RESTAURANT TRANSITIONS
Restaurant 1620 Savoy, 1620 Market St., Little Rock, has closed after 26 years; Saturday was its last day of service. Chef Tim Morton, who has relocated to Cache downtown, is also heading up RH
Catering, which will fulfill all current and future catering obligations. RH Cuisine has re-taken-over the building from Jeffrey Edwards, who bought it in May, and will make the building and facility available for full-service catered events and parties (as well as special Valentine’s Day and Easter meals). Meanwhile, it’s also available for “long-term commercial lease for pre-approved restaurant or food service operations,” according to a news release. Call (501) 221-1620 or (501) 240-5448 or email events@ rhcatering.com.
In case you missed this story last week, a group of Little Rock investors, including state Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, and investment bankers Mark Camp and Rod Damon, are planning to once again resurrect the long-vacant former Packet House, 1406 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, by turning it into a private supper club, to be named the 1836 Club. The club will operate as a members-only establishment, including a restaurant that would be open for dinner and special events, with a membership limited to 300, and a $250 a month membership fee for individuals and $1,000 for companies. Incoming members would have to be nominated and approved. The Little Rock Planning Commission approved a rezoning request last week; they’ll still need approval from the Little Rock Board of Directors and the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
Owner-chef Wes Ellis opened the restaurant in late September 2012; it closed in late March 2014. (A report shortly thereafter that former Capital Hotel executive chef Lee Richardson was about to take it over apparently fell through.) The extensive renovation on the house in 2012 before the restaurant opened means, Hutchinson says, that few interior changes are necessary. Plans are to create a second-floor humidor room for cigar smoking and to replace third-floor carpeting with hardwood.
Fresh: An Urban Eatery, 1706 W. Third St., Little Rock, closed Friday, posting on its Facebook page thanks “to family, friends, loyal customers and supporters.”
And the Whole Hog Cafe outlet at TAC Air LIT (formerly Central Flying Service) at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, 2301 Crisp Drive, Little Rock, which replaced the Flight Deck in February, has also closed. The phone number, (501) 975-9315, has been disconnected.
The Food Truck Stop @ Station 801, the combination food truck-food court in the former gas/service station at 801 S. Chester St., where Eighth and Chester streets meet Interstate 630, and still on target to open Tuesday, will be the new location for Brown Sugar Bakeshop, which recently closed its brickand-mortar doors on East Third Street, and recently posted on its Facebook page, “Brown Sugar Bakeshop … will reopen as Brown Sugar Bakeshop-Express, a quickstop, gourmet sweets parlor … inside Station 801. … We will also be adding a Mobile Desserterie, Brown Sugar Bakeshop-OTR (On Tha Road), joining the central Arkansas food truck scene in February or March.” A new phone number is in the works. Opening-week food trucks include Hot Rod Wieners, Rick’s Beignets, Stevie’s Fish and Chicken, Jackie’s Mobile Cafe, Red River BBQ and Fish, Southern Salt and Loblolly Creamery. Call (501) 247-6132, email Lrstation801@gmail. com or visit lrfoodtruckstop.com.
Grady’s Pizza & Subs is staying put at 6801 W. 12th St., Little Rock, but they are also opening a second Little Rock location, which, we’ve been told, will be in the recently vacated Ponchitos Mexican Grill in the Kmart parking lot, 10901 N. Rodney Parham Road. Management did not return our phone call by deadline. The phone number at the original restaurant is (501) 663-1918.
@ the Corner, 201 E. Markham St., at the corner of Markham and Scott streets, Little Rock, has a new sous chef, Chris Dusick, formerly of Green Leaf Grill and 42. He has been working with co-owner/chef Kamiya Merrick to bring the restaurant’s theme, which she describes as “a modern twist on traditional cuisine,” up to a higher level. The results have mostly been showing up in the daily specials, which in the last couple of weeks have included Southwestern Chicken Lettuce Wraps and Shrimp Pad Thai with Shirataki noodles paired with coconut Thai soup. But also, “he’s very passionate about baking, and created a lot of great cakes and pastries,” Merrick says, so there has been a big bump in the dessert lineup and the number and quality of the morning pastries. The restaurant is also in the process of hiring servers, a host/hostess and a bartender. And Merrick says they’re planning to offer a reservations-only pre-Valentine’s Day dinner Feb. 13. Hours are 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. The phone number is (501) 400-8458.
Local Union has replaced Salut Bistro in the revolving-door restaurant space on the ground floor of the Prospect Building, 1501 N. University Ave., Little Rock. Billing itself as “Little Rock’s Newest 5 a.m. Bar & Grill,” hours are 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 p.m.-5 a.m. Wednesday-Saturday (bar open 10 p.m.-5 a.m., kitchen open 10 p.m.-4:30 a.m.; members and 21 and older only). The name reflects plans for a menu serving all-natural products from local sources, including Crystal Lake Farms, Falling Sky Farms, Creekstone Farms, Arkansas Natural Produce, Kent Walker Artisan Cheese and Arkansas Fresh Bakery. Many of the beers are also from local brewers, including Diamond Bear, Stone’s Throw and Lost 40. The phone number is (501) 660-4200.
We now have a phone number — (501) 256-4747 — for Flavours, serving lunch sandwiches and salads in the former Sassy Cake Lady storefront, 13120 Crystal Hill Road, North Little Rock. And just after we went to press last week, we learned that going in right next door is something called China Taste. A banner flying above the door says it’s “coming soon.” We don’t have any other details, nor do we yet know if there’s any connection to the China Taste at 9218 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock, but we’ll keep you posted.
Amber and Glenn Hudson, who held the franchise for central Arkansas’ two J. Gumbo’s restaurants — 12911 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, and 2050 John Hardin Drive, Jacksonville — have sold out to Brian and Kimberly Speck, according to business broker Confidential Business Intermediaries, which set up the deal in October and announced it this week.
A sharp-eyed colleague inquired about the construction of a free-standing building in or near the Outlets of Little Rock outlet mall. Our supposition is that he was talking about the pending Dave & Buster’s, for which plumbing and construction permits were issued in September for a location at 11900 Bass Pro Parkway, where Interstates 30 and 430 meet. It will be Arkansas’ first outlet for the Dallas-based chain, started by two Arkansans — Buster Corley and the late Dave Corriveau, who ran two establishments side by side at Union Station in Little Rock in the late 1970s, Buster’s and Slick Willy’s World of Entertainment, respectively. Making it possible: a bill passed by the Legislature in March that changed the monetary limit on gaming arcade prizes from $12.50 to $500. A call to the corporate office was not returned by deadline, and the website, daveandbusters.com/locations, doesn’t yet show it, even as coming soon.
One of our sharp-eyed Spa City correspondents, noting our report on the closure of the Wendy’s at 7312 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, reports that the burger-chain outlet at 249 Grand Ave., Hot Springs, has also closed. A sign in the window reads “Closed-Visit our other locations.”
And Chef Shuttle now delivers for Chick-fil-A restaurants in downtown Little Rock and additional outlets in North Little Rock, Sherwood, Jacksonville, Conway and Hot Springs, through chefshuttle.com. (They’ve already been delivering for the Chick-fil-A on West Markham Street in Little Rock, McCain Mall in North Little Rock, East Oak Street and Prince Street in Conway and Central Avenue in Hot Springs.) There’s a minimum food order of $15 and a $4.95 delivery fee.