Fancy Pants Foodie

Foodie news, reviews and how-tos from Arkansas and beyond.

  • Home
  • About
  • Gluten Free
  • PR/Ads
  • Contact Me

Stage #2, Part One: Slinging it Local with Little Rock Urban Farming and Southern Gourmasian

July 12, 2013 by arfoodie

Chefs are a funny lot.

They’re often known for being fussy, ill-tempered or demanding. I’ve been around more than a handful, and even the more even-tempered ones often get a little hairy when it’s time to cook.

And then there’s Justin Patterson of Southern Gourmasian.

Menu from the Little Rock Urban Farming event featuring Southern Gourmasian.

Menu from the Little Rock Urban Farming event featuring Southern Gourmasian.

Working in an unusual setup inside Little Rock Urban Farming’s garage-barn-event room Saturday night, Justin was as calm and cool as a cucumber fresh out of the abundant adjoining gardens.

“You could finish these [ceviche cups],” he asked/directed me. “Each one just needs a couple pieces of pickled watermelon, and then a green onion.”

Task requests toward his own staff were similar. I noted his repeated use of phrases like “you could” or “would you mind.”

The event, a fundraiser for Little Rock Urban Farming’s new non-profit venture, the Southern Center for Agroecology, was equally laid-back, with visitors in t-shirts, suits and sundresses touring the unassuming Hillcrest digs. Our cooking space intertwined with the guests’ buffet of buttermilk fried okra, steamed mussels and fresh, ripe sliced tomatoes, picked just feet away. Open doors allowed a slight breeze with hints of basil from the rows just outside.

Potato frico with beet and carrot slaw

Potato frico with beet and carrot slaw

Also on the menu was a crispy cheese-and-potato pancake of sorts (a frico, I learned), which Justin had me assemble. I should note that all the hard parts — the lengthy prep of peeling and grating potatoes and slicing beets and carrots, just to start — had already been done. I got the heady honor of putting it all together and serving it to guests, who often wandered a little too close as I flipped them on the cooktop.

The frico dish featured garlic montasio by local cheesemaker Kent Walker, as well as a gorgeous slaw of candy cane beets and carrots grown right there at Little Rock Urban Farming. It was just one of several simple yet brilliantly devised dishes celebrating the local harvest.

And that was just the idea, according to LRUF founder Chris Hiryak, waxing poetic before the event began. “One of the most beautiful things you can do with locally grown produce is put it in the hands of a chef who really transforms it,” he said.

It helps when the chef is a calm, creative genius. More on that and his excellent staff next time.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Events, Foodie News, Stage_Project Tagged With: Chris Hiryak, Justin Patterson, Little Rock Urban Farming, Southern Gourmasian, Stage

« Fancy Pants Foodie Does Disney, Part One: The Disney Way
Mugs Cafe Is Open in Argenta, and It’s Pretty Slick (Photos) »

Let’s keep in touch!

Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links meaning I earn a commission if you use those links. If I recommend something specifically, you can trust that I've used it and I love it.
Fancy Pants Foodie
Tweets by @ARFoodie

Recent Posts

  • I’m Still Alive (And Eating a Weird Diet)
  • Arkansas Hospitality Conference a Food Lover’s Dream (PHOTOS)
  • Culinary Classic Offers a Taste From Arkansas’ Best Chefs (GIVEAWAY)
  • Diamond Chef Arkansas 2016 at Pulaski Tech CAHMI
  • 2016 ProStart Arkansas Competition

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress