TRANSITIONS

Correction: Rusty Matchett, owner of LaHarpe’s Office Furniture, 318 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, says he is weighing options on the future of the business and the building in which it is has been located since 1970, but “we are by no means going out of business.” An item in this column mentioned a sign in the window offering space for lease for a bar or restaurant. Matchett says the plan is to redevelop the building, which he owns with his sister, Suzanne Hicks, to possibly include multiple tenants that would “complement the River Market.” Subdividing the space could mean keeping the furniture showroom there, reducing its size or moving it elsewhere, he said.

Sandy Littlefield, who has owned and operated the nearby 3 Bears Christian Daycare for 32 years, and her sons, Shelton Jr. and Alan, will reopen the Starlite Diner - and as the Starlite Diner - with a target date of sometime in mid-March. Littlefield promises standard diner fare - “homecooked plate lunches are my specialty,” she says, plus homemade desserts, “all the sandwiches you usually get in a diner,” and a range of breakfast items. Hours will be 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 6 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday; and maybe for lunch on Sunday.The establishment does not yet have a listed telephone number. You will remember that the diner has been through several incarnations and that its most recent occupant was the peripatetic Hunka Pie.

Acadia, 3000 Kavanaugh Blvd. in Little Rock’s Hillcrest neighborhood, turned over its menu again thisweek, a combination of the change in seasons and to make it more accessible. The big news: The restaurant will extend its prix-fixe special, three courses for $25.75, from Mondays and Tuesdays, which they’ve been doing for 13 years, to every night of the week. New-menu highlights include a seared sesame-crusted tuna and a crawfish bread pudding for first courses and, among the entrees, shrimp, spinach and penne pasta and fresh spinach in a blue cheese cream sauce and an oven-roasted duck breast with a Guinness-honey mustard. The phone number is (501) 603-9630, or visit acadiahillcrest.com.

Homer’s West, 9700 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock, is now serving breakfast from 7 a.m.-noon Monday-Saturday, serving the “basics” - eggs, omelets, pancakes, breakfast sandwiches and biscuits and gravy. The place still stays open until 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday; the phone number is (501) 224-6637 andthe website is homersrestaurant.com.

LaHarpe’s Office Furniture, 318 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, which has been in the neighborhood long before it became the River Market, appears to be closing and the “for lease” sign in one window is offering the storefront as a bar/restaurant space to be built to suit.

The sign quickly became a local and Internet joke, but it’s now gone, along with the building that housed Fu Xing Asian Buffet, 9210 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock, which was torn down last weekend. Fu Xing was preceded in its demise by several other short- to medium-lived Chinese buffets, and its original tenant, a Western Sizzlin’.No word yet on what is destined for that plot of ground.

Downtown Deli and Grocery, 316 E. Sixth St., Little Rock, is now open, about 60 percent grocery and 40 percent deli. The latter offers sliced meat and cheese by the pound, plus burgers, sandwiches andheat-and-eat pizza (they heat it, you don’t have to). Hours are 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily. The phone number is (501) 244-9800.

1620 Savoy, 1620 Market St., Little Rock, has stopped serving Sunday brunch, but will be open at 6 p.m. this Sunday for its monthly Swing/Jazz Dinner, “featuring some of the area’s finest musicians playing for your dining and dancing pleasure,” according to a news release. Seating is limited and reservations are required; cost is $65 per person. Call (501) 221-1620.

Two establishments for which we have seen signs but yet have no concrete information:

Rock ’N Tacos and Tamales Californian Cuisine, on the east side of the Market Place Shopping Center, 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock, a couple of doors down from Curry in a Hurry, Lily’s Dim Sum Then Some and B-Side. A peek through the window suggests it’s apparently getting ready to open any time.

Mike’s Vietnamese and Chinese Cuisine, 5501 Asher Ave., Little Rock, previously something called The Union. A listed telephone number, (501) 562-1515, returns a “temporarily disconnected” recording.

And the James Beard Foundation Tuesday announced the semifinalists for its 2013 Restaurant and Chef Awards, which includes Tandra Watkins of Ashley’s at the Capital Hotel as a nominee for Outstanding Pastry Chef. The foundation will name the finalists March 18. The semifinalists are listed in 20 categories out of more than 44,000 online entries; a complete list is available at jamesbeard.org/awards.

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, 121 E. Capitol Ave., Little Rock, Ark. 72201. Send e-mail to:

eharrison@arkansasonline.com

Weekend, Pages 36 on 02/21/2013

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