Italian food, wines focus of festivities; equipment hangups holdup for Homer’s

Three times of Italian foods, lifestyle, wine, as perfectly as arts and crafts, demonstrations, a kids’ zone and musical functions, are the target of the third Arkansas Italian Food items and Wine Pageant, 4-8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Penick Boys & Women Club, 1201 Leisure Position, Little Rock. Area places to eat and vendors, which include The Rock Brick Oven Pizza, Raduno Brick Oven & Barroom, Vino’s, Grafitti’s, Boulevard Bread, Le Pops and Repicci’s Italian Ice, are giving meals.

Waiters and bartenders hustling with trays stacked with glasses and bottles in the hopes of taking home the best prize of $1,000 hard cash in the Sunday afternoon waiter’s race. Noon Friday is the deadline to indicator up, as perfectly for bocce ($2,000 to start with prize) and sauce cooking ($500 initial prize) competitions, via aritalianfestival.com/information/pursuits. There will also be a grape stomping contest. Presenting sponsor is Relyance Financial institution. Pageant proceeds reward the Boys and Ladies Club of Central Arkansas.

The competition also involves special wine tastings, 5-7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, showcasing far more than 50 wines from Italian- and Italian-American-owned producers. Tickets, $35, incorporate competition entry, which would if not price $10 for every day, $15 for a weekend go, free for young children 10 and younger. A comprehensive agenda is accessible at aritalianfestival.com/schedule-of-activities.

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Homer’s West co-operator David Connell says that though development delays keep on to be a trouble, finding his kitchen area tools constructed, delivered and place into position is the primary cause for the maintain-up in opening what is to grow to be Homer’s Kitchen Table. Connell et al. are transferring from the Galleria Browsing Centre, 9700 N. Rodney Parham, Minor Rock, to portion of the defunct Franke’s Cafeteria in the Industry Position Procuring Center, 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road, and a hugely disappointed Connell proceeds to move his opening target — now, he suggests, probably conclude of June or early July. “It could be August,” he provides.

An case in point: components for his walk-in cooler will not be obtainable until finally at minimum June 1. He has plumbers awaiting the fabrication of pieces for the grease lure and he cannot get the metal items he wants for the vent-a-hood. Meanwhile, “I’ve received furniture becoming created,” he provides.

He does finally have a new indication going up this week. He’s hoping the development routine will make it possible for him to go his present kitchen devices up the road by the finish of May well. At the very least, he says, staffing, which had caused at minimum a person delay before in the system, is no longer a concern.

To recap: Homer’s is using over the portion of the building at the finish cap of half a buying heart that faces Rodney Parham Road. (The part experiencing Market Road will be a health and fitness center, to be known as Breakout Bar.) Operating out of a larger kitchen will allow an “evolution” of the menu, whilst trying to keep the staples that make Homer’s Homer’s, and to add a lot more homemade desserts and pies and more elaborate dinner specials. It will also have a takeout window. We’re anticipating Connell will preserve the restaurant’s existing cellular phone quantity: (501) 224-6637. The website is homersrestaurant.com the Fb site is fb.com/HomersWest.

In the meantime, machines and contractor difficulties are also the trigger of delays in opening the second location of Three Fold Noodles & Dumpling Co., what the Three Fold folks simply call “Three Fold West”, in the previous Panera Bread house in the Pleasurable Ridge Purchasing Heart, 11525 Cantrell Road, Tiny Rock. Three Fold manager Rebecca Yan claims the goal has now moved to some time in June. The original will stay up and jogging at 611 Major St. in downtown Little Rock.

    The storefront at 220 W. Sixth St. that homes Fat Jaws Soul Foodstuff and Southern Eats was alive at the stop of past 7 days, with a “now open” banner and an illuminated open up indicator in the window on Monday early morning, the banner was absent and the “open” indication was dim, but the restaurant was envisioned to reopen Wednesday. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Eric E. Harrison)
  We imagined, dependent on the “now open” banner on a entrance awning and the illuminated “open” indicator in the window at the stop of final 7 days, that Fat Jaws Soul Foodstuff and Southern Eats had in fact opened at 220 W. Sixth St., Minimal Rock, featuring what owner-chef William Watkins has described as “soul food for the sophisticated palate.” A post on the Fb web page (fb.com/FatJawsSoulFood) indicated it was open up and serving as recently as Saturday, but by Monday morning the banner was absent, the sign was dim and the doorways were locked. A new Tuesday morning Facebook article suggests it was to reopen Wednesday, serving lunch hereafter from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday-Friday. “[A] cell phone line is set up [but] there are some complex glitches we are doing work to get mounted,” the publish explains. A simply call to Watkins’ cellphone generated a message that the mailbox is complete and is not accepting messages. The storefront, you will remember, most lately housed an outlet of Ohia Poke, following in the wake of several places to eat and nightclubs, at first the dwelling of Lulav (a variation of the Lulav brand still abides on the building’s jap wall the Ohia Poke signal also still abides). Watkins, you may well remember, suggests he labored as a caterer in Dallas for 18 yrs right before that, he was a police officer. A Google search for the cafe turned up just one of the identical name, now closed, in the Dallas suburb of Cedar Hill.

