It may be the first time this has ever happened, but Arkansas has two James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Award semifinalists this year, the foundation's 25th anniversary awards:
• Little Rock's One Eleven at the Capital is a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant, competing against 24 others from around the country.
• Matthew McClure of The Hive in Bentonville is a semifinalist for Best Chef: South. He's vying against 19 others for that title.
The foundation will announce the finalists March 24 (you'll be able to track them via the foundation's Twitter feed at twitter.com/beardfoundation). And the James Beard Foundation Awards Ceremony and Gala Reception will take place May 4 at Lyric Opera of Chicago. We're crossing our extremities.
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Chef-owner Justin Patterson reports that he expects to finally open his brick-and-mortar Southern Gourmasian, 219 W. Capitol Ave., Little Rock, on Friday, following a Wednesday soft opening. He says to expect that the place will be open for lunch for about a week before it also opens for dinner; once everything is fully up and running, the hours will be 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 313-5645. The highly successful Southern Gourmasian food truck will remain in operation; it will retain its phone number, (501) 954-0888. Keep track via the Facebook page, tinyurl.com/oqf86x7.
At the Corner -- and that's an "at" sign (@) -- going into the former Hop Diner space, 201 E. Markham St. at Scott Street, Little Rock, was waiting on the completion of inspections, with a full public opening to take place sometime in the next two weeks. In the meanwhile, the game plan, says co-owner Kamiya Merrick, is to gradually roll out menu items during a "Sneak Peak Week" scheduled to start Monday. Merrick describes the restaurant as "finer diner," putting a creative take on traditional diner food with a "modern diner feel." The menu will focus on burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and soups, locally sourced as much as possible -- for example, they'll get their hot dogs and bologna from Butcher & Public and ice cream from Loblolly Creamery -- and, we're told, poutine, a Canadian dish of french fries and cheese curds smothered in brown gravy. The chef is Jordan Williams, former sous chef at the Pine Bluff Country Club; Merrick's co-owner is Leila King. Hours will be 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. The phone number: (501) 944-4753; the website, under construction: thecornerlr.com; and the Facebook page: tinyurl.com/q79l2z3.
As of Monday, Damgoode Pies' original location at 2701 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock, is temporarily closed for renovations as its staff heads downtown to ready for opening the new Damgoode Pies River Market in the Museum Center, 500 President Clinton Ave., in Little Rock's River Market District. That target still involves a Sunday soft opening -- to take advantage of the thousands who flock to every eatery in the area post-Little Rock Marathon -- and a public opening March 14, which is "Pi Day." Damgoode's call center number is (501) 664-2239; the website is DGPies.com.
Inclement weather has shoved the target opening date back a week, from March 3 to March 10, for the opening of the Chuy's outlet at 5105 Warden Road, North Little Rock. It'll be the third Arkansas restaurant for the Austin, Texas-based chain (the others are in Rogers, which opened in February, and on Chenal Parkway in west Little Rock, which opened in May 2013). Operating hours will be 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. The restaurant does not yet have a local phone number; keep an eye on the Facebook page, tinyurl.com/m6zyfdb, and the website, chuys.com.
Our colleagues at Sync report an early March target date for the opening of Ira's Park Hill Grill, formerly McMullen's E's Bistro, in the Lakehill Shopping Center, 3812 John F. Kennedy Blvd., North Little Rock. Ira Mittleman, former chef (but not owner, as we had earlier reported) of the Anderson House in Heber Springs and most recently chef and owner at Ira's at the Gibson Inn in Apalachicola, Fla., whom Elizabeth McMullen had brought in as a guest chef in December, has taken over the place; McMullen says she will stay on as pastry chef.
We somehow missed the closing of Feastros, 4200 E. Kiehl Ave., Sherwood, in mid-January. Owner Mark Spaight posted Jan. 16 on the restaurant's Facebook page (tinyurl.com/ptjvktt) that it would be "our last day open in the red building," noting that the establishment had run afoul of a new Sherwood city ordinance. In that and subsequent posts, Spaight thanked his customers and supporters and vowed to reopen at some point -- "My promise to you guys is to NEVER give up! ... I owe it to my wife, my son and you guys, not to give up. So be on the look out. Because we will be back!!" We'll keep you posted.
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Various chefs this week are teaming with Girl Scouts -- Diamonds of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas to create handcrafted special desserts using, or inspired by, Girl Scout cookies (check out the Facebook page, facebook.com/GSDiamonds, for more details).
• On Friday, Anne Woodson of Forty-Two at the Clinton Presidential Center will offer a Thin Mint-inspired dessert.
• Through Sunday, Elliott Jones of YaYa's Euro Bistro will offer a Tagalongs-inspired dessert.
• Through Saturday, Brian Deloney of Maddie's Place will incorporate the new gluten-free Toffee-Tastic cookie into a bread pudding.
• Through Saturday, Alexis Jones of Natchez will have a Trefoil-inspired dessert.
• Through Sunday, Autumn Hall of Big Orange will offer a Samoas-inspired milkshake.
• Through Saturday, Jeff Owen of Ciao Baci will put out a Savannah Smiles-inspired dessert.
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 02/26/2015