A Quick Tour of One Eleven at the Capital.

There will be much written in the coming days about the opening of One Eleven at the Capital, the new restaurant within the venerable Capital Hotel in downtown Little Rock.  The establishment will open its doors to the public the evening of Friday the 8th of August, 2014... another landmark for a location with ties back to Arkansas's earliest restaurants.

Much will be said for the passing of Ashley's at the Capital, the longstanding formal dining experience that saw one rebirth after another, most notably with the reopening of the restaurant and hotel in 2007 under the guidance of Chef Lee Richardson.  For those who are wondering, after an evening with fellow food writers and photographers hosted by One Eleven at the Capital, Richardson's lingering presence has finally been excised from the eatery, and the remarkable French chef Joël Antunes can assuredly step into the pantheon of Little Rock's celebrated cheftorium of excellence.

Photographer Grav Weldon accompanied me, but his assignments have taken him elsewhere, so I offer to you at this juncture a chance to step inside the new restaurant and view the changes that first meet the eye, along with a sampling of the many dishes Chef Antunes shall offer.  Dinner service begins the 8th, with breakfast to follow on the 9th, lunch on the 13th and finally Sunday brunch on the 17th.

The first difference you'll notice upon entrance is the
new zinc bar.  Open mornings for pastry and coffee
service, in the afternoons and evenings it will offer
cocktail and alcohol service to the lobby, opening up
what's often been observed as a quiet space.  The bar
was carved from the old Ashley's entrance, a coat
closet and a portion of the kitchen's washroom.

In the interest of showing change, here's an image Grav
Weldon took of the previous Ashley's interior, complete
with dividing half-wall and mirrors.  Note the lush carpeting.

The new interior shifts the bench to a back wall,
removes the carpeting and replaces it with hardwood
and tile, removes many of the tablecloths and
adds distinctive minimal artwork for a brighter,
cleaner atmosphere.  Note the removal of the half wall.

Tilework around the massive original support pillars
echoes the reclaimed tilework in the Capital
Hotel's distinctive lobby.

The semi-private dining nooks are still present,
though the ornate chairs and upholstery have been
replaced with simple lines and a gray-brown color
palate that allows the consumables to better
draw the eye.

Beverage service can now be conducted from
an alcove in the main dining room, rather than
back behind the kitchen wall.

Some tablecloths remain, especially for night service, and
the rounds for entertaining larger parties remain.

The original lush, heavy curtains have been replaced
with simple roman blinds and screens, brightening
the north-facing dining space.

Of course, One Eleven retains the quality of its predecessor,
utilizing fine linens, crystal, china and hand-polished
silverware.

Bread service in woven baskets add a rustic touch.  These rolls, cheese
straws and lavash are baked fresh throughout the day.

We were introduced to many of Chef Antune's
new items during the dinner.  This signature
edamame bean hummus with soda cracker
combines Arkansas-grown beans with
Middle Eastern flare while retaining the
famed Capital Hotel soda cracker.

The hummus will be served as tapas during evening meals.

The Norwegian House Smoked Salmon will be one of several
small plates offered with dinner selections. 

This fine morsel was served on a small pile of chopped cucumbers with dill.

Grav's favorite dish is this Caponata, a marinated Sicilian eggplant dish with
capers.  

Simple yet rich, small yet elegant, a fine caponata.

Grav even had to pose.

This striking tiny salad isn't heirloom tomatoes, like I first thought.  It's an
organic beetroot salad with burrata cheese.  I don't like beets, but I'd eat this.

A fine Eggplant Baba Ganoush with Lavash. 

Chef Antune's simple, rich asparagus soup is full of cream and chicken broth,
and this simple shot warms the cockles.  The soup will be offered as part of
3 Cocottes, along with the beetroot salad and scallops, for $14 (though I
believe they'll be served in larger portions!).

Chef Antunes understands scallops.  The uncomplicated seared scallop here
is presented with sundried tomatoes and gnocchi, and it was marvelous.

Simplicity and richness abounds on the new menu, which combines the flavors
of Provençal France with American Southern notes, washed with Asian
influences.  The singular crabcake here is diminutive but free of fillers,
robust and delightful with the powerful punch of the coleslaw bed below. 

Still, as delightful as everything else I've sampled has been, my favorite by
far has been the perfectly executed Oysters Rockefeller -- fresh and delicate
oyster upon a bed of celery and spinach under that crowning golden
melt.  Truly remarkable.

