Restaurant transitions: Terry’s restaurant closed, La Madeleine opening April 21

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/ERIC HARRISON - Terry's Finer Restaurant
Shrimp Provenal at Terry's
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/ERIC HARRISON - Terry's Finer Restaurant Shrimp Provenal at Terry's

The departure last week of chef Jeffrey Moore from Terry's Finer Foods -- The Restaurant, 5018 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock, precipitated a closure of the restaurant for what the voice-mail message on the restaurant's phone number, (501) 663-4154, said would be a couple of days, due to "staffing issues." In fact, the restaurant has closed for an indefinite period. Terry's co-owners Lex and Ellen Golden are using the situation to start making changes "that have been in the works for some time," Lex Golden says, including "retooling [the] dining room, kitchen and staff over the next few weeks." The closure has not affected the adjoining Terry's Finer Foods grocery and deli, which is staying open seven days a week, or the independently owned and operated The Pizzeria @ Terry's Finer Foods on the building's south side.

Meanwhile, Moore has returned to some old stomping grounds, specifically Lilly's Dim Sum Then Some, elating owner Nancy Tesmer (see below). "I was looking for a change of scenery, so I left Terry's to help get Lilly's/B-Side back on track," Moore says. "It was 100 percent voluntarily." He says he put in his two-week notice but departed sooner than that (perhaps voluntarily, perhaps not). The rest of the kitchen staff and some of the wait staff also left at approximately the same time, which explains the "staffing issues."

The Goldens have brought on Cassidy Johnson, who has been the chef at Samantha's Taproom and Wood Grill, as "consultant on the new menu, wine list, additional staffing and physical design for both the restaurant and bar ... along with Ellen and myself," Golden says. After successfully pulling off a dinner over the weekend for 30 Arkansas Symphony Orchestra donors, "I'm 100 percent committed to him," he adds. Tentative target to reopen: Mother's Day brunch. Whatever menu develops for Terry's will keep the same French/Continental style.

In the interim, Ellen Golden is moving and consolidating her antique shop, which has been up Kavanaugh Boulevard from the Terry's complex, "into and throughout the Terry's Finer Foods building," Lex Golden says. And they're making plans for the pizzeria space that will be vacant when Jeremy and Jacquelyn Pittman move it, sometime this summer, a couple of spots south on Kavanaugh, closer to Cantrell Road. That space, once the home of Sue's Pie Shop, will likely become a "bar/small bites place" that could be open seven days a week and stay open later that the restaurant currently does.

Tesmer, meanwhile, issued this statement on her re-accession of Moore's services at Lilly's, 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock, and its in-house "partner" breakfast-brunch restaurant, B-Side: "Our focus is the menu items we've proudly served 14 years, and Jeffrey's [focus] is 'aggressively pursuing fresh, sexy new dishes and adding to the vegan/celiac/vegetarian selections.'" You heard it here first.

...

The Dallas-based La Madeleine: French Country Cafe corporate folks last week confirmed in a news release headlined "Bonjour Little Rock!" that the opening date will, in fact, be April 21 for its first Little Rock outlet in the Rock Creek Square Plaza Shopping Center, 12210 W. Markham St., Little Rock. To mark the grand opening, the first 50 guests in line at 6:30 a.m. that day will get certificates granting them a 52-week supply of the cafe's fresh handmade breads. As we've reported, the Chi family, which the corporate release praises as "a group of seasoned restaurateurs," holds the franchise. What we may not yet have reported: This is to be the first of five Arkansas outlets over the next few years. Hours will be 6:30 a.m.-10 p.m. daily*. The phone number is (501) 221-7777; check out the menu at laMadeleine.com.

Just after we went to press last week, Grady's Pizza & Subs' Manager Pablo Chichoni called to fill us in on the long-awaited target opening date -- Monday -- for the second location, 10901 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock. The place will have a full bar and an expanded Italian menu, he says. The restaurant phone number is (501) 904-2822.

And speaking of Monday, that was the target date for the opening of Bruno's Deli, in the former Dundee's menswear space, 308 Main St., Little Rock, the next-door grab-and-go lunch expansion of Bruno's Little Italy. That was, until recent heavy rains poured through cracks in the concrete roof and flooded the interior, damaging a lot of the work that had already gone into the interior. Bruno's co-owner Gio Bruno says he now has no idea what kind of time frame he's looking at; however, the small silver lining in the rain cloud is that it has given him more time to hire daytime staff. The flooding apparently has also set back the opening of the first Little Rock outlet of Memphis-based mini-chain Soul Fish Cafe going in on the other side.

