Former Arkansas Heart Hospital chef Coby Smith has landed a new job in another health care facility. Smith has signed on to become the head chef at The Hope Bistro, a new restaurant at the CARTI Cancer Center on John Barrow Road. The Hope Bistro replaces Bray Gourmet at CARTI and will produce a menu with a focus on foods that have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer. The Hope Bistro is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Cobi Smith gained a large following with his introduction of authentic ramen to the cafeteria at the Arkansas Heart Hospital. Prior to that, he worked at several restaurants and businesses that are no longer around, including Bosco’s, Simply the Best and Aydelotte’s.
Chicken wing lovers, this is your weekend. The Poultry Federation is hosting the third annual Wingstock Saturday at Verizon Arena. Your admission gets you all-you-can-eat chicken wings from 30 restaurants in Central Arkansas, including Dugan’s, Ceci’s Chicken and Waffles, Delta Biscuit Company, Sauced, Graffiti’s and many more. Tickets are $20 for general admission; for $40, you get a “WIP” ticket that gets you in 15 minutes early and access to a private lounge and bar area. You can buy tickets online or at the Verizon Arena box office. The event is Saturday from noon until 3 p.m.
An Arkansas chef will be competing this weekend in the Great American Seafood Cook-off in New Orleans. Casey Copeland, executive chef at The Avenue in Hot Springs, is one of 17 chefs from around the country who will compete in the event. The cook-off features fresh seafood from the gulf that chefs will use to create dishes that will go before a panel of six national judges. Last year’s event was won by Ryan Trahan, executive chef of Blue Dog Café in Lafayette, La.
Just in case you were craving some Thai food this week, you’ll have to go somewhere besides kBird. The Hillcrest staple is closed for the rest of this week while owner Richard Glasgow takes a much-needed summer break. The restaurant will open again on Monday.
Since you can no longer put glass in your recycle bin in Little Rock, several area food and drink businesses are stepping up. There are now dozens of glass drop-off centers around the city, and you can find many of them courtesy of this Google map. Businesses like O’Looney’s Wine & Liquor, The Pantry Crest, The Hillcrest Fountain, Colonial Wine and Spirits and many others have public bins set out. Just make sure your glass is clean and drop it off for no charge. It’s a wonderful service offered by Little Rock businesses that helps put at least a dent in our overall waste output.
The Hillcrest neighborhood is changing in a big way this fall. Check out our report on the upcoming Hill Station restaurant and this weekend’s closing of District Fare.
And just in case you had forgotten, One Eleven at the Capital is still making fantastic food. Read our review of the restaurant’s brilliant desserts, written by Carmen Portillo of Cocoa Belle Chocolates.
RIP Damgoode Pies
November 20, 2023
