Little Rock

[therese]

Our hotel was right downtown, with a view of the Clinton library from our room, and directly across the street from the River Market. The market includes a market hall that's open all week, Ottenheimer Hall, as well outdoor pavilions that host farmers markets on Tuesday and Saturday (and various functions in the evenings) and a series of small parks and an amphitheatre, etc.

I made a point of visiting the farmers market on Saturday AM and was impressed at the quality and range of produce on offer. There are actually two pavilions, and the one where I took these photos is restricted to locally-produced items.

Lots of produce:

[therese]

I have a particular weakness for fresh legumes like lady peas:

[therese]

There are several good bakeries in town. This one sets up a booth at the market, while others have branches downtown or inside Ottenheimer Hall. I didn't buy any, but reliable sources say it's very good:

[therese]

There were several vendors of local meat:

These signs give you an idea of what's available (though not the names of the vendors, unfortunately). I didn't photograph any of the meat, as it's all wrapped and stored in coolers at the farmers market (a very good thing, given how warm the Arkansas summers will get), but there are butchers inside that sell meat from the same producers and it looked very nice. I found a nice raw goat milk cheddar style cheese from an Arkansas producer (had it for lunch and breakfast the next day, along with some sugar snap peas, carrots, radishes, and strawberries), but can't recall the name and can't find it on line.

Eggs also available:

Finally, your sweet tooth needn't suffer:

The honey vendor also sells soap and the marshmallow vendor, well, I don't quite know what to say about the marshmallow vendor.

[therese]

Forgot to mention that you can buy frozen shrimp from Brave New Shrimp (referenced up thread) inside the market as well.

And my husband and I had a nice evening drinking beer at Flying Saucer. Big place, pleasant vibe (if you don't mind servers in Brittany Spears-ish get ups), nice selection of beers including lambics (we shared a peach one for "dessert"). Right on the main drag downtown, big windows open to the street.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Your posts on Little Rock are greatly appreciated, Therese! We have heard little, if anything, on this southern city since Bill Clinton left the White House ... the photographs of all that fresh produce are enticing!

[Jaymes]

And Little Rock is one of the few places in the world where you can buy Xanath, a Mexican vanilla liqueur, and one of my very favorite things on the planet.

It's available at Colonial Wine & Spirits.

I've been looking for it everywhere, since first discovering it in Mexico. Finally, I found that Colonial had it, and drove the three hours down there, and bought two cases.

It's particularly good over ice cream. And in coffee. And combined with tequila. And mixed with cream over ice.

Yum.

[John Talbott]

For relatively upscale dining:.......Acadia.

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I’d endorse Acadia, not too far from the Medical School, which five of ate at last night with great satisfaction. I loved the very spicy crayfish bisque and raw inside/toasted outside big scallop appetizers, with salad dressed with another spicy sauce. My hosts loved their fish and other salads. The wine list is pretty big and eclectic; the Spanish Tempranillo we had was just right.

I also had a nice luncheon at Bossa Nova, a Brazilian place also near the Medical School, where I loved the Salpicaõ (chicken) on rice and Pão de Queijo’s (Cheese Bread Rolls.)

Both meals were paid for by my hosts so I cannot supply numbers.