Mockingbird Bar & Tacos, 1220 Most important St., Minor Rock, which hasn’t served lunch due to the fact the start out of the pandemic, is reopening for lunch Tuesday-Saturday — extending its hrs from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. The kitchen area closes an hour prior to the front doorway. (501) 313-5413.

1 of our eagle-eyed correspondents reviews that the Taco Bueno at 102 Savannah Travel, Maumelle, has closed. Initially, we’re explained to, shoppers ended up told they have been transforming now, states our tipster, the indicators have been taken off the building. A contact to the detailed cellular phone selection, (501) 851-4464, creates only a rapid busy signal, in some cases, though not generally, an indication it has been disconnected.

The state Health Section has permitted a allow, as of April 5, for a Hibachi Grill at Bowman Pointe, an apartment progress at 3321 S. Bowman Highway, Tiny Rock. Much more a short while ago, Small business reporter Noel Oman recognized a constructing permit application for $200,000 well worth of perform for a “restaurant end-out in existing structure” in Creating J. The complex’s web page, bowmanpointe.com/coming-in-2022, claims “a full new set of facilities as very well as a restaurant, stores and places of work.”

Central Arkansas McDonald’s dining establishments — the ones in the 501 location code — are marking 501 Day by supplying absent Crispy Hen Sandwiches on Sunday, no obtain needed. But only — take note — via the McDonald’s application. (Little print: “Not legitimate with any other offer, discounted, coupon or combo food or acquire of an Arch Card. Restrict a person provide per person for every pay a visit to. Tax may perhaps apply.”)

You will recall we claimed a couple months ago on the opening of a Whataburger in Magnolia, and an April Fool’s prank asserting fictitious options to open additional dining places in Minimal Rock, Fort Smith, Pine Bluff and Jonesboro. This, nonetheless, is no prank: The El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce declared April 21 by means of its Facebook web page (facebook.com/ElDoradoChamberofCommerce) that a Whataburger is in fact on the docket for North West Avenue in El Dorado. The put up includes a connection to a selecting site. No facts, having said that, on a target opening date.

Omaha, Neb.-dependent generate-via espresso franchise Scooter’s Coffee has extended a four-unit franchise settlement that will deliver spots to Conway, Benton and Bryant. The franchisees are Heather and Shawn LaMontia, originally from Omaha but with loved ones in Arkansas and options to go listed here in late Might or early June, in accordance to a news launch. No word on a timeline or distinct locations. Scooter’s, which serves artisan espresso beverages, fruit smoothies, natural and organic hot and iced teas and baked-from-scratch pastries, has four current stores in north and Northwest Arkansas — just one just about every in Harrison and Rogers and two in Bentonville.

Mexico Chiquito, which expenses alone as “Arkansas’ initial Mexican restaurant and the inventor of cheese dip,” is now promoting its preferred fruit punch in 16.9-ounce bottles, 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. day by day, by means of the double travel-thru home windows at its cafe at 11406 W. Markham St., Minimal Rock. “Our fruit punch is one of the signature things that has stored our trustworthy supporters coming again given that Mexico Chiquito was founded in 1935,” suggests Lisa Glidewell, a person of the 5 sisters carrying on the legacy of their father, Jerry Haynie, who bought the cafe in 1979, in a information launch. “We are happy to be ready to now offer it for persons to take home and love.” In contrast to the by-the-glass punch at the restaurant, which requires refrigeration, you really do not have to maintain the bottles in your fridge — they have a four-month shelf life. Expense for a 4-pack is $8.99 for an 8-pack, $17.99.

And we documented final week on Rock Town Distillery’s five winners at the San Francisco’s Entire world Spirit Levels of competition March 30-April 1, but we missed a different Arkansas medal winner: the Sweet Mix Vodka from Helena-West Helena’s Delta Dirt Distillery, which won a Double Gold award. The vodka is built, not from potatoes or grain, but from “the sweet potatoes grown and distilled by the Williams loved ones of Helena,” in accordance to a distillery spokeswoman. (The distiller also creates a Tall Cotton Gin and a Delta Blues Bourbon.) See Sunday’s Superior Profile part for a profile of distillery proprietor Harvey Williams.

Has a restaurant opened — or shut — around you in the very last 7 days or so? Does your favourite eatery have a new menu? Is there a new chef in cost? Fall us a line. Deliver electronic mail to: [email protected]