Rocket 21, once of Hillcrest and now inside the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel, 2 Riverfront Place, North Little Rock, sent out an email blast to its customers sadly saying that the restaurant has stopped serving dinner and transferred most of its menu items to the Riverfront Steakhouse in the same hotel, leading management to now tout "two great menus in one location." Since the restaurant's website, twentyonerestaurant.com, only lists dinner hours, that would indicate that, in fact, the restaurant, which moved to the hotel in January and opened in late February, has closed altogether. General Manager Donnie Rieathbaum, whose personal phone number, (501) 690-2605, has also been the restaurant phone number, did not return calls by deadline. We'll try to keep you posted.
This came in just at deadline, but the Little Rock Foodcast (lrfoodcast.com) reports that Chef Travis McConnell's Butcher and Public will be joining Donnie Ferneau Jr.'s Good Food by Ferneau in the former Argenta Market space at Main and Sixth streets in North Little Rock. We'll add details as they become available.
Meanwhile, Jerry Barakat reports he's on track for an opening by the end of the month of his new Japanese-American restaurant called Kemuri (which, you will recall, means "smoked" in Japanese) in Rocket 21's original space (previously Ferneau and at least a dozen other restaurants over the past 35 years), 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock.
Ann Cleator, director of development for the Austin, Texas-based Chuy's chain, confirms they'll be building a third Arkansas outlet at 5105 Warden Road, North Little Rock, targeted to open in early 2015. (The others are in Rogers, which opened in February, and on Chenal Parkway in west Little Rock, which opened in May 2013.) They'll be building from the ground up on a lot formerly occupied by Parker Auto Collection. And speaking of Mexican restaurants, the Cotija's in the Legacy Hotel, 625 W. Capitol Ave., Little Rock, has closed. The phone number, (501) 371-0733, has been disconnected. Its replacement, which is supposed to open the top of next week, will be called the Legacy Bistro and Bar and will have a lunch menu featuring Southern cooking and some Italian dishes and a mostly Italian menu for dinner from a familiar name: Bruno Beqiri, most recently associated with Bruno's Italian Bistro on Bowman Road. Hours, if Beqiri also manages to open for breakfast as he promises management he will, will be 7 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4:30-9 p.m. Monday-Friday. The hotel phone number is (501) 374-0100.
And speaking of hotel restaurants, Gracie's Lounge and Grill has replaced Bogie's Bar and Grill in the Holiday Inn North Little Rock, 120 W. Pershing Blvd., North Little Rock, serving lunch (with daily specials) 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday and breakfast and dinner daily. Hours altogether are 6 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-11 p.m. daily; the lounge stays open until midnight. The phone number is (501) 758-1851, Extension 120.
Weekend on 07/17/2014