Soup Sunday ladles up 36th year

Chris McMillan, chef at Boulevard Bistro & Bar in Little Rock, is the featured chef at Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families’ Little Rock Soup Sunday on Jan. 29.
Chris McMillan, chef at Boulevard Bistro & Bar in Little Rock, is the featured chef at Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families’ Little Rock Soup Sunday on Jan. 29.

Six minutes into a conversation with Chris McMillan and it's clear that he cares a great deal -- a great deal -- about creating delicious soups. Not just regular soups. Not just some vegetables or meat in a liquid, but knock-your-socks-off, jaw-dropping, stupendous bowls of sublime tastiness.

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Chris McMillan, who got his start in restaurants at 15, says creating a good soup is about “consistency and texture.”

There's really no need to taste-test his soups first to know this; just listen as McMillan, chef at Boulevard Bistro & Bar in Little Rock's Heights neighborhood, describes his soups. He might simply be talking about adding onions to a pot, not cooking them too hot but allowing them to sweat out their natural sugars appropriately, but each word drips with a mouth-watering appeal.

Then he's discussing adding carrots and celery, creating a mirepoix. He's careful at this stage, he says, because he doesn't want the soup to develop an off color, and if the mirepoix is burned, it can give the soup a bitter back end. Best to avoid that.

What he's looking for is "consistency and texture," and the key to a good soup starts very basically.

"Your foundation is your stock," McMillan, 37, says. "If you have a thin stock, you're going to have a thin soup. If you have a watery stock, you're going to have a watery soup."

McMillan knows this from experience, as he and his staff at Boulevard cook 40 gallons of soup roughly every two days -- beloved soups that are devoured around Little Rock.

It's this soup knowledge McMillan will share beyond the walls of Boulevard's four locations on Jan. 29 when McMillan is the featured chef at Little Rock Soup Sunday, a benefit for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.

Founded in 1977, Arkansas Advocates provides leadership, research and advocacy so that parents and citizens know more about the state's policies toward children and families.

Little Rock Soup Sunday -- in its 36th year -- at the Statehouse Convention Center will feature soups for sampling from more than 30 central Arkansas restaurants, including Dave's Place and Faded Rose, two restaurants that have served soup at every Soup Sunday.

The event raised $137,000 last year, according to Mallory Van Dover, development director with Arkansas Advocates. The "family-friendly and very casual" fundraiser is looking to raise $150,000 this year, with all proceeds going toward Arkansas Advocates' mission of ensuring "that all children and their families have the resources and opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives and to realize their full potential."

"It's a very celebratory atmosphere," Van Dover says. "The people are nice; the restaurants who supply the food are very engaging. I think it's unlike any other event in Little Rock, especially because it brings people from all over central Arkansas into one space. People who love soup and care about kids -- this is the spot for them."

While local favorites are included in the area restaurants serving soup, the afternoon also includes soups native to countries such as India and Brazil, along with vegetarian and vegan options.

Soup cups, spoons, bread, desserts and even muffin tins -- for carrying several soups at one time -- are provided by Arkansas Advocates.

"The menu will run the gamut," Van Dover says. "We should have a recipe that pleases everyone.

"There's no need to bring anything other than a hearty appetite and an interest in having fun and supporting kids."

Little Rock Soup Sunday also includes music, and live and silent auctions.

McMillan, a northeast Arkansas resident who got his kitchen start at 15 in a restaurant run by Lin Lawhon in downtown Little Rock, is responsible for creating a specialty soup for the event.

In late December, McMillan had some ideas about that soup but hadn't fully committed to one recipe. He was waiting to see what other chefs were bringing, too, so he wouldn't duplicate their offering.

Whatever his "finale soupe decision" is, McMillan says it'll be seasonally geared and delicious. He has been making soup a long time, either during the last two years as chef at Boulevard, during two previous, separate stints at the restaurant or during his 22-year culinary career.

"I like very simple food," he says. "I feel like if you're putting too much into it, you're hiding something. And you're also covering up your natural flavors. If you're putting too many stars into the same pot, it's going to be drama, just like a rock band."

So, no drama, just a good, wholesome bowl of soup. And who doesn't love a bowl of warm soup this time of year, when the cold creeps under the thickest layers of clothing?

Plus, Arkansas Advocates benefits from all that soup being served.

"You can't say enough about family and how important it is to hold it together," McMillan says. "Not everybody's fortunate enough to have a good solid family with a lot of support. And sometimes people need help."

Little Rock Soup Sunday is 4-7 p.m. Jan. 29 at the Statehouse Convention Center. Adult tickets are $25 advance and $30 after 5 p.m. Jan. 27. Tickets for children 5-17 are $10; 4 and under get in free. Patron tickets, which include access to the patron room with complimentary beer, wine and more, are $50 advance and $60 after 5 p.m. Jan. 27.

Visit aradvocates.org to order tickets for Little Rock Soup Sunday.

High Profile on 01/15/2017

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