And in case you missed the news last week, Dave & Buster's has set June 13 as the target date for opening its first Arkansas outlet, a 30,000-square-foot "entertainment restaurant" at 10900 Bass Pro Parkway, Little Rock, east of the Outlets of Little Rock mall and conveniently near the confluence of Interstates 30 and 430. You will recall that the chain started as a business partnership between Buster Corley and the late Dave Corriveau, who operated side-by-side bars at Little Rock's Union Station in the 1970s. One of the principal (and principle) blocks to their return to Arkansas had been the state's limit of $12.50 in prizes for coin-operated games; a state law passed last year (widely believed to have been directly aimed at getting us a Dave & Buster's) now allows arcade prizes of $500 for facilities larger than 25,000 square feet with a full-service menu in counties with a population of 350,000 or more. Of course what everybody anticipates is the so-called Million Dollar Midway, and maybe the 30 big-screen TVs and a 360-degree sports bar, but the place will also have a menu, including the Pepperoni Pretzel Pull-Apart, Three-Cheese Grilled Cheese Sticks, Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp & Chicken With Creamy Lobster Sauce, Bang Bang Chicken With Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles and the Cheesy Mac Stack (shredded short ribs topped with mac and cheese between two slices of toasted bread). Hours will be 11 a.m.-midnight Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Friday-Saturday. Hiring is underway at the Hampton Inn, 1301 S. Shackleford Road, Little Rock; get more details at daveandbusters.com/little-rock, and follow the building progress at the Facebook page, facebook.com/dnblittlerock.

Skye Stratton-Ward, daughter of Don Dugan and Tasha Stratton, is on the cusp of opening Skye's Little Bistro, 405 E. Third St., Little Rock, part of the complex that houses Stratton's Market and Dugan's Pub. (The space was briefly occupied by The Clean Eatery, which recently moved to the former Damgoode Pies to-go/delivery operation space on Rodney Parham Road.) Stratton-Ward says the menu will be primarily European with a modern twist, with four charcuterie boards, four sandwiches and a few hot items like duck confit for lunch and adding soups and panini for dinner. A soft opening is planned for Monday, opening to the public later next week. Hours will be 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Because Stratton's is a liquor store as well as a grocery, she won't be able to serve alcohol per se, but she can offer tastings, so diners will have the option of a wine tasting with their meal. Right now, phone access is via the Stratton's number, (501) 791-6700; Stratton-Ward says her bistro will probably get its own in short order.

On the same block, the new Tuf Nut Taproom is now open inside Andina Cafe, 433 E. Third St., Little Rock, serving Diamond Bear brews, hot dogs, German and Polish sausages, sliders and a sandwich called the Don't Josh Me -- fried bologna with peppered bacon, American cheese, Grandma's Cole Slaw and "the legendary Shack barbecue sauce" on Texas toast. (The cafe, anticipating the resurrection of The Shack across Third Street, sells the Shack sauce in the store.) Hours are 4-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 4-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 4-6 p.m. Sunday (well, actually, it opens when the cafe opens at 6:30 a.m.). The phone number is (501) 376-2326.

BASH Burger Co. has only been open for a couple of weeks at 315 N. Bowman Road, Little Rock, but they've already changed their hours -- closing on Mondays and opening for Sunday brunch: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, at least until they get a liquor license, at which point they may extend their hours. The phone number is (501) 904-2694.

There was a bit of a stir last week as folks noticed and notified us with some alarm that the signs had disappeared from the exterior of Cheddar's Casual Cafe, 400 S University Ave., Little Rock. No cause for alarm: Turns out the chain has recently changed its logos, and therefore the signs.

Almost 40 restaurants, caterers and food vendors will be slinging samples at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Taste of Little Rock fundraiser, 6-8 p.m. today at the Jack Stephens Center, UALR, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock. The event this year honors Bob Denman, UALR's vice chancellor for advancement, who is retiring, and his wife, Peggy, also a UALR grad. Tickets are $75; all proceeds support UALR Alumni Association scholarships. Call (501) 683-7208, email alumni@ualr.edu or visit ualr.edu/giving/event/taste-of-little-rock-2016.

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 04/14/2016

* An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect opening time for La Madeleine: French Country Cafe. It opens at 6:30 a.m. daily.

Upcoming Events