Nose to the Grindstone (Charley’s)

Hello Studio 13 family! This week we dive into everyone’s favorite subject: FOOD; more specifically, food photography (because what else would a photography blog talk about?).

When going to a restaurant, the first thing the customer comes into contact with is the host, and the second is the menu; the menu is what entices the customer, what makes them hungry, and what makes them want to come back to try something else. The menu photography is where we come in.

We’ve worked with many restaurants over the years, but one of our most valued and loyal clients is Grindstone Charley’s. Lesle has been working with the owner, Perry Fogelsong, for 25 years (that’s longer than I’ve been alive!)

The business’s history goes back even farther, starting with Perry’s father, Carl who started the first of multiple Clancy’s Hamburgers in Noblesville in 1965; the business quickly expanded creating the market for 30 more restaurants by the 1970s. Due to the growth of super-chains, like McDonalds, all but one of the Clancy’s were forced to close, but by 1982, Perry Fogelsong opened the first Grindstone Charley’s.

Today, Perry and Blake Fogelsong together own and develop three restaurant chains around the Midwest: Clancy’s location in Sidney Ohio, Grindstone Charley’s with two locations on the west side of Indy and two in northern Indiana, and Michelangelo’s – an Italian bistro in Noblesville. Both Grindstone Charley’s and Michelangelo’s are geared toward consciously and locally sourcing as many ingredients as possible and have rotating, seasonal menus that showcase ingredients that are in-season and the freshest they can be.

It’s always our pleasure to work with Perry, and his son and co-owner Blake, and we were glad to get the opportunity yet again this past week. Grindstone Charley’s was receiving a menu update and hired us to create food photography to entice diners and to post on social media.

I personally was not assisting on this job, but it’s probably a good thing that I wasn’t, because the pictures alone look mouth-watering; I probably would have eaten the product before it could have gotten in front of the camera.

It’s pretty crazy that just like Lesle is 3^rd generation of her family in the photography business, Blake is the third generation in his running Clancy Incorporated!

So, if you need somewhere to go to dinner, you could kill two birds with one stone by eating at a Grindstone Charley’s: get amazing food and see the amazing work that Lesle does every single day.