TRANSITIONS

Jerry Barakat
Jerry Barakat

You'll recall we reported last week that there would be a new tenant for the former Rocket 21/Ferneau space in the Ice House Center, 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock. Turns out it will be restaurant mogul Jerry Barakat, who operates Arthur's Steakhouse and Oceans at Arthur's, and his family, which continues to operate Terrace on the Green. It'll be a Japanese-American restaurant called Kemuri (which means "smoked" in Japanese), and it will feature smoked meats, fresh fish and sushi. (Barakat says the model is the famous Nobu chain, which has restaurants all over the world; the closest is in Dallas (so you can get an idea what the menu will be like at noburestaurants.com/dallas/experience). Target opening is July 20-30. Barakat's title will be "managing consultant," by the way, and you will likely see him on the premises during the day -- hours will be 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 5-9:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 5-10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday and, for brunch, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday. Barakat has applied for a restaurant liquor permit. No phone number yet. We'll keep you posted.

Grampa's Catfish House, 1218 Mission Road, North Little Rock, has closed and its telephone number, (501) 758-4654, has been disconnected. Apparently the restaurant had no direct connection with the family that used to operate a location in Sherwood and still runs one on Stagecoach Road in Little Rock.

Loblolly Creamery, inside the Green Corner Store & Soda Fountain, 1423 S. Main St., Little Rock, will offer handcrafted sodas, ice cream and "boozy" floats to benefit the North Little Rock-based Thea Foundation during a 4-7 p.m. happy hour July 10. Kids can decorate the sidewalks with chalk and participate in a coloring contest to win a set of art supplies and a pint of Loblolly Creamery ice cream. Entries in the coloring contest will be on display at the store and the foundation, 401 Main St., North Little Rock, until the end of July. Also during July, the creamery will donate 10 percent of its sales of the seasonal flavor, Blackberry Sweet Corn, to the foundation. Call (501) 379-9512 or visit facebook.com/events/464487383684065.

Melbourne, Australia, is the focus of this month's "Around the World Thursday," 6:30 p.m. July 17 at Forty Two, the restaurant of the Clinton Presidential Center, 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. Each third Thursday, the restaurant offers a multi-course tasting menu (five, in this case) along with "sights, sounds and flavors of countries across the globe" and "special cultural entertainment." Cost is $25 per person, reservations required -- call (501) 537-0042.

One of our sharp-eyed colleagues spotted in the Maumelle Monitor word that one of the new owners of the Maumelle outlet of Beef O' Brady's, 115 Audubon Drive, Maumelle, is Drew Smyly. If that name sounds familiar, it may be because he is a former star baseball player for Little Rock Central High School and the Arkansas Razorbacks, and now pitches for the Detroit Tigers. "Watch for a makeover in the near future," the paper reports. The restaurant phone number: (501) 803-3500.

Dunkin' Donuts franchisee Conan Watters has applied for a building permit for another Little Rock outlet, this one in the Gallery Building, 10121 N. Rodney Parham Road. You may recall that building and lot, at the corner of Rodney Parham and Breckenridge roads, were at the epicenter last year of a zoning battle between residents of three neighborhood associations and a Kum & Go convenience store and gas station. The residents won; Kum & Go withdrew its rezoning application.

And speaking of doughnuts, Krispy Kreme will be marking its 77th birthday with a "77 Cents Second Dozen Deal" July 11. Buy any dozen donuts and get a dozen Original Glazed doughnuts for 77 cents at any participating Krispy Kreme in the United States and Canada. The Little Rock outlet usually participates in company promotions. Visit KrispyKreme.com/OriginalBirthday.

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 email to:

eharrison@arkansasonline.com

Weekend on 07/03/2014

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