Tale Tuesday: a Goose in The Roost

Ed Sahm photo by atgeist

Ed Sahm never had to go far from home to find what he was looking for. After graduating from Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, he went just up the road to Purdue and majored in Restaurant & Hotel Management.

Back home again in Indy, he put his degree to the test and opened his first namesake restaurant, Sahm’s, in 1986. With a team that includes his mom, eight brothers and sisters, and even more in-laws, nephews, and nieces, Ed grew his first place into ten Sahm’s (Sahmses? Sahm’ses? Sahmi?) scattered around Indianapolis.

While The Roost at Sahm’s is now on Smoking Goose’s regularly delivery route, Ed and Smoking Goose owner Chris Eley have a connection that goes back before the first Goose or even The Roost. Chris’first kitchen gig was behind a stove at Sahm’s, and he still remembers those days as his initial inspiration to pursue a professional food career. He remembers Ed’s commitment to fresh products, local ingredients, and family and friends--the same priorities Chris sets for Goose today.

And now, years after Chris’ days at Sahm’s, he and the Smoking Goose team are making City Ham, Kitchen Sink Sausage, Chorizo, and Capocollo for Ed and The Roost’s menu of salads, soups, sandwiches. So many tempting offerings feature Smoking Goose meat treats, but we’ll pull up a chair extra quick for The Roost’s “Saucy Melt” with layers of our Chorizo and Capocollo along with red onion jam, hash browns, shredded Romaine, and cilantro chipotle sauce. Tempting, too, is The Roost’s take on a Cuban with our capocollo, dill pickle, Swiss, and mustard aioli. On a cool night, we’ll warm up with their Smokey Rooster Mac, a three cheese macaroni topped with bacon, City Ham, and Kitchen Sink Sausage.