Going Local

More restaurants choose the food next door

BHK Kafe’s Farmers’ Market Salad, made with greens assembled fresh from the next door Fayetteville Farmers’ Market, illustrates a major Northwest Arkansas food trend for 2012 — the more local, the better.

BHK Kafe’s Farmers’ Market Salad, made with greens assembled fresh from the next door Fayetteville Farmers’ Market, illustrates a major Northwest Arkansas food trend for 2012 — the more local, the better.

Friday, December 28, 2012

The localvore movement is not a new one. The name may have been coined in 2005 in the San Francisco area, but its roots grow much deeper. The idea, of course, centers around eating and preparing foods that come from local farmers with the idea of making a more sustainable food system.

It’s also true that several Northwest Arkansas restaurants have already adopted its major tenets, which suggest that locally sourced foods are not only fresher but also better for the environment.

But with the a recession lingering throughout much of the year, the restaurant scene turned inward for help. Many of the restaurants opening this year made it a point to use farmers’ markets and other local sources for their products.

To wit: Aquafire restaurant on Dickson Street in Fayetteville (a replacement for the venerable 1936 Club) raids the farmers’ market in that town first, then looks as close as possible for other tastes, using seafood only from American waters and only U.S.-made wines. Likewise, Acoustic Mud, a new coffee shop in Bella Vista, serves free-range chicken from a vendor near Centerton, pastries from a nearby bakery and coffee from AnonymousCoffee Roasters in Springdale.

Perhaps nowhere is the example more visible than at BHK Kafe, which opened on the Fayetteville square earlier this summer. The move was necessitated by chef David Lewis’ need for more space, and his location of choice situated him next door to the Fayetteville Farmers’ Market.

The ever-changing menu focuses on what’s available at the market.

Another locally lauded chef, Miles James, expanded his offerings this calendar year with the opening of 28 Springs in downtown Siloam Springs. The restaurant, he told What’s Up! Editor Becca Martin-Brown, features “local ingredients mixed with classic local cooking methods.” On the menu there are dishes such as paninis, burgers and polenta.

Even restaurants that might have a less specifically local menu got in on the action this year. Flaps Down Grill at the Springdale Municipal Airport, for instance, opened this year with a diverse menu but only serves Arkansas craft beers on tap.

Whats Up, Pages 17 on 12/28/2012