TRANSITIONS

By Eric E. Harrison

LITTLE ROCK — The sign in front of the Starlite Diner, 250 E. Military Drive, North Little Rock, that said “closed due to fire” has come down and last week appeared new ones that say “Grand Reopening Soon” and “Taking applications.” Timothy Rogers, who is in the process of rebuilding the landmark diner, felled by fire in June 2008, says his target date to reopen will be sometime in the next few weeks.

He says he’s going to restore pretty much the same menu as was there before the fire — good old diner food (denying rumors that the place was going to become a sports bar), adding a few things to the menu and taking a couple of things off. Among the new things: a liquor license, so he can sell beer, wine and mixed drinks, and daily specials. And he’s going to restore it to 24-hour operation.

Rogers’ food-service experience includes having worked in restaurants while growing up and stints in the mess hall while he was in the military. Meanwhile, he’s looking for experienced line cooks. We’ll keep you posted.

Elsewhere in North Little Rock, after an extended wait, Santo Coyote has opened at 2513 McCain Blvd., formerly occupied by Fire Fall Grill & Bar. Hours are 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday. The telephone number is (501) 753-9800.

The target date for the opening of the Old Chicago Pasta & Pizza outlet at 4305 Warden Road, North Little Rock, is Nov. 2. The telephone number is (501) 812-6262. We’ll keep you posted.

A number of restaurants are supporting the Susan G. Komen Foundation by donating a portion of their food sales Oct. 17, the day of the Race for the Cure, to the battle against breast cancer. A complete list of participants in “Put a Fork in It” in Little Rock, North Little Rock, Maumelle, Bryant and Conway is available at the Web site, www.kome narkansas.org/komen-race -for-the-cure/race-informa tion/put-a-fork-in-it.html.

Daniel Capello is the new executive chef at Chenal Country Club. Capello, from Houston, started out at Houston Country Club as apprentice chef and sous chef and has also served as sous chef at River Oaks Country Club, executive chef at a number of Houston restaurants and the corporate dining facility of British Petroleum and owner and confectioner at Harvest Confections, a chocolate and confection company. He holds the American Culinary Federation’s Certified Executive Chef designation, which requires experience of not less than three years as chef de cuisine, executive sous chef, pastry chef or chef in charge of food production in a foodservice operation.

Sometime this month Jerry Barakat will start turning the lower dining room of his Gaucho’s Grill, 11 Shackleford Drive at Shackleford Road, Little Rock, into a Brazilian dance club for after-food-service hours. For “Rio’s nights,” 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Wednesday-Saturday, he’ll be offering Latin music, sometimes by live bands, with a special bar-food menu. There usually won’t be a cover, but if there’s a famous musician or band on the bandstand he might charge something, Barakat says. The telephone number is (501) 954-8787.

AY Magazine’s 2009 Celebrity Chef Cook-Off will feature chefs David Bennett of Vieux Carre, Rob Best of Best Impressions, Donnie Ferneau of Ferneau, Timothy Morton of 1620, Andre Poirot of Peabody Little Rock hotel and Lee Richardson of the Capital Hotel preparing recipes submitted in the magazine’s 2009 Reader Recipe Contest. The cook-off will be 6:30 p.m. today in the Campus Center Grand Hall of Pulaski Technical College North Campus, 3000 W. Scenic Drive, North Little Rock. Judges will be Todd Gold, director of the Pulaski Tech Arkansas Culinary School and president of Purple Cow; Mark Abernathy of Loca Luna; Faith Anaya of KidsCook Arkansas; Peter Brave of Brave New Restaurant; and Mary Twedt of Arkansas Cooks, a program on radio station KUAR-FM, 89.1. Tickets are $50; dress is business casual and there will be an open bar and heavy hors d’oeuvres. Proceeds go to Pulaski Technical College Foundation for the Arkansas Culinary School in honor of the late Arkansas Gazette and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Richard Allin. Seating is limited. Call (501) 244-9700 or visit the Web site, aymag.com/go/cookoff.

Has a restaurant opened — or closed — near you in the last week or so? Does your favorite eatery have a new menu? Is there a new chef in charge? Drop us a line. Call (501) 399-3667 or (501) 378-3513, or send a note to Restaurants, Weekend Section, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203. Send e-mail to:

eharrison@arkansasonline.com

Weekend, Pages 38 on 10/08/2009

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