RESTAURANT TRANSITIONS: 2 west Little Rock eateries, 1 in Maumelle shut down; Cathead's Diner to open in East Village

Sunday will see the last service at Lulu’s Latin Rotisserie & Grill on North Bowman Road in west Little Rock, where the specialty was Pollo a la Brasa (Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken).
Sunday will see the last service at Lulu’s Latin Rotisserie & Grill on North Bowman Road in west Little Rock, where the specialty was Pollo a la Brasa (Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken).

A trio of restaurant closures this week:

Lulu's Latin Rotisserie & Grill, in the Colonnade Shopping Center, 315 N. Bowman Road, Little Rock, will close Sunday, posting on its Facebook page: "We thank so many of you so much for support and patronage over the past two years. This has certainly been a labor of love and we would have never come this far without the love of so many of you and our great staff. Paz y amor." The restaurant will serve 5-9 p.m. today-Friday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. The phone number is (501) 228-5564.

Meanwhile, the posting Saturday on the Facebook page of Cock of the Walk, 7103 Cock of the Walk Drive, off Maumelle Boulevard, Maumelle, was even terser: "Thank you all for the wonderful years, but sadly we are closed." Calls to the phone number, (501) 758-7182, through our deadline produced a voicemail message that the restaurant would, however, only be closed until Nov. 15.

And Mimi's Cafe, 11725 Chenal Parkway, Little Rock, has also closed, leaving the restaurant at 2105 Promenade Blvd., Rogers, as Arkansas' only remaining outlet. The phone number, (501) 221-3883, had not yet been disconnected by our deadline, but the gentleman who answered it confirmed the email the chain's Dallas office sent out to frequent customers announcing the closure.

. . .

So now, here's cheerier news of openings, reopenings, expected openings, unveilings and food and wine events:

More details arrived after last week's deadline on Cathead's Diner, 515 Shall Ave., Little Rock. Donnie Ferneau, who is, indeed, the executive chef, and Kelli Marks, who will be the executive pastry chef, expect to open in early 2018. The restaurant will offer breakfast, brunch, lunch and pastry/dessert menus emphasizing Southern-style comfort foods. The 4,075-square-foot restaurant will seat 90 indoors and 30 on the patio, with room for another 100 at a chef's table and in a private party room. It's part of the Paint Factory project, a mixed-use development in Little Rock's developing East Village, which will also be the headquarters for Cromwell Architects Engineers, the project's overseers, plus retail space and loft apartments. Ferneau is the 2016 Diamond Chef competition winner; his previous culinary perches have included the private 1836 Club and his eponymous Ferneau in Hillcrest; he recently survived several rounds into the Food Network's Great Food Truck Race. Marks, who opened Sweet Love in January 2012, recently transformed it from a bakery to a catering company, primarily focusing on wedding cakes. They're in the process of hiring 20 to 25 servers, food runners, host/hostess, bussers, dishwashers, line and prep cooks and sous chefs. Submit resumes via email to catheadsdiner@gmail.com.

And speaking of Ferneau, his hand is prominently in the pickup Thanksgiving menu at Old Mill Bread, in the Rock Creek Shopping Center, 12111 W. Markham St. at Bowman Road, Little Rock. It includes "Chef Donnie Ferneau's Smoked Turkey," 10-pound boneless breasts that Ferneau will be brining and smoking ($90, should feed close to 10 people). Side dishes, prepared by Ferneau's sous chef, Amanda Ivy, include smoked turkey gravy (for the smoked turkey breasts and for the Old Mill Blue Ribbon Jalapeno Cornbread Stuffing), roasted leek mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, white cheddar and bacon mac and cheese, oven roasted carrots and hazelnuts picada and cranberry fluff (small portions feed four, large feed 10). Dessert choices: pumpkin and caramel apple cheesecakes and cherry cloud top pie. Old Mill will take orders until 5 p.m. Nov. 18 for pickup by 6 p.m. Nov. 22, by phone -- (501) 228-4677; by email -- Oldmillbread01@gmail.com; or at the store.

And speaking of Thanksgiving, if you are opening your restaurant on the holiday, please email us your street address, hours of service, any specials or menu details and the phone number the public can contact for information or reservations, to the address below. We'll run the list the week before (Nov. 16) and with updates on Thanksgiving Day itself.

