Preparing food has always been an intuitive process for Tobi Mares, who calls herself a “homegrown cook.”
“I never measured anything,” she says. “I just went by taste and smell.”
In November 2020, she contracted COVID and lost those senses. Although neither has since fully returned, she hasn’t lost her adoration for homegrown cooking. These days she prepares meals by following recipes. It’s a practice that she’s incorporated into her new business venture, Goodness Gracious Kitchen & Cupboard, which officially opened this past summer.
“I’ve always had a fascination with cookbooks – I’m food obsessed,” says Mares, who decided it would be fun to open an eccentric restaurant focused on preserving tradition with food. Prior to opening Goodness Gracious, Mares worked in hospice and end-of-life elder care.
“They were the greatest generation because they had a different perspective on life – and on food – than we do today,” says Mares. “They had regular Sunday dinners and made memories from those meals.”
This is precisely why Mares created the Food Legacy, where she invites patrons to share their family stories, recipes and memories. Often people bring in something for the restaurant, too – perhaps a piece of their mom’s China, some doilies, or a coffee cup.
“They come in, eat the food their loved one used to make, all while reminiscing,” Mares says.
She has one woman who comes in several times each week because it makes her feel closer to her mom, who passed away. That means so much to Mares, who lost her own mom to Alzheimer’s.
“There are a lot of tears in my restaurant,” she says.
Decorating Goodness Gracious was a fun endeavor for Mares. She calls her style “a little bit of this and a little bit of that.”
Mares, a self-proclaimed fan girl of author Laura Ingalls Wilder of “Little House on the Prairie” fame, jokes that she’s trapped in the mind and spirit of a 90-year-old woman. When Mares toured the author’s house, she found a broken piece of a butter crock on the property, which seemed like a serendipitous sign that she was on the right track with her newfound business venture.
The public certainly is pleased to see the opening of Goodness Gracious.
“Our menu is a little bit fancy and a little bit comfort,” Mares says. “Mostly we offer yummy, basic recipes that are nostalgic in spirit.”
When you bite into her creations, you just might be instantly transported back in time. For instance, customers love the fried bologna sandwich. Mares even had a customer who drove all the way from Fort Wayne for it. “I was like, ‘You know you can make that at home, right?’” Mares says. “But he came for the atmosphere.”
She suspects part of the appeal is the fact that we live in a complicated world so people are longing for simpler times. “As we move away from the past, it’s nice to hold onto a food memory,” she says. And memories are tied to tastebuds.
One of their most popular menu items is skate wing, a mild succulent fish.
“It’s the best fish I’ve ever had,” Mares says. “It’s better than grouper. I think I’m the only restaurant around here who has it on their menu.”
Top sellers from their brunch menu include the chicken salad, tuna salad and egg salad. Other popular items are the beef tips over noodles and smoked pork loin with a cherry bourbon sauce.
The space seats up to 50, so it’s large enough for parties but small enough to feel intimate, making it an ideal spot for private events such as baby showers and business happy hours. They also offer a picnic service for which customers can order online, selecting a sandwich and side, the date, and whether they want an insulated basket.
The name Goodness Gracious was formed well before the restaurant launched. When Mares was raising her two daughters, she used to say playful phrases like “Goodness gracious” and “Holy guacamole.”
“Goodness gracious is an old-school comfort term, and so it fit with my comfort-food concept,” says Mares, who bought the domain name in 2012, not really knowing what she would do with it. When she moved to Carmel in June 2015, she was pleased to find such a happy, pleasant community.
“I felt like I had found the end of the rainbow here,” she says.
Suddenly the wheels started turning as she recognized the connection between her two loves – the elderly and delicious food.
In the future, Mares plans to add classes on crocheting, quilting, crafting and cocktails. For now, she recently started a Supper Club and hopes to soon offer a Supper Club for vegans. In addition, she hosted a Ladies Comedy Night in September and plans to do a Pumpkin Decorating event in October. In November she’ll switch all of their dishes to Christmas china, transforming the place into a winter wonderland.
“I want it to feel like Christmas morning 1976,” says Mares, who envisions Goodness Gracious enduring well beyond her time on Earth.
“I think of it as a living museum,” she says. “I hope this restaurant is something that will remain in the community forever.”
