Elated owner Batulzii "Crystal" Bataa reports that intense 11th-hour negotiations with her shopping-center landlord have resulted in a 12-month lease extension for Igibon Japanese Food House, 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock. The venerable west Little Rock Japanese restaurant had been facing a possible Dec. 27 closure. Major renovations in the twin '70s-built strip centers divided by Market Street off Rodney Parham -- Market Place Shopping Center on the east, the Valley Village Shopping Center on the west -- have made access difficult for Bataa's customers, whose strong support Bataa credits and whom she thanks profusely. The restaurant, 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road, opened in late August 1998 in what had been a revolving-door space that had housed at least three restaurants. Hours are 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, in the meanwhile. The phone number is (501) 217-8888.
Lost Forty Brewing, 501 Byrd St., Little Rock, has opened its tap room, now called just Lost 40 Taproom. Co-owner Scott McGehee and Amber Brewer, marketing director for Yellow Rocket Concepts, the parent company of Lost Forty and several other area establishments, say the tap room offers sit-down service but will not be a full-service restaurant in terms of its menu offerings -- a selection of made-in-house "Munich beer hall food meets the Delta"-style bar snacks, including six appetizers and six sandwiches and entrees that McGehee says are "aimed squarely at craft-beer lovers." The list includes bratwurst with house-made mustard, kielbasa with peach marmalade, a Gulf shrimp gumbo and smoked brisket in barbecue sauce with a cabbage-green tomato slaw and Texas toast (all of their breads will come from either Boulevard Bread Co. or Arkansas Fresh). Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. They'll offer a 4-6 p.m. Wednesday-Friday happy hour with discounts on beer and growlers. The phone number is (501) 319-7335.
Also "brewing" downtown, Feb. 1 is the target date for the opening of Damgoode Pies Riverfront, the new pizzeria/brewpub that has moved into the former Boscos space in the Museum Center, 500 President Clinton Ave., in Little Rock's River Market District. The menu will be pretty much the same as at Damgoode's other central and Northwest Arkansas locations -- pizzas, salads and pastas -- plus three taps dispensing Damgoode Brews and three taps of master brewer Josiah Moody's beer. They're installing Italian stone-floor pizza ovens in the kitchen; they'll use the brick fireplace oven in the middle of the restaurant as a by-the-slice bar. Tentative hours are also the same as other locations -- 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday -- but could extend as River Market conditions demand. The new restaurant doesn't yet have a phone number. Damgoode's website is DGPies.com. We'll keep you posted.
Target opening date is Jan. 19 for Samantha's Tap Room & Wood Grill, which Chris Tanner, owner of Cheers in the Heights, has installed in the 4,700 square feet on the ground floor of the Mann on Main building, 322 Main St., Little Rock. Tanner's "cool casual" menu, available at the website, samstap.com, bears some resemblance to the one that has been a success for years at Cheers, plus a work-in-progress list of more than 30 beers. Initial hours will be 4:30-10 p.m., a little later on the weekends, Tanner says, with plans to eventually open at 11 a.m. for all-day service. The phone number, which should be operating by the time you read this, is (501) 916-9613.
Chef-owner Justin Patterson says his target is sometime in January for the opening of his 219 W. Capitol Ave., Little Rock, brick-and-mortar location for Southern Gourmasian, which he has been operating as a food truck, so customers will no longer have to find his Asian-fusion cuisine on a day-to-day basis. He has taken the unusual step of using Kickstarter to raise the money to do the interior finish work on the 3,000-square-foot space, which, according to the crowd-funding page (tinyurl.com/gourmasian11) "will include a bird's-nest ceiling and reclaimed-wood wall (locally sourced), as well as recycled and reclaimed materials for table tops, accents and pagodas throughout the dining room." As of our deadline, the project had brought in about $12,000 toward a $15,000 goal. Until the place opens, you can track down the food truck by calling (501) 954-0888 or via the Facebook page, facebook.com/thesoutherngourmasian; the website is thesoutherngourmasian.com.
