Restaurant Transitions: Bruno’s reopening; Ira's moves to Main Street in Little Rock; Petit & Keet Bar & Grill delayed

Now that Bruno’s Little Deli has moved into the main restaurant, only the deli’s French-bread pizza, not the Neapolitan-style pie that made Bruno’s Little Italy famous, will be available for lunch.
Now that Bruno’s Little Deli has moved into the main restaurant, only the deli’s French-bread pizza, not the Neapolitan-style pie that made Bruno’s Little Italy famous, will be available for lunch.

If you've been on the edge of your culinary seat awaiting the opening of Petit & Keet Bar & Grill sometime in February, you might as well settle back for a much longer wait. Restaurateur Jim Keet says the scope of his collaboration with Little Rock culinary legend Louis Petit, in the former Restaurant 1620/1620 Savoy, 1620 Market St., Little Rock, has expanded from a six-week, "couple of hundred thousand-dollar" to a six-month, "million-dollar project." He's now projecting an opening in late April "if we're lucky, around the first of May if we're not."

The original idea was to make minor changes to the building but "leave the guts alone," Keet says from Destin, Fla., where he has been in consultation with Petit, whom Keet says has been involved "in every major decision that we've had." But after discussions with designers, including Garry Mertins, they decided instead to "just go ahead and gut it." They've knocked out the former private dining space and the former office. Garage doors will open out from both spaces -- the former, now moved to the front of the building, will make it possible to have private parties for up to 60 people (as opposed to the 30 in the old space); the latter will make it possible to expand the back bar sixfold with indoor and outdoor bar seating for 18.

They're tearing down the fortresslike wall that had enclosed the patio -- "like the Alamo or something," Keet says -- and extending the new exterior "skin" to cover it. They're also tearing out the original vestibule and creating two new ones -- one for the Keet's Corner (bar) side, one for the main dining room. Structural work to support the roof for the new doorways and HVAC system will take eight weeks. Inclement weather could delay some of the exterior work. "You won't recognize this building when it's done," Keet promises. "It'll be pretty and modern but fun."

Inside, Keet says, they've hired their general manager -- Brent Lenners, who at one time worked at the Capital Hotel and is coming home via Oklahoma and Shreveport, where he most recently ran a restaurant called Zocalo. And a chef hire is on the cusp -- Keet says he can't yet reveal his name but he has accepted the job, pending reference checks. The menu is therefore still a work in progress, but the game plan has been to include contributions from "renowned local chefs" and feature as many local products and ingredients as possible.

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The Main Cheese, 14524 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, will close Saturday. A long message posted this week on its Facebook page thanks customers, staff and friends. Despite "herculean efforts" by staff and management to pull the place, which opened in February 2014, out of a "death spiral," the post notes with regret, "sales have failed to reach the level required for the business to sustain itself. Our only option moving forward is to sell or close the restaurant." Hours are, tentatively, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. today and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday-Saturday, but "we are short on cooks so please check back for updates just in case we modify these hours." The phone number: (501) 367-8082.

Mylo Coffee Co., 2715 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock, is closed through Friday for the completion of the first phase of its expansion into the next-door former Afterthought Bar and Bistro. That includes opening the wall between the original space and the new one, which, owner Stephanos Mylonas has promised via various forms of social media, will provide "additional seating area for customers and a larger, but very important to us, back-of-house area." Subsequent renovation phases, with completion expected later this year, will include an entire new restaurant and concert venue. The phone number is (501) 747-1880.

It’s official: Ira’s Park Hill Grill is moving from the Lakehill Shopping Center, 3812 John F. Kennedy Blvd., North Little Rock, to the old Rose Building, 307 Main St., Little Rock, where its neighbors will include Bruno’s Little Italy, Soul Fish Cafe and Samantha’s Woodfired Grill & Tap Room. They’re holding a “closing celebration” Friday and Saturday and Saturday will be its last dinner service in its current location. Owner-chef Ira Mittelman says he’ll probably change the name to just plain Ira’s. He has sold the Park Hill location, but at this point can’t identify the buyer or exactly what’s planned for the space. Target opening date for the new restaurant is “mid- to late spring,” Mittelman says; the building’s historic nature affects construction options. Mittelman says the menu will change, “but it’ll still be my food”; he’s looking to be open for lunch, happy hour and dinner six days a week, probably closing on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Bruno's Little Italy, 310 Main St., expects to open/reopen for lunch Tuesday, and be open Monday-Friday thereafter. You'll remember Bruno's Little Deli, 308 Main, closed a couple of weeks ago to reopen in the main restaurant. The idea: Provide patrons with a place to sit and maybe have beer or a glass of wine with lunch -- effectively making the deli, which had been operating semi-autonomously from the main restaurant, the long-awaited lunch shift for the venerable Italian eatery. The delay has involved moving the deli equipment into the restaurant and the restaurant's prep equipment (including a multi-hundred-pound dough mixer) into the deli space. Owner Gio Bruno says the lunch menu will be the same as the one at the deli -- sorry, folks, but if you want pizza, it's going to be the deli's French-bread variety, not Bruno's Neapolitan-style -- but it does allow the possibility of some more pasta-centered specials. Call the restaurant now and not the deli: (501) 372-7866 (37-BRUNO).

