It's 9 a.m. on a Thursday, and the breakfast crowd is keeping things busy at the Root Cafe on South Main Street in downtown Little Rock. Owner Jack Sundell takes care of a couple of last-minute details and then rushes outside before someone else can ask him a question. It's time for a road trip.
Sundell already operates one of the capital city's best restaurants--the place locals simply call the Root; earlier this month, he sold Mockingbird Bar & Tacos--but he never stops learning. He contacted me and asked if I would take him to several of the classic Arkansas Delta barbecue joints I often write about. I'm always up for that kind of trip.
We eat at the James Beard Award-winning Jones at Marianna, Cypress Corner near Lexa, Delta Q at Forrest City and Craig's in DeValls Bluff. We buy whole pies from Lena's at DeValls Bluff. Along the way, we talk extensively about the Arkansas food scene, which has never been given the credit it's due. That's beginning to change thanks to the establishment of the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame and entrepreneurs such as Sundell.
Sundell was raised in Monticello, where his father taught at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. After graduation from Hendrix College in Conway, Sundell moved to New York City.
"My father was from there, and I had a grandfather there," he says. "I got a job at TAO (an enormous Pan-Asian restaurant), went to Michigan for a time and then spent two years in the Peace Corps in Morocco. I fell in love with cafe culture. Cafes are the center of social life there, and I often thought about creating such spaces in this country."
After returning to Arkansas, Sundell worked at Heifer Ranch near Perryville. At the ranch, he became convinced that restaurant owners should use Arkansas farmers whenever possible for meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables. Sundell describes Heifer Ranch as a sort of "cultural halfway house" that allowed him to wind down from life in Morocco and get ready to do business in Arkansas.
He met and married Corri Bristow, who provided inspiration and business savvy in getting the Root off the ground.
"I loved Little Rock, and I loved the idea of having a restaurant that would utilize local producers," Sundell says. "We worked on the concept of the Root for a long time. We first did canning and food preservation workshops, and then a friend told me about this amazing lady named Anita Davis, who was revitalizing South Main. There had been a beloved dairy bar called the Sweden Creme for decades at 15th and Main. We were able to get those 900 square feet and open for business in June 2011.
"Anita was great. She helped us finish out the building, and we found kitchen equipment in the old Lions Club facility at War Memorial Stadium for sale. We even set up a program in which people could donate $10 in exchange for a free meal once we opened. Most of them never even took us up on that free meal. They were happy to donate, and the campaign allowed us to build a customer base."
Lunch came first. Breakfast was added, followed by Sunday brunch. In 2014, cable network HLN selected the Root as the winner of a competition known as "Growing America: A Journey to Success." That came with a $25,000 prize.
Sundell later applied for what was known as a Main Street Mission grant for entrepreneurs from JPMorgan Chase. The Root was awarded a $150,000 grant, which allowed a kitchen expansion, dining room expansion, offices and even dinner service.
"That changed the game for us," Sundell says. "We later learned that space was available in what had been the Juanita's party room. We partnered with another couple to open Dos Rocas and focus on Latin American street food. We later rebranded it as Mockingbird with what I like to call a farm-to-taco focus."
Sundell, who was genuinely enthused to have the opportunity to meet Delta pitmasters, likes what he's seeing in the state's food culture.
"We have far more farmers' markets than we had just a few years ago," he says. "The number has at least tripled since the Root opened. I hear people talking more about local food and things like locally brewed beers."
A major boost to the food scene came in March when the Walton Family Foundation announced that it will fund a 45,000-square-foot facility in downtown Springdale known as Market Center of the Ozarks. There will be commercial kitchens, community spaces for those wishing to learn more about local food, and space for farmers to process crops for wholesale. That will include washrooms, cold and dry storage, loading docks and office space.
"Market Center of the Ozarks is another bold step to position northwest Arkansas as a national model for locally grown food," says Tom Walton, the grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton. "This innovation and community hub will offer farmers and entrepreneurs the support they need to get healthy food on tables across the region."
The hope is that Arkansas farmers can more easily supply produce for school lunches, hospital food service and other large operations. Patterhn Ives, a St. Louis-based architectural firm, will oversee the building's design. Completion of the $31 million project is scheduled for early 2024.
Sundell told one interviewer: "Building awareness around local foods wasn't as mainstream a concept 10 years ago. It was just starting to get some recognition alongside organic as an important part of the new food culture."
Now, thanks to local food evangelists such as Sundell, who buys from almost 55 Arkansas producers, that food culture is sweeping across our state.
Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.