PULL SOME PORK, CONT.
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➥ Local food writer and frequent Arkansas Times contributor Kat Robinson is the featured guest April 17 for COLONIAL WINES & SPIRITS’ Celebrity Cocktail Month at its tasting bar. The event is from 5-7 p.m. and the featured cocktail is the hazelnut Kat-tini. Robinson will also sign copies of her latest book, “Classic Eateries of the Ozarks and Arkansas River Valley”. If you can’t make it this week, be sure to check out the rest of the month’s Thursday night events, when Colonial hosts local celebs from the arts, media, politics, food and gardening at the tasting bar. Along with the opportunity to meet with these Little Rock tastemakers and trendsetters, you’ll get to sample a signature cocktail created in their honor. The celebrity guests will also talk about current projects or events they are planning promoting. ➥ The MACARTHUR MUSEUM OF ARKANSAS MILITARY HISTORY will host a program to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Jenkins’ Ferry at 7 p.m. April 24. Roy L. Wilson, a seventhgeneration resident of Grant County and an award-winning teacher, will present the story of the Civil War battle, which was part of the Camden Expedition, at the museum, located at 503 East 9th St. This free event is open to the public, and is a sanctioned program of the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. ➥ The SOUTH MAIN VINTAGE MARKET is now open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the following dates: May 10, June 14, July 12, Aug. 9, Sept. 13 and Oct. 11 at Bernice Garden. ➥ Don’t forget that the fourth annual Indie Arts and Music Festival presented by ETSY LITTLE ROCK is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 26 in Hillcrest. Enjoy live local music, shopping Etsy vendor booths and delicious food truck nibbles along Kavanaugh Boulevard from Walnut to Palm streets. ➥ CYNTHIA EAST FABRICS will host a hands-on workshop on how to use Amy Howard Paints at 9 a.m. April 27. Cost is $145 per person and spaces are limited. Call 501-6630460 or email paige@cynthiaeastfabrics.com to register. 38
APRIL 17, 2014
ARKANSAS TIMES
restaurant. 1315 Breckenridge Drive. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-246-5422. D daily.
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The Southern Gourmasian Does food truck king Justin Patterson have a plan for the hog roast? “Just a plan to win it,” he said with a laugh. “I kind of started the food truck on a whim, just cooking food that I like and people around us were impressed with. We definitely don’t overthink things.” Even if he wanted to plan, Patterson couldn’t. The Southern Gourmasian has become so popular that, with all the catering jobs and special events in addition to regular service, he can’t catch up. As for when he’ll move from truck into a brick and mortar space, all Patterson would say is, “It’s encompassing my entire life right now. I need it to happen.” Patterson’s partner in Southern Gourmasian, Pat Beaird, will help him out in the hog roast along, likely, with a few other friends. LM.
Taco Mama “I’m very competitive,” said Diana Bratton, who has owned and operated the Hot Springs restaurant Taco Mama with her husband, Shane, since 2009. “I might fall flat on my face, but I’m in this to win it.” Born in South Texas, Diana was raised on Mexican food, and Taco Mama, which the Brattons opened in a renovated space once occupied by a 1920s hardware store, is her masterpiece, repeatedly voted Best Mexican Restaurant (outside of Little Rock) in the Times’ Reader’s Choice poll. Diana said she’s never roasted a hog before, but her husband has, and anyway, she knows the basics: “You dig a hole, drink lots of beer, blah blah blah.” She’s planning a rub involving freshly ground dried chilis, a little oregano, some thyme, maybe cinnamon. “I’m just going to play with it,” she says. Citrus and banana leaves will likely play a part, and for sides they’ll have a chili-pecan slaw with mangos and a broccoli salad with apples, dates, celery and cilantro. Still, the hog is the focus, and she’s anxious to get to it. “I
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LATINO
BRIAN CHILSON
hearsay
DINING CAPSULES, CONT.
THE SOUTHERN GOURMASIAN: Justin Patterson.
do like to butcher,” she says. “I’m looking forward to that.” WS.
Whole Hog If there’s a team to beat in this year’s hog roast, it has to be Team Whole Hog, fielded by Whole Hog North Little Rock owner Rich Cosgrove and stocked with veterans from both the Little Rock and North Little Rock incarnations of the barbecue restaurant that has quickly become a regional favorite. As if that wasn’t intimidating enough, Cosgrove is calling in a local legend to lead his team: Mike “Sarge” Davis, the Whole Hog co-founder who cooked up many of the restaurant’s recipes. “He’s the best meat man I know,” Cosgrove said. “He has a couple of legitimate Memphis in May World Championships with Whole Hog to his name, as well as hundreds of significant barbecue awards.” Let’s just say that if this were a “Karate Kid” movie, Team Whole Hog would clearly be Cobra Kai Dojo. But Cosgrove said his 10-person squad isn’t clearing a space in their trophy case just yet. “We’ve got some competition in this thing,” he said. “We’re not intimidated, but we’re certainly far from cocky. We’re going into this thing humble. We just really want to have a good time and compete and hopefully our pig turns out extremely well.” DK
CASA MANANA Great guacamole and garlic beans, superlative chips and salsa (red and green) and a broad selection of fresh seafood, plus a deck out back. 6820 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-280-9888. LD daily 18321 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-8688822. LD daily 400 President Clinton Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. BL Mon.-Sat. CASA MEXICANA Familiar Tex-Mex style items all shine, in ample portions, and the steakcentered dishes are uniformly excellent. 6929 JFK Blvd. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-835-7876. LD daily. ELIELLA You’ll find perhaps the widest variety of street style tacos in Central Arkansas here — everything from cabeza (steamed beef head) to lengua (beef tongue) to suadero (thin-sliced beef brisket). The Torta Cubano is a belly-buster. It’s a sandwich made with chorizo, pastor, grilled hot dogs and a fried egg. The menu is in Spanish, but the waitstaff is accomodating to gringos. 7700 Baseline Road. Beer, All CC. $. 501-539-5355. L Mon.-Sat. THE FOLD BOTANAS BAR Gourmet tacos and botanas, or small plates. Try the cholula pescada taco. 3501 Old Cantrell Road. Full bar, CC. $$-$$$. 501-916-9706. LD daily. LA HACIENDA Creative, fresh-tasting entrees and traditional favorites, all painstakingly prepared in a festive atmosphere. Great taco salad, nachos. 3024 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-661-0600. LD daily. 200 Highway 65 N. Conway. All CC. $$. 501-327-6077. LD daily.
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Where Modern Meets Fresh Mexican Cuisine 2629 Lakewood Village Pl · North Little Rock Next to Shoe Carnival
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