Elsewhere in downtown Little Rock:

• We have an update on Buenos Aires Grill and Cafe, an Argentine restaurant on the cusp of opening -- still three to four weeks off, "is what I've been telling everybody," says co-owner Flo Bruzatori-Mullins -- at 614 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, the final resting place of Juanita's. The restaurant will occupy the lower floor, "with that glorious patio," she says. And it is indeed a family-run operation -- Bruzatori-Mullins, her mother, Graciela, her father, her sister and her twin brother. The menu, still a work in progress, will feature "family recipes crafted with passion," including "asado, empanadas, Graciela's famous chimichurri and more," according to the restaurant's Facebook page, where they'll post the menu, as well as any additional information on how the place is progressing. Hours, once they open: 11 a.m.-9 or 10 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. for Sunday brunch. There's no telephone number yet; you can email info@buenosairesgrillcafe.com or visit the website, BuenosAiresGrillCafe.com.

• Potbelly Sandwich Shop plans a second Little Rock location in the Lyon Building, 401 W. Capitol Ave., with a tentative March opening date, serving breakfast and lunch (including sandwiches, soups, salads pastries, shakes and more) Monday-Friday. Franchisee Ryan Hamra's first location is in the Park Avenue shopping center, 314 S. University Ave.

• Bray Gourmet Deli, in the Catlett-Prein Tower building, 323 Center St., has started a course of renovations that owner and namesake Chris Bray estimates will take three weeks. The renovations include new floors, new countertops, new paint on walls and ceilings and walnut planking around all the countertops. "Most of the renovations will be done after our normal business hours," Bray says, but "we will probably have to close at least two Fridays to get some of the larger changes done." As of deadline, that'll be this Friday and next. He's also adding some new toasted/hot sandwiches and new salads. The phone number is (501) 353-1045.

• Zeteo Coffee, 911 W. Oak St., Conway, has announced it will open targeting mid-February a 1,500-square-foot coffee shop in the River Market, 610 President Clinton Ave., in a portion of the building that formerly housed the Clinton Museum Store (the rest of the building houses the corporate offices of Rock Dental Brands and affiliated company AXPM). Conway manager Tim Harrington says they'll pour exclusively brews from Onyx Coffee Lab in Springdale and also vend its bagged beans and grinds. Hours are still in flux, but he expects they'll offer breakfast and lunch with a seasonal menu and gluten-free options, and also beer and wine. A portion of the profits go to Living Water International, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide clean water to places around the world. The number for the Conway cafe: (501) 358-6285.

And speaking of Conway, ZaZa Fine Salad + Wood Oven Pizza, 1050 Ellis Ave., Conway, will debut its Sunday brunch, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, featuring Petit Jean meats, biscuits and gravy, bacon-and-eggs Benedict, cinnamon-sugar-dipped Belgian waffles and breakfast-taco and berry-crumble pizzas, in addition to its usual menu. Executive Chef Scott McGehee, in addition to serving up brunch pizzas, will talk about partnerships with local farms; and representatives from Lost Forty Brewing will be onsite to talk about local brewing. The phone number: (501) 336-9292 (ZAZA).

On the heels of the word last week that Sharks Fish and Chicken was moving into the former Andy's space on Little Rock's John Barrow Road comes a report that another outlet is in the process of moving into the former Pizza Hut at 1801 T.P. White Drive, Jacksonville. (Both of those restaurants have moved to new locations.)

And we've spotted a banner indicating that a Daylight Donuts is pending at 102 Markham Park Drive, Little Rock, which had previously been a couple of short-lived Mexican places. The company website, daylightdonuts.com/find-your-daylight, confirms it's "coming soon."

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 01/19/2017

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