News
Lost Forty Brewing has announced a new partnership with the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission to start the Lost Forty Project Foundation. The foundation will work to promote conservation projects through fundraising and raising public awareness. The Lost Forty Project Foundation will kick off at the brewery’s first anniversary celebration (details below). Lost Forty Brewing is named after 40 acres of virgin timberland in Calhoun County that is home to some of the oldest trees in Arkansas.
If you missed our big story this week, Sweet Love bakery on Cantrell Road will be closing permanently next month. Owner Kelli Marks has made quite an impact on Little Rock’s food scene and will be sorely missed.
There’s a lot of beer news going on in Central Arkansas right now, and now there’s a new radio show dedicated to the subject. Tap Time debuted this past Monday on 103.7 FM The Buzz. The one-hour beer talk show is hosted by blogger Scott Parton and Bryce Nail, who works with a beer distributor. The show airs each Monday at 8 p.m., though it will soon move to 9 p.m. in 2016.
Speaking of beer news, if you aren’t following Slate Rock Brewing on Facebook, you’re missing the birth of a brewery. All this week, Slate Rock has been posting in-progress construction pictures of the new digs in Clark County. The foundation is now laid and the walls are up. Slate Rock owners Orianne and Shawn Burgess are doing most of the work themselves on this project. They hope to be ready for business sometime next year.
People in Conway have a new local restaurant option in Bleu Flame Burger Company, which opened in the past week at 1600 Dave Ward Drive. The menu features eight specialty burgers and some other American classics, like wings, fried mushrooms and cheese dip (of course). Ordinarily, I’d give you a Facebook page, store hours or a phone number here, but so far, Bleu Flame doesn’t seem to have posted any of that information.
Ever since our story on the debut of Honey Pies, it hasn’t always been easy to find them out and about. However, Sharon Woodson has confirmed to us that she will be working with new food truck El Cubano Loco both today and Tuesday. The two will pair up at 818 W. 3rd St. downtown from 10 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. on both days. Woodson will be selling her mini-gingerbread apple pies and taking orders for future deliveries.
Events
December 19th Izard Chocolate Randall Infusion at Stone’s Throw Brewing – If you haven’t attended a Randall infusion event at Stone’s Throw, this is a good one to start. A Randall is a special filter that allows ingredients to be infused into beer right before it’s poured. Izard Chocolate is some of the best chocolate you can find, so this event sounds like a winner. The infusion begins at 4 p.m.
December 21st Hoppy Anniversary Party at Lost Forty Brewing – Lost Forty is celebrating its first birthday with an all-out party, featuring a brand new doppelbock beer release, live music and a special German food menu from Scott McGehee. Get a babysitter for this final party before Christmas. The party starts at 4 p.m. and ends at 10 p.m.
January 1st North Little Rock Restaurant Month – The city has some pretty neat ideas to drive business to local restaurants, including a foodie photo contest, a fundraising drive for Arkansas Foodbank and a chance to win free tickets to the UALR Trojan basketball game at Verizon Arena.
Specials
We have a new list of monthly specials from Trio’s, Big Orange, Local Lime and ZAZA up for your eating pleasure. These specials will run for the month of December.
Chef Shuttle and the Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative are continuing their partnership through Christmas, offering a special holiday sampler for just under $100. The sampler comes with a whole smoked chicken, assorted sausages, beef bones for making stock and ham hocks for flavoring beans or greens. Chef Shuttle will deliver the sampler to your door.