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Posted at 03:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Sunday night’s Farm to Table dinner in Ashley’s was a success.
Our spring dinner to benefit Certified Arkansas Farmers’ Market featured dishes from Kelly English of Restaurant Iris in Memphis, Donnie Ferneau of Ferneau, Greg Lloyd of Ciao Baci and our own Chef Lee Richardson.
For the dessert coarse I did “The Egg”. We received a few flats of beautiful fresh eggs from Moss Mountain Farm and straight away we started to get them ready.
For some time now I've been working on a line of "southern inspired" French macarons. I debuted a few new ones for the mignardises, (clockwise) Pecan Pie, Banana Pudding, Red Velvet, & Moonpie.
Our guest farmers were also in attendance, Jody Hardin, Sue & Rusty Nuffer and P. Allen Smith. For this dinner, the fruits of their labor came to fruition and it was a pleasure to share it with them. We are working more and more with our farmers, having input into what is being grown is changing our kitchen and is very exciting.
Thanks to Matt & Micah, the kitchen had a late night dinner together. Matt had the Hello Kitty waffle iron purring and cranked out some awesome Chicken & Waffles, Meatloaf Sliders, and Micah's infamous Sloppy Dog Balls, (a sloppy joe meets a corn dog). Our chefs' talents know no limits!
Tandra Watkins
Pastry Chef
Posted at 06:33 AM in Food and Drink | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

My goodness, can you beleive that its taken this long for us to put on our first post-renovation Winemaker Dinner?
Well, good news: we've pulled out all the stops by inviting Thomas Houseman of Willamette Valley's stellar Anne Amie Vineyards to showcase his award winning & highly acclaimed wines on Thursday, June 18th! You can rest assured that if we've waited this long, then we're starting with a bang. The evening will start with a 'Meet the Winemaker' reception followed by a glorious 6 course dinner designed to highlight the beauty of these special wines from Oregon. Thomas, a fabulous host & speaker, will guide us through a fantastic sensory journey of the winemaking process while also teaching us about the scenic Pacific Northwest winescape!
Yep-- delictable food, fantastic wines and the Winemaker himself--all for $95 peperson plus tax & gratuity! Be sure to call our charming reservationist, Mary Booth, at 501-370-7068 to book your table now as space is limited.
See you Thursday, June 18th at Ashley's for the Anne Amie Winemaker's Dinner featuring Thomas Houseman!
Posted at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Sometimes it’s just good to get out and see what's going on in other kitchens. Last week my bread baker, Matt Lowman and I headed to
With the hours and days of repetitive action required by professional baking, these trails have a way of creating a spark of excitement. Such was the case for us, besides making bread, we also dabbled with bagels, and I love a NY bagel! We’ve also been throwing around the idea of serving pretzels with our draft beer over at the Capital Bar & Grill, so we gave that a go as well.
The results were really good. We'll have to do a little tweaking because our ovens are different, but I think we're on our way to a bagel with a shmear. Thanks Donald!
Tandra Watkins
Pastry Chef
Posted at 09:14 PM in Food and Drink | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)