Belfry, Pressroom Redouble Bentonville Restaurant Boom

A great restaurant needs a great location. Such is the truism in the hospitality industry.

But finding the right spot is difficult. Consumers are finicky. Cityscapes change. A restaurant can go from hot to not in a flash. On top of all that is the menu, the skill of its execution, the overall concept, and the quality of customer service.

Broken plates are common in the restaurant business, and so are shattered dreams.

But in Bentonville, investors and restaurateurs seem to have written the magic recipe: local, fresh, and high-end, and on or near the city square.

In 2009, Table Mesa Bistro opened on Central Avenue. Since that time, the square has witnessed a cavalcade of eateries, and their associated renovations, as Bentonville transforms from sleepy company town to arts-and-culture paradise.

With the notable exception of The Hive at the 21c Museum Hotel, the retrofit has largely taken place within the existing commercial stock. The result is that the square has expanded in all directions. And two new restaurants, the Pressroom and the Belfry, promise to reinforce and enhance everything that has already happened downtown.

The twin projects — with about 13,000 SF of combined space, name-brand chefs, and the backing of Tom Walton, the grandson of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton — are of such scope and ambition that they force the inevitable question: If the Bentonville culinary scene has been in maturation since 2009, is it time to say it’s finally come of age? 

Not yet, but the day will come, said Mike Abb, director of marketing for RopeSwing, the boutique hospitality company behind both the Pressroom and the Belfry.

Together, the two restaurants will not only anchor and extend the northwest corner of the square. They will provide stability and encouragement for other investors, as well as more options for affluent, choosy patrons.

“Downtown is the heart, and we want new blood pumped through that heart,” Abb said. “This will give hope to others to take a chance.”

 

A Fantastic Church

With a focus on tourism and business travel, fine dining, events and entertainment, Abb said RopeSwing’s goal is to not just invigorate the Bentonville square, but other downtowns as well. Without mentioning them by name, Abb said other projects are already in the works.

“This is just the start for us,” he said.

But first things first, and that means the showpiece of RopeSwing’s Bentonville venture, the Belfry. Scheduled to open this summer in the 1906 First Christian Church building at the corner of Northwest Second Street and Northwest A Street, the Belfry, with its proximity and architectural appeal, proved an ideal launching point for RopeSwing.

“We can’t let the fantastic church crumble in on itself, and let’s extend the square,” Abb said. “This was the best venue we could have possibly hoped for.”

Executive chef Matt Cooper said he will prepare “honest food” that includes salmon and halibut, farm-fresh seasonal produce, and showstoppers like the French classic, bouillabaisse.

“The concept of being part of a rustic and sustainably focused restaurant with a casual and social atmosphere was exactly what I had been wanting,” Cooper said. “The ability to connect and work closely with community members and farmers works parallel with my values.” 

Cooper’s plates will be served in a dining room with tile and hickory flooring, exposed timber trusses, a 20-foot ceiling, and stained glass.

The Belfry will have a rooftop lounge with a view of the Bentonville water tower, and a basement lounge named Old 71 Club, where, Abb says, Millennials can indulge their taste for custom cocktails — concocted by a bar manager from New Orleans — and late-night socializing.

The restaurant will feature art by George Dombeck and Dayton Castleman, and will be surrounded by a garden of native shrubs, trees, herbs and spices.

Blessed with the job-generating presence of Walmart, and the ongoing allure of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, and the region as a whole, has an ample and growing pool of patrons hungry for quality cuisine.

“The demand is there,” Abb said. “People are realizing this is a special place.”

 

Pressing Change

Just across the street from the Belfry is the Midtown Center. From there, the Pressroom will command the northwest corner of the square from a ground level, 4,000-SF space and adjoining patio.

Currently at 121 W. Central Ave., the Pressroom is in the process of being