'Orders up' on publicity for local entrepreneur
By Jenna Buehler Comet writer-intern

Satisfying public hunger one plate at a time Lisa Delaney, owner of Stone House Restaurant and Bakery in Delphi, holds the latest edition of "Dining Secrets of Indiana." The restaurant and bakery was featured in the book, and suggested as a place to go for homemade cuisine in a uniquely historic atmosphere. Comet photo by Jenna Buehler

Notoriety of the community comes in many forms. For one local entrepreneur, notoriety sat down for brunch earlier this year, and since that day has continued to flood the restaurant's open door.

The sixth edition of "Dining Secrets of Indiana," a guide to unique restaurants and eateries, was published three weeks ago by Poole Publishing. Stone House Restaurant and Bakery, located at 124 E. Main St. in Delphi, was selected as one of 241 restaurants throughout Indiana to be featured. The guide includes a locator map for dining location and information, along with other attractions and area golf courses.

Stone House owner and manager Lisa Delaney said she is both amazed and blessed when it comes to the events that led to the publication. She said that a homemade tenderloin sandwich, cup of soup and rhubarb pie, along with the building's unique history, most influenced the publication's hungry writer.

"It was absolutely an amazing thing," Delaney said. "A man came in late June, or early July and explained that he was traveling across Indiana, in search of restaurants that impressed him. Then he asked if he might write about the Stone House in this magazine."

"Dining Secrets," highlights specific tasty details of the Delphi restaurant and bakery such as its homemade breads, pies, cookies, muffins, and gigantic cinnamon rolls, all to be consumed in the historic 1874 building, which has a unique charisma and character all its own. The excerpt concludes by suggesting the reader "stop in for real home cookin' today!"

This is not the bakery's first publicized debut, according to Delaney. In May, the Stone House was featured as one of Fort Wayne Magazine's top 20 places to go. The monthly publication was available to travelers for free at various interstate rest areas.

"I was elated when people with Fort Wayne Magazine had heard about us through a friend of a friend," said Delaney. "I would say a week after the magazine came out, we had two or three people from Fort Wayne come to the restaurant each day. We even had a group of Red Hats come over to eat and tour the Wabash and Erie Canal."

According to Delaney, the latest publicity opportunity came yesterday when she was asked for an interview to be featured in a women's health and issues magazine published and distributed monthly in Tippecanoe County.

"When people get up after a meal and make an effort to say 'we'll be back,' that is the biggest compliment in the restaurant business- when people appreciate what you do," she concluded. "I am so happy with what I have here. The community is the best place to live. We've had so much support, even from other businesses; it's been only friendly competition. There is no other way to say it. We've been blessed- absolutely blessed."