Transitions

Correction: The Pantry, 11401 N. Rodney Parham Rd. will celebrate its sixth anniversary with a party starting at noon Saturday. An item in this Transitions column incorrectly listed the day.

Heights Taco & Tamale Co., the latest project from the Yellow Rocket Concepts team, is now open at 5805 Kavanaugh Blvd. Located in the old Browning's spot, featuring a Tex-Mex menu with a Delta influence. As the name implies, there are both tamales (Delta-style) and tacos, wrapped in homemade flour tortillas and stuffed with fillings like pickle-brined fried chicken and chorizo with a runny fried egg. The lineup also includes fajitas, nachos, enchiladas, peel-and-eat shrimp, cheese dip, salsas and a lineup of cocktails, including a rather potent frozen mojito dubbed the "Spring Fling." Local pastry chef Zara Wilkerson has been tapped to develop desserts for the restaurant, and diners can currently order her dark, fudgy sour cream chocolate cake. The restaurant is open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Call (501) 313-4848 or find them online at Facebook.com/heightstaco.

In other Little Rock opening news, Kent Walker Artisan Cheese is now open for business in the former Diamond Bear brewery at 323 S. Cross St. The tasting room is serving beer and wine along with meat and homemade cheese plates and includes outdoor seating. Tours through the cheese cave are offered Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. Hours are 1-8 p.m. Thursdays, 1-9 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays. Call (501) 301-4963.

It seems North Little Rock's La Salsa Mexican & Peruvian Cuisine has closed. The restaurant, at 3824 John F. Kennedy Blvd. in the Lakehill Shopping Center, has had its windows covered in paper for at least a week now. And its number, (501) 753-1101, is no longer in service.

Word comes from staff at Acadia Restaurant, 3000 Kavanaugh Blvd., that a new menu is on the way. The restaurant has eliminated its fixed price menu and added new dishes that will be available starting Friday. Also new is a happy hour starting Monday that includes $1 off mixed drinks and appetizers and 10 percent off bottles of wine from 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and all day Monday. The new menu will include appetizers such as steamed mussels, pate, and a spinach, artichoke and crab dip, along with entrees including pastas, blackened ribeye, seared scallops and a bone-in roasted pork chop. Call or (501) 603-9630 or visit acadiahillcrest.com.

Several eateries have expanded service hours:

• In Bryant, Arkansas Fresh Cafe has added Mondays to its hours of operations. The cafe, at 304 N. Reynolds Road, is now open 6:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. Call (501) 213-0084.

• In Little Rock, The Pizzeria at Terry's Finer Foods, 5018 Kavanaugh Blvd., is now open Sundays, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Call (501) 551-1388.

• Argenta's Ristorante Capeo announced last week it is adding lunch hours. Also included in the announcement: The Italian restaurant will also add a new, Neapolitan-style pizzeria to its space. Pizzas will be served in the main dining room and in a small separate space. The changes should be made sometime in June. The restaurant is at 425 Main St. in North Little Rock. Call (501) 376-3463 or visit capeo.us.

The Pantry, 11401 N. Rodney Parham Road, is set to celebrate its sixth anniversary Sunday. The restaurant will kick off the party at noon with brats grilled out on the patio, along with the tapping of a keg of Lost Forty Brewing's Belgian Blonde. Other food specials for the day include paella, suckling pig and salt-baked salmon. The Pantry is at (501) 353-1875 and online at littlerockpantry.com.

Food Network personality and author Simon Majumdar will be the special guest judge at a pie contest Sunday at the Root Cafe, 1500 Main St., Little Rock. Majumdar will be in town for the Arkansas Literary Festival to promote his new book Fed, White, and Blue. Sunday's contest and recipe swap will start at 4 p.m. at the restaurant. The pie contest will be hosted by the temporary author of this column, who will be returning the reins to Eric Harrison next week after a short leave of absence.

Following the judging, Little Rock Foodcast's Steve Schuler will interview Majumdar during a recording of the podcast. For more on the Root, call (501) 414-0423 or visit therootcafe.com.

Email:

eharrison@arkansonline.com

Weekend on 04/23/2015

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