One could dine upon this spring risotto, bedecked in peas, zucchini and
broth, and be fulfilled.  

The one dish I could not sample was this Berkshire pork cheek with pasta.
It was beautiful and it smelled lovely, and Grav was delighted to have mine,
too.

Fortunately, I could enjoy the next dish, the Organic Belle Evans Farm Roasted
Chicken with Zucchini, Parmesan and Lobster Mushrooms.  Once again, a
delightfully rustic dish.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the cheese straws again... perfect,
delectable, irresistible.

Before the dessert course, I headed back to the kitchen to see the changes
made there... which include far more counter space for plating. 

Small tasting-size dishes, delightful pots and
ramekins will define much of the appearance of
One Eleven's service.

A new kitchen layout eliminates blocked-in spaces and allows
for more sous to produce dishes at a time.

Chef Antunes is a fan of finishing spices, as evidenced by this platter of
various salts, peppers and seasonings at the plating station nearest the
dining room.

I never thought I'd be excited by the mere sight of cream before.

Fresh made breads, a hallmark of Ashley's, will remain an important element
for service at One Eleven.

My adventure behind the kitchen doors offered me a glance of what was
soon to come.

As with the new serviceware, elaborate yet insightful garnishes will be part
of the new brand celebrated at One Eleven.

Dessert should be a marvelous finale to a perfect dining experience.  On this
night, we were treated to samples of four different sweets.  This Popcorn
Panne Cotta with Caramel Ice Cream was easily the most complicated dish
of the evening, with bits of caramel coated popcorn and a tiny muffin included.

The interpretation here of raspberry cheesecake is excellent - a strong
vanilla bean infused cheesecake base topped with raspberry gelee, crumbled
crust and jelly-filled raspberries.

True to fine French cooking, Chef Antune's Chocolate Soufflé
with Vanilla Chantilly Cream is a masterpiece.

It was so marvelous, I had to shoot it twice.

And finally, doughnuts, delightful tiny doughnuts to round out a marvelous
dinner.  These will be served as a dessert with roasted apples and toast
ice cream... I'm hoping they'll be offered at the bar in the morning with hot, fresh coffee.

Of course, there will be a lot of talk about the changeover.  I've had a chance to check out the menus and am excited, though I lament the demise of my favorite breakfast, the Delta Sunrise with its housemade corned beef hash.  But steak and eggs will be a breakfast option now.  Of course I will give it a try.

You will find out lots in the coming weeks on One Eleven at the Capital through its Facebook page.  Be sure to share your comments.

 

He Came To Arkansas.

Chef Lee Richardson left New Orleans for Little Rock… and decided to make Central Arkansas his home.

Lee Richardson is not an imposing man. He is not intimidating. The quietly spoken guy in chef’s whites does seem more focused and determined than the average individual, like one of those golf greats taking care of business on the course.

Richardson’s home court is the five kitchens of The Capital Hotel in downtown Little Rock. These self-designed kitchens produce the amazing four-star dining delights of Ashley’s; the top notch everyman’s grub at Capital Bar and Grill; amazing cakes and pastries for big to-dos and plate dinner service for functions in the hotel’s parlors and ballrooms and meals for hotel room service.

I sat down to talk with the chef one Friday afternoon in June. He was in the process of setting up a big outdoor dinner at the Historical Arkansas Museum a couple of blocks away. While we were talking my photographer was in the back, shooting food while the team worked on a meal that would be served to a hundred people in near-100 degree heat. The meal was less than two hours away, yet Chef Richardson was as cool as a cucumber. This is a guy who has his ducks in a row.

“So I have to ask,” I started, “why are you in Little Rock?”

For a moment there was an odd grin that came through the stern discipline that Richardson exudes. The question seemed amusing.

“Well, there was Katrina. It required Katrina to come up here in the first place, and without that I might not have gone away from New Orleans.”

Richardson was Chef de Cuisine at John Besh’s famed Restaurant August in the Crescent City when Katrina struck. He’d started his career with a traditional apprenticeship at Emeril Lagasse’s NOLA and moved on to ventures with Chefs Kevin Graham and Anne Kearney. He departed for a two year stint in North Carolina before returning to New Orleans.

“After the hurricane, John (Besh) and Viking pushed me towards this place. The Stephens Family tagged on to help. They’ve been very helpful.

