flair. Whatever local flair is to me or the chef, that’s what we’re able to do.”
Rivotto could not say exactly what local flair will be on the menu yet because, while he and his chef have discussed some ideas, he is giving his chef the freedom to run the kitchen based on his own training and expertise.
“I’m really going to let the chef have some liberties because he’s the chef and I am not,” Rivotto said.
Rivotto told The Reporter he thinks the location is ideal for this kind of restaurant, with quick access to downtown Fishers and to Interstate 69.
“We’re going to be family-friendly,” Rivotto said. “We’re going to be dog-friendly in the outdoor space. I think we’ve got a great concept. This is going to be the very first Voodoo in the state. We’re going to do some live music and some trivia nights. We’ll do some open-mic nights. We’ll do some fun and interesting things both inside and in the outdoor space. We are really looking forward to serving the community.”
Voodoo Brew is coming for you, Fishers. Keep reading The Reporter and following them at Facebook.com/voodoofishers to find out when they can cast their spell on your taste buds.
