Eat Arkansas: March 2008 Archives

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008 - 12:23:31

Imagine a restaurant closing

Saturday is the last day of business for Imagine a Restaurant. Chef/owner Adam Rosenblum tells us, “a lot of aspects played into” his decision to close and that it’s hard to identify “which one was the last straw.” Rosenblum says that he and his chef de cuisine, John Baker, are forming G3, a catering company that stands for Gourmand Guru Group. Rosenblum says that, in addition to catering, he and Baker plan to offer cooking classes in homes and, possibly, the River Market. The company’s website is www.g3food.com and the phone number is 353-8378.

I'm ashamed to say that I never ate there, but there are a lot of folks 'round our office who swore by it.

Posted by Lindsey Millar at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments [22]

Friday, March 21, 2008 - 14:37:32

Challah Back Girl

Well, it's been quite a while since I last posted. Things like, oh, taking part of the bar exam, getting a bad stomach flu, and just general business have kept me away. I didn't even look at my own blog for over a month. I felt a little bad, neglecting it like an unloved house plant.

But now I'm back, baby, and I've got plenty of things to talk about, including a visit to Ashley's, a birthday dinner party, and a home-cooked high-class Valentine's dinner (yes, V-Day).

I have quite a lot of things backed up and plenty of pictures and recipes (get ready for Guiness ice cream!), but I thought a good welcome back recipe would be this phenomenal yet simple challah bread. This has been one of my favorite breads for a long time, and I love tearing apart its pieces. I also recently discovered that sliced challah, with all its buttery goodness, makes a great grilled cheese sandwich.

Enjoy! :)

Posted by Jenny at 02:37 PM | Permalink | Comments [3]

Thursday, March 20, 2008 - 12:09:45

Update: Nick's Bar-B-Q & Catfish

NICK’S BAR-B-Q & CATFISH Years ago, before the Interstate, before McDonald’s and KFC, there were locally owned restaurants on Arkansas highways that became semi-famous to travelers. The planning of road trips always included a stop at such a one. For students heading back to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville after a weekend at home, the chosen place was the Old South on U.S. Highway 64 in Russellville. Nick’s is on the interstate but it still reminds us of those old places. Part of it, we suppose, is the wall covered with pictures of celebrities who’ve dined there – mostly country-music stars in Nick’s case. Part of it is the menu, which lists four kinds of homemade fried pies as well as homemade pecan pie. The two specialties, of course, will nearly always attract a crowd in this part of the country, especially if you put a few signs on the highway, as Nick’s does. You can order the barbecue and the catfish separately, but we saw a lot of people getting combination dinners, and they seemed happy. Our beef sandwich had too much sauce, but we knew as soon as we’d ordered it that we should have gotten one of the dinners instead. Next time, we will. I-40 Exit 183 at Carlisle 870-552-3887 CC $-$$ No alcohol LD daily.

Posted by Lindsey Millar at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments [1]

Local James Beard semi-finalists

Two Little Rock chefs are semi-finalists for a James Beard award, the highest culinary honor in the industry. James Hale, the chef and owner of Acadia Restaurant, and Lee Richardson, the executive chef at Ashley's in the Capital, are both semi-finalists in the “Best Chef: South (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi)” category. Ashley's is also a nominee for Best New Restaurant. The James Beard Foundation receives some 10,000 nominations and then makes the first cut to 20 semi-finalists in 19 categories. On March 24, the foundation will announce the five finalists for each category.

Posted by Lindsey Millar at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments [2]

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - 16:57:05

Worst foods in the world

Here's a funny post from a New York Times blog, hitting some highlights on a new book about the worst foods in the world -- meaning the least healthy. A lot of the info is about food that seems healthy, but isn't much, like a bran muffin at Starbucks.

I was interested in the finding that a Cinnabon gooey cinnamon roll was the worst airport snack, at 813 calories. Heck, that's not so bad. Three of those a day and I could still lose weight. As long as I didn't eat anything else.

Posted by Max Brantley at 04:57 PM | Permalink | Comments [1]

Seafood platter

Kat Robinson at Tie Dye Travels has another road food stop for you -- Skip's near Picayune, Miss. What else at a seafood restaurant but a seafood platter?

Posted by Max Brantley at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments [11]

Thursday, March 13, 2008 - 11:58:50

Update: The Crooked Hook

THE CROOKED HOOK is all about catfish, shrimp, oysters, and crawfish tails. And to help out the non-aquatic ones in the party, there's some chicken fillets, a pair of steaks and a few hamburgers and sandwiches. While our drink order was taken, we were served a small bowl of onion slices and another small bowl of the most addictive tomato relish we've ever had. The spicy relish is made up of large chunks of green tomatoes pickled in vinegar and other spices. Barely embarrassed, we asked for refills several times, asked for some with our take home leftovers and even bought a jar of the relish sold at the register. We relish the tomato relish! We also enjoyed our medium catch (seven piece) fried catfish dinner with hush puppies, slaw and pinto beans. The fried catfish was hot right out of the frier and meaty with a light batter coating. Usually we find hush puppies as an afterthought at other places, but here they were an excellent crunch, hot and made with a light sweet batter. But with all this goodness, the pinto beans were a disappointment. They tasted like they were poured straight from the can with very little flavor. Maybe the relish would've helped? Companion ordered a catfish and shrimp combo and was satisfied. And our little miss gave a thumbs up to her chicken filet basket. But she didn't like the tomato relish. 1802 So. Hwy. 161 982-9276, no alcohol, CC, LD Tues.-Sun., $-$$.

Posted by Lindsey Millar at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments [0]