The Bennett family conf irms they’ve sold their restaurant, Vieux Carre, and the next-door club, The Afterthought, 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock, to Joe Gillespie, who owns a couple of businesses - Revolution fitness center in the Heights and a tech consulting company called Client Q Solutions - who takes over on Monday.
So the restaurant’s 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday Easter brunch will be the last meal that executive chef David Bennett will prepare on the premises before he “moves on to seek other opportunities,” according to co-owner Linda Bennett, David’s mom. “He has been tied to this business seven days a week for 7½ years and really wants and needs to spend more time with his family. He’s hoping to find something that allows more time for creativity and cooking and requires less hiring, firing, bar management,etc.” Greg Wallis, formerly of YaYa’s Euro Bistro, will be the new executive chef.
Gillespie says there will be some substantial changes to the lunch and dinner menus in the first couple of weeks, keeping some of the popular existing items, but he’s not planning to change the Sunday brunch menu, which has been highly successful. The “New Orleans-inspired” theme will remain, though Wallis will be taking “some liberties” with it. There be some minor tweaking of the dining room and while he’s anticipating keeping the current staff, he plans to add to it.
The most significant changes will be to the next door bar, where he’s looking to expand the hours, keeping the kitchen open to perhaps within an hour of closing and revamping the bar menu, and he’s working on a local singer-songwriter showcase during the 5:30-7:30 happy hour, possibly Wednesday-Saturday, before the main entertainment takes over. Meanwhile, the restaurant hours - 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday, 5:30-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5:30-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday - will likely stay the same, and so will the telephone number,(501) 663-1196, which was previously attached to Vieux Carre’s predecessors back at least as far as LaScala.
And speaking of new owners, last week Terasa and Shawn Reisman bought the NYPD Pizza outlet and nextdoor Loganberry Frozen Yogurt, 6015 Chenonceau Blvd., Little Rock, from previous owners Susan Biemans and Ron Logan. Terasa Reismansays they have “a lot of ideas to try to grow the business,” including the possibilities of opening Sunday for lunch and music on the weekends, and making better use of the patio in spring and summer. Pizzeria hours are currently 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 4-9 p.m. Sunday. The phone number for the pizzeria remains (501) 868-3911; for the fro-yo shop, (501) 868-8194.
And speaking of Easter Sunday, a lot of places that don’t necessarily open for Sunday brunch will be open this Sunday, including 1620 Savoy, 1620 Market St., Little Rock, which only does brunch on Easter, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day; they’ll open at 10 a.m. and strongly suggest making reservations - (501) 221-1620. In fact, if you are planning to go to brunch anywhere, we’d strongly suggestmaking reservations.
Meanwhile, the Capital Hotel, 111 W. Markham St., Little Rock, will offer a special Easter Tea at Ashley’s (“featuring a special visit from the Easter Bunny”), 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. The menu will feature sandwiches - smoked salmon with lemon butter and dill; ham with Dijonnaise; cucumber with cream cheese, dill and chives; cheddar cheese with fig chutney; chicken with creme fraiche and horseradish; peanut butter and jelly; and ham and cheese - and pastries, including raspberry and lemon tarts, raisin scones, vanilla macaroons, opera cake and coffee eclairs. And if your youngsters aren’t fond of tea, they’ll also be serving hot chocolate. Cost is $35, $20 for children 12 and younger. Call (501) 370-7015 or e-mail lingold@capitalhotel.com.
We just got confirmation that Atlanta-based pizza-andbeer chain Mellow Mushroom has a first week of July target date for opening its first Little Rock outlet in the 16000 block of Chenal Parkway, where its neighbors will include Chuy’s Fine Tex Mex and, reports have it, a Starbucks. We’ll keep you posted.
And in our nostra maxima culpa department, we reported last week on the opening this week of “Arkansas’ first LongHorn Steakhouse at 2628 S. Shackleford Road, Little Rock. It is, of course, “central Arkansas’” first outlet; there are LongHorn Steakhouses in Jonesboro and Fort Smith.
The Applebee’s outlet, 4333 Warden Road, North Little Rock, will host a “Flapjack Fundraiser” to benefit the Jacksonville High School basketball program, 8-10 a.m. April 6. Proceeds go toward the purchase of new uniforms, warm-upgear and supplies. Breakfast includes a short stack of pancakes, sausage, milk, juice and coffee. Tickets are $7.50. Call (501) 804-5062.
And Maneet Chauhan, Food Network celebrity chef, Chopped judge and winner of a James Beard Award of Excellence, will pass through and even make a few stops in Little Rock on April 25 as part of a 24-city tour to promote her her first book, Flavors of My World: A Culinary Tour Through 25 Countries, co-written by Doug Singer, foreword by Ted Allen, photography by Quentin Bacon.The local itinerary brings her highly decorated tour bus to a 10 a.m.-noon book signing at Barnes & Noble at 11500 Financial Centre Parkway; “an event” at Whole Foods, 10700 N. Rodney Parham Road; and a “special event” at 5 p.m. at Vesuvio Bistro, in the Best Western Governor’s Inn, 1501 Merrill Drive. Visit her website, maneetchauhan.com.
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:
Weekend, Pages 38 on 03/28/2013