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By BARTON PERKINS | Staff Writer

MONTEVALLO – On Monday, Dec. 18 Indigo Aulbach officially reentered the culinary world and opened his restaurant Indigo Cafe and Bar in Montevallo.

Indigo Bar and Cafe is located on Montevallo Main Street, and serves high-end traditional American cuisine at affordable prices. Aulbach’s experiences as a restaurateur as well as his life outside of the kitchen is what has allowed the creation of such a unique venue.

“I’ve been working in restaurants since I was a teenager and then in my early 20s, I did culinary school in San Francisco,” Indigo said. “I graduated from culinary school in ‘95, and I did all sorts of catering up in Napa, Sonoma and Santa Cruz. Then in 2004, I moved to Minneapolis and I worked at a couple of restaurants and I ran a couple of big restaurants out there.”

However, Aulbach chose to take time off from the culinary world when his daughter was young, so that he could have the chance to spend more time with her while she was growing up.

“At the time I was actually the executive sous chef for a major chain of restaurants in the area called Parasole,” Indigo said. “So I left Parasole, went to nursing school and I’ve been a nurse for the last ten years.”

Indigo worked in many different medical fields during his time as a nurse, including organ transplant, pediatric psychology and cancer treatment. He enjoyed it as it allowed him better hours to spend time with his daughter and watch her grow up. Then, when she was old enough, Bennet decided that she wanted to go to the University of Montevallo for college.  

“So she moved out here last year and I followed shortly thereafter because I missed her,” Indigo said. “I started working at Children’s Hospital in psychiatry, emergency and inpatient psychiatry, and I’ve been there for the last year.”  

It was only a short time after moving to Montevallo that Indigo fell in love with the city, and realized that there was a need for an affordable fine dining space.

“My daughter goes to the University of Montevallo. She and her fiance deserve to go have a nice meal, a nice home-cooked meal and not break the bank and be able to do that on a regular basis,” Indigo said. “These kinds of dining experiences make up our lives and our memories.”

With this idea in mind, Aulbach found a location on Montevallo’s Main Street and began the process of reshaping it into a space that could best capture his vision.  

“I just came across this space, and it had been defunct for years,” Aulbach said. “It was the original Tavern on Main Street, and it’s this beautiful historic building that’s over 100 years old.”   

Aulbach’s plan for the Indigo Cafe and Bar was to create a space inspired by the “creative misfits” of America’s 20th century, such as Billie Holiday, Anthony Bourdain and the Ramones.

“We are inspired by the great American artists, adventurers and misfits of the 20th century,” Aulbach said. “That whole late ‘70s and early ‘80s New York scene of art, fashion and music is the epitome that to me in the 20th century was the highlight when all of that was brought together.” 

Indigo Cafe and Bar will be open Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to midnight and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Indigo Cafe and Bar will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday, with a brunch on Sunday. 

“We’re only going to be open for about six days because we’re going to close for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,” Aulbach said. “Then we’ll open back up on Tuesday the 26th. We’re not sure what we’re doing for New Year’s Eve, but we definitely plan on doing something fun.”