What’s cooking
Boscos, the microbrew pub and restaurant in the River Market district, will hold a special Brewmaster’s Dinner on Tuesday, Jan. 18. The dinner, beginning at 6:45 p.m., will feature items that are often prepared with beer and always served with a complementary style of beer. The five-course dinner will consist of an appetizer, salad, entree and desert.
Boscos’ “ESB,” which stands for Extra Special Bitter, will serve as an aperitif. Boscos’ Isle of Skye Scottish Ale will be served at dessert with a chocolate creme brulee. Boscos’ brewmaster John Template will discuss cooking with beer and matching the flavors of particular styles of beer with food. A preview of the menu can be found on the Internet at www.boscosbeer.com/BrewmasterMenu.htm
Reservations are required and the cost is $50. Call 907-1881.
Ferneau’s, the restaurant and lounge taking the space previously occupied by Andre’s and, before that, Chops in the Ice House Revival, opened last week. The owner-chef is Donnie Ferneau, who previously was executive chef at the nearby Ciao Baci. Joining Ferneau’s as chief bartender is Lee Edwards, who recently left Ciao Baci for a brief stint at the recently opened Nu Cuisine Lounge near the River Market.
Lulav, which will feature kosher California cuisine, is scheduled to open at Sixth and Louisiana streets on Jan. 29. The chef is James Botwright.
Capsule reviews
ARKANSAS BURGER CO. Good hearty burgers served with a choice of cheeses, plus seasoned fries that are practically addictive — milk shakes and malts, too — this is one of Little Rock’s foremost hamburger palaces. If we have a quibble, it’s that the burgers normally come with chips. Substituting fries may bring the tab to a little more than you wanted to spend for a lunch of this sort, even though the burgers are big and the fries abundant. A lunch of cheddar cheeseburger, fries and Coke was $8.50. You can get a salad here if you’re looking for something healthier, and a foot-long chili dog if you’re not. When we first reviewed this place when it opened a few years back, we fussed about the sporadic service; it’s much improved. 7410 Cantrell Road 663-0600 LD Tues.-Sat. $-$$ CC Beer and wine.
LITTLE CHEF This unassuming Quonset hut is home to probably the most popular restaurant in town, packed from well before sunup until well after sundown, and especially during duck season when the out-of-towners converge on the Grand Prairie. Breakfast, lunch and dinner each have a loyal following, with plenty of overlap. Home cooking is the theme across all meals, and a recent dinner included some of the very best Southern fried chicken we’ve ever eaten — $8.95 for two crunchy breasts and a wing, served with two buttery homemade biscuits with thick cream gravy, creamy slaw and a huge mound of country fried potatoes, dosed with a substantial amount of onion. The catfish was also a big winner, available in 1-to-5 piece dinners ($5.95 to $11.95). The homemade hummingbird cake — like a carrot cake with more ingredients, including plenty of nuts and a thick cream cheese icing — is about six inches tall and marvelously moist. The only disappointments were some of the side items that are not homemade, including small cylindrical hushpuppies that are fairly bland, too-uniform onion rings and typical battered okra. 1103 E. Michigan (intersection of Park Avenue and U.S. Highway 79), Stuttgart, 870-673-7372 BL 7 days, D Mon-Sat. $-$$ CC Beer and wine.

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