The Department of Arkansas Heritage has named the finalists in four of the five categories for the 2019 Arkansas Food Hall of Fame, recognizing Arkansas restaurants, proprietors and food-themed events.
• Arkansas Food Hall of Fame: AQ Chicken House, Springdale; 4-Dice Restaurant, Fordyce; Bruno's Little Italy, Little Rock; Burge's Restaurant, Little Rock and Lewisville; Craig Brothers Cafe, DeValls Bluff; Doe's Eat Place, Little Rock; Keeney's Food Market, Malvern; Kream Kastle, Blytheville; the Ohio Club, Hot Springs; Star of India, Little Rock.
• Proprietor of the Year: Capi Peck, Trio's, Little Rock; Loretta Tacker, Tacker's Shake Shack, Marion; Peter Brave, Brave New Restaurant, Little Rock; Sami Lal, Star of India, Little Rock; Scott McGehee, Yellow Rocket Concepts, Little Rock.
• Food-Themed Events: Hope Watermelon Festival; International Greek Food Festival; Our Lady of the Lake Church's Annual Spaghetti Dinner; Tontitown Grape Festival; World Championship Duck Gumbo Cookoff.
• Gone But Not Forgotten: Klappenbach Bakery, Fordyce; Mary Maestri's Italiano Grillroom, Springdale; La Scala Italian Restaurant, Little Rock; Uncle John's, Crawfordsville; The Shack Barbecue, Little Rock.
The winner in the fifth category, the People's Choice Award, is chosen solely on the basis of the number of nominations for a particular restaurant, and will be announced at the induction ceremony, Feb. 25 at the Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave., Little Rock. Tickets are $20. Call (501) 324-9346, email [email protected] or visit ArkFoodHOF.com by Feb. 8.
The public submitted 650 nominations from all 75 Arkansas counties during October. A panel of 13 food professionals and "foodies" selected the finalists.
Metro on 01/11/2019