Early March, we're told, is the target 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.)
The end of February is now the target for the opening of Nashville Rockin Grill, a bar, grill and music venue in progress in a former art studio at 10832 Maumelle Blvd., North Little Rock, next door to Morningside Bagels. Hours will be 11 a.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday, possibly staying open until 1 a.m. Friday-Saturday. The establishment does not yet have a listed phone number.
Restaurant industry news magazine QSR (qsrmagazine.com) reports Dallas-based fast-casual company La Madeleine, which operates more than 70 bakery cafes across the landscape, has completed a deal with Little Rock-based Chi Development Co., "an established multiunit, multibrand franchise development group" that includes several central Arkansas restaurants (including the three Chi's in Little Rock) and several hotels, including the new Aloft hostelry under construction at Capitol Avenue and Main Street in downtown Little Rock. The article quotes principal developer Jacob Chi, whom it identifies as "a seasoned restaurateur and hotelier": "It's clear that La Madeleine guests absolutely love the food and atmosphere ... and this affinity is the motivation behind our development deal. From the get-go, we've been impressed with the loyalty the bakery cafes command from their guests."
And in case you missed it, the Root Cafe, 1500 Main St., Little Rock, will receive $25,000 after winning a vote that capped its appearance on cable TV network HLN's documentary series Growing America: A Journey to Success. The SoMa farm-to-table-oriented restaurant won out over a Detroit barbershop and a Denver-based disaster-relief nonprofit group; teams of MBA students worked with three businesses, examining their approaches and making suggestions about potential improvements. A group from Stanford University worked with the restaurant staff for five days, suggesting ways to revamp its online and social media presence and to improve its system for ordering food from area farmers.
Host Ty Pennington traveled to Arkansas on Dec. 9 to surprise owners Jack and Corri Sundell with the news they had received the most viewer votes. "My jaw dropped," Jack Sundell told the Democrat-Gazette. "Corri and I were both totally surprised and speechless and exhilarated. It's really exciting. And it's really humbling to have the people watching the show vote for us and give us that vote of confidence in what we're doing." The Sundells will use the money to expand the size of the restaurant and its hours, including possibly serving dinner three nights a week.
The Benton Area Chamber of Commerce will put on its inaugural Arkansas Steak Cook-off Championship, 1-7 p.m. July 18 at the Benton Event Center, 17322 Interstate 30, Benton. Steak grillers from across the country are expected to match up against local chefs and amateur cooks. Each team will submit one 16-ounce steak to the judges (a panel of experienced beef eaters); the overall champion also wins entry into the 2016 U.S. Steak Championship in Tulsa and Northwest Arkansas Steak Cook-off during Bikes Blues & BBQ on Sept. 26 in Springdale. Benton Chamber Executive Director Gary James says there will also be appetizer and steak-eating competitions and music. More details will be made available next week at bentonchamber.com.
Mark Abernathy, owner/executive chef at Loca Luna and Red Door, says sometime in April he'll be shutting down Loca Luna, 3519 Old Cantrell Road, Little Rock, "weather permitting ... for a couple of weeks for a bit of a 'makeover.'" The restaurant, which will celebrate its 18th anniversary in May, will get an exterior face-lift, "with attention to the landscaping, signage and the 'overall' look," Abernathy says, and a new outdoor seating area. Indoors, he'll be making some decor changes; a modification of the bar to add taps for more craft beers, plus more upscale cocktails "with house-made bitters and syrups, infused liquors and specialty items."
The kitchen will get an upgrade; a new menu will include "new creative items, as well as repackaging many of our best-sellers that our customers have insisted we keep." An expanded test kitchen in the next-door Red Door will enable Abernathy to test more than 100 recipes. The changes are the tail end of a process that started eight months ago, which so far, Abernathy says, has mostly involved areas "the public wouldn't notice -- infrastructure upgrades, new roofs, air conditioning/heat repair and new equipment."
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 01/01/2015