“When I arrived, I saw a lot of good things. I met Jody Hardin and saw what he was doing. Jody shared products from all over the state -- strawberries, chicken, lamb, eggs, Honeysuckle Lane cheese. I wanted to use these things. There was Peter Brave’s shrimp when he was working that operation. There was War Eagle Mill grains. These things were all part of the state. Coming here allowed me to see that it was here -- everything a chef needs.”

“Arkansas is perfect. It’s not just another part of The South.”

The persuasion worked. Richardson moved his family to Cammack Village and started working with the Stephens family to build up the restaurants that would mark The Capital Hotel as a destination for dining.

“The generosity of the Stephens family provided the opportunity to do something special. When I got here, the hotel had been gutted. They got plans, they had ideas of what they wanted to do. Three months after I got here those plans were discarded and we started anew.”

Richardson outlined what he needed and wanted. He took an integral part in designing not just the rebuild on the kitchen for Ashley’s but in the expansion of the kitchen for Capital Bar and Grill and the addition of three smaller kitchens that service the large meeting spaces on the first and second floors.

The restaurants opened in November 2007 to a lot of noise and commotion from the old stalwarts of Arkansas foodery. There were some comments on the update of Ashley’s, but soon both restaurants fell into good favor with customers and the media. Richardson’s New Americana cuisine took off and became an instant classic.

The chef had an idea of what sort of direction he wanted to take with the restaurant, but it took time to determine what would actually make it on the menu.

“I really didn’t have a menu as such in mind until right when we opened. What were the signature things going to be? They pop up, they develop, they happen. Like pimento cheese and soda crackers in lieu of bread and butter. We decided we had to have bar snacks to give away. At the start we were doing the smoked pecans as our giveaway and selling the fried black-eyed peas. We turned that around later.

“What I wanted here was a sense of place. To pull that off, we had to learn what this place was about. In our kitchens, everything is handcrafted. All meat is hand cut, hand ground. We do everything -- fish cooking, baking, chocolate work, soup, smoking -- we feed our staffs with an in-house soup kitchen.”

“You make everything,” I asked.

“Everything, except the hamburger buns -- which we just can’t make any better than what we get -- and the French bread, which is flown in from New Orleans.”

“I can understand that… but why do you make pickles?”

“I make pickles because I like to make acid,” Richardson said.

That gave me a laugh.

Richardson’s dedication to local food doesn’t just stop with local. He also believes in the seasonality of produce. What’s fresh is likely to be what’s on the menu. For instance, on that particular June day strawberry fried pies were one of the special dessert items at Capital Bar and Grill. You won’t see a strawberry any other time of the year, though -- at least, not a fresh one. And certainly not a chocolate covered one. As Richardson tells it, that can get under the skin of some customers.

“I won’t let people have chocolate covered strawberries for New Year’s Eve or Valentine’s Day. Covering a strawberry in hard chocolate and freezing it is a horrible thing to do to a strawberry. Now, a little warm dark chocolate?” That grin, again.

What’s in the future, then? The chef says he hopes the chefs that will train under him will go out and begin their own restaurants and spread the quality he’s been able to achieve at The Capital Hotel. But to bring more attention to the cause, it’s going to take an effort that will reach far from Arkansas. “We’re going to have to make a big splash nationally. Then we can get Arkansas on board with what we’re doing here.

“Historical relevance is so important to our past. We are trying to get back to the land, and continue to lose our culture. Cooking local means cooking Southern. Southern food is humble. In New Orleans, the soul and heart goes into found things. Ideas about cooking there and here came about in a different time when people had help in the kitchen. More cooking happened. We got away from that, but food has to form that way. I feel pretty sure that this generation of parents are concerned about food, and more parents are sharing that experience with their children.”

The chef’s wife and daughter are flourishing in the new environment. Richardson says he’s planting roots here, that Arkansas has become his home.

“Arkansas could have been a place to just fall off the map. But I‘m doing good. I like it here.”

I have to say, I’ve met a lot of chefs in this job. Richardson has a spark I’ve seen in only a very few. He’s highly analytical, able to separate the emotion from the act of cooking when it comes down to brass tacks. You can still see the amazement in his face when he talks about food finds. But you can also tell he thinks about every portion of the meal, from meat to condiments, side dishes to dessert. He has a sense of balance and proportion. Little Rock is lucky to have him.