The Fold reopens after nearly 2-week renovation
Much-loved Riverdale restaurant The Fold opened its doors again after a planned week-long renovation project stretched into a second week. The entire project was aimed at helping increase space in the former gas station. Owner Bart Barlogie says he decided to use the opportunity to also do some updating in the dining room.
“We have purchased a new walk-in cooler to go on the outside of our building,” Barlogie says. “This will create a lot more room indoors for a legit dish system, as well as more prep room. We are also redoing our floors throughout and create a new waiting and lounge area.”
Barlogie says the delay was due to the floors taking longer to finish than first anticipated. In addition, the arrival of some of the new bar equipment was delayed. While The Fold still has some minor retouching going on in the bar and waiting area, the restaurant is open for business. Stay up to date on The Fold at facebook.com/thefoldbar.
Flyway Brewing eyes fall opening for taproom, brewery
A new wave of local breweries is coming to central Arkansas, and the first one to open looks to be Flyway Brewing in North Little Rock. Flyway owner Matt Foster had been hoping to open his new brewery and taproom in the next few weeks, but the grand opening has since been pushed back to later this fall.
“All of the major plumbing and electrical work has been done; the space has been framed up; the floors are done,” Foster says. “In order to get our permanent electrical power in place, they have to turn off the entire block for a short time. We’re still a week or two from that. We should be finishing out the space in the next couple of weeks.”
Once construction is complete, Flyway will operate a 10-barrel brewing system (one barrel is equal to 31 gallons of beer) capable of producing 62 gallons of beer per week. While most of that will be sold in the taproom and restaurants in the Little Rock area, Foster says Flyway will also have a small-scale bottling operation to get the beer into grocery stores.
Of course, no taproom is complete without food. While Foster didn’t want to give away many details, he says he has a special menu planned that will pair Flyway’s four year-round beers with a unique food item. Foster also says Flyway will feature a full kitchen, and the menu will slowly expand the longer the brewery is open. Flyway Brewing will open later this year at 314 Maple St. in North Little Rock’s Argenta neighborhood. Keep up with the brewery at facebook.com/flywaybrewingcompany.
River Market tea, spice house moving to Northwest Arkansas
Nine months after moving to Bentonville to work as executive chef at The Belfry, Matthew Cooper is now taking his spice shop with him. Cooper says he is relocating Dandelion to Northwest Arkansas in the next couple of weeks. Cooper was one of the head chefs at Cache Restaurant since its opening in 2014 and opened Dandelion next door simultaneously. Cooper left Cache for The Belfry at the beginning of the year and says now is the time to move his business closer to home. Dandelion’s last day in Little Rock will be Sept. 26. Its website is dandelionherb store.com.
State Fairgrounds to host food festival double feature
Food lovers might want to plan to spend a lot of time this weekend at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds. Two food festivals are scheduled for Saturday, starting with the Little Rock Bacon Fest at 11 a.m. The $5 admission price grants access to bacon-cooking contests, a bacon-eating competition (featuring yours truly), kids activities and live music.
The bacon festival ends at 3 p.m. to make way for Little Rocktoberfest at 6 p.m., one of Arkansas’ largest craft beer festivals. Hundreds of gallons of locally made beer will be available for tasting, and many of the state’s top brew-makers will be on hand to chat about their products. Advance tickets are $31.25. Find more information at facebook.com/littlerockbaconfest and facebook.com/littlerocktoberfest.
Red Door chef in social media breakfast contest
Chef Mark Abernathy of Red Door restaurant needs your votes in an online contest featuring Thomas’ English Muffins. Abernathy and 135 chefs nationwide have created a special breakfast item using the iconic English muffin. To see the creations and cast your vote, visit thomasbreakfastbattle.com.
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