And Offers.com lists a whole range of chain restaurants offering Veterans Day discounts, specials and freebies for veterans and military service members, Friday (the official observed holiday) and/or Saturday (the actual holiday). It's too lengthy to even include here the establishments with Arkansas outlets; check out offers.com/blog/post/veterans-day-freebies.

. . .

Three Sams BBQ and Catering has reopened at 10508 Mann Road, Mabelvale, more than 19 months after a devastating March 2016 fire that resulted from the combustion of a smoker. In the interim, co-owner Annette Jones has been selling barbecue sandwiches, barbecue-stuffed potatoes and desserts out of the restaurant's catering truck on the parking lot three days a week. The new building means a new kitchen and a very slight increase in seating. Hours are 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday. The phone number is (501) 407-0345.

Look for a mid-December opening for Core Brewing Co.'s second central Arkansas Core Public House, 1214 Main St., in Little Rock's SoMA area. And, says Jessie Core, the namesake of Springdale-based Core Brewing Co., look for a January opening of the Core outlet at 833 Central Ave., Hot Springs, in the former home of Banjo Dan's Vintage Guitars. Core opened Core Public House at 411 Main St., in North Little Rock's Argenta District, last year; he also has brewpubs in Fayetteville, Rogers and Fort Smith, plus a pub and a separate taproom in Springdale.

The 1200 block of Main Street is also expected to become the new home of Rock Town Distillery, which is shifting its production to the old Jungkind Photographic building, 1201 Main St., as early as March, according to a report in last week's Democrat-Gazette Business section. Phil Brandon founded the distillery almost eight years ago in a 25,000-plus-square foot office and warehouse space at 1216 E. Sixth St. in what is now being called the East Village. The move is awaiting approval from Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

The wood paneling above the bar at Bruno's Little Italy since it reopened at 310 Main St., Little Rock, features portraits of the late founder, Jimmy Bruno, and his parents. Now owners Gio and Vince Bruno are unveiling the portrait of their mother, Georgia Ernestine "Ernie" Shoults Bruno, who died Feb. 1, 2015, at 1 p.m. today. The artist is Bryon Taylor, a professional figure painter and graphic designer and a friend of the family.

The Dreamy Spoon, "Sweet" (Suite) 1, 115 Audubon Drive, Maumelle, is under new ownership and has added to the frozen yogurt that has been its staple a new range of products, including cakes, cupcakes, frozen yogurt cakes, wedding cakes, pies and liquor-infused Bundt cakes. Hours are noon-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 1-9 p.m. Sunday. The phone number is (501) 851-2448; the website is thedreamyspoon.com.

Saturday will mark the grand opening of the Honeybaked Ham in the Lakewood Village Shopping Center, 2733 Lakewood Village Drive, North Little Rock. The website, bit.ly/2huQuEQ, says the concurrent festivities include the chance to win prizes every 30 minutes, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; "sample the World's Best Ham"; and "enter to win free HoneyBaked Ham for a year!" Hours will be 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday; ahead of Thanksgiving, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Nov. 16-18, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 19 and 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Nov. 20-22. Owner Marc Ansel says the listed phone number, (501) 596-8350, is tentative and may change.

What Yellow Rocket Concepts was originally calling Big Orange Northwest, now going by Big Orange Rogers, in the Pinnacle Hills Promenade Outdoor Mall, 2203 S. Promenade Blvd., Rogers, is on the cusp of opening, sometime in the next two weeks. The third Big Orange location (the other two are in Little Rock, the original on Chenal Parkway and the other in Midtown) will fill 5,200 square feet and seat approximately 150. The menu will add "expanded small plates and starter dishes, hyper-local food and beverage selections, house-made desserts, and dangerously delicious spiked milkshakes," according to a news release. The kitchen will be open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. The phone number is (479) 202-5339.

Ristorante Capeo, 425 Main St., North Little Rock, will hold its quarterly three-course wine dinner, featuring a chardonnay (with a spinach and ricotta frittata), a Carmenere (accompanying a stuffed pork loin with lemon and oregano vinaigrette) and the Secret Reserve Pinot Noir (paired with a sausage and bean soup) from Chilean winery Santa Rita, 6:30 p.m. Monday. Cost is $55, including taxes; dessert and coffee are optional (and extra). Call (501) 376-3463 or visit capeo.us/form2/index.php.

And speaking of food-and-wine pairings, it's the annual Eureka Springs Food & Wine Weekend, today-Sunday in the Carroll County town. At least nine establishments are participating; see the complete list at eurekasprings.org/foodandwine.

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 11/09/2017

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