Cerulean restaurant is closing at The Alexander hotel

Cerulean, the place many food enthusiasts consider Indy's only true fine-dining restaurant, will close when its lease expires at Downtown's The Alexander hotel Jan. 1, and the owner and chef are on to a new Indianapolis project.

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The reason for the closing is "a combination of a couple of things," Cerulean executive chef Alan Sternberg said, explaining that both he and Cerulean owner Caleb France are being pulled in different restaurant business directions.

"We want to continue to grow organically and not try to force being in a restaurant that we were both trying to separate from a little bit."

France, who was not immediately available for comment, continues to operate the original Cerulean in Winona Lake and consult on other projects.

He is also helping Sternberg launch a New American restaurant focused on pasta and pasture-raised meats in Downtown Indy, Sternberg said. Sternberg's goal is to open that place, probably named Common House after the chef's recently launched supper club pop-up, in summer 2018.

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The Cerulean news landed this morning on the heels of Thursday night's news that B's Po Boy in Fountain Square would close Dec. 23. Owners said that restaurant, which has a huge patio, could no longer survive slow wintertime traffic.

Rumors that Cerulean would close have been circulating for months. This past summer, Cerulean's nationally acclaimed pastry chef Peter Schmutte announced that he would leave Cerulean this year to to join Milktooth chef/owner Jonathan Brooks at Brooks’ new project, Beholder, coming to Woodruff Place. Meantime, Sternberg launched Common House, which he talked about being his big next thing.

More: Eater names Milktooth chef's Beholder one of America's most anticipated restaurants

Cerulean stands out from other Indy area upscale restaurants thanks to a combination of highly stylized plating, contemporary minimalist decor and a creative menu that blends some of the molecular gastronomy elements that defined the restaurant when it opened in November 2012.

Sternberg came on board in 2014, toning down culinary chemistry and putting his distinctive modern Midwestern style on dishes like corn ravioli with eggplant and truffle butter, a preparation that actress Diane Keaton came in for two nights in a row earlier this year.

"I don’t think Indy was ready for Cerulean when it opened. I think that was the whole point, to push the conversation," Sternberg said. "That was why I took the job, it allowed me to continue to grow."

In 2016, the James Beard Foundation, the national organization that bestows the Oscars of the food world, named Sternberg a semi-finalist for its rising-star chef award. Later that year, Sternberg joined three other Central Indiana chefs to cook at a James Beard House dinner in New York City. Schmutte had cooked there in 2015.

Cerulean will be open normal business hours throughout December. In the final weeks, diners will get a taste of Sternberg's pending restaurant, which will be a bit more fun, warm and relaxed than Cerulean, the chef said. More pasta and adventurous pastas are on the latest Cerulean menu. Look for special dinners and a Common House pop-up that will foreshadow food and drinks Sternberg plans at his own place.

While Indy may not have been ready for Cerulean five years ago, Sternberg said the city's culinary scene has evolved rapidly since then.

"I have every ambition of doing a fine-dining rest at some point in Indy. The first restaurant, we kind of want to kind of separate me from Cerulean, create my own identity," Sternberg said.

Cerulean, 339 S. Delaware St., is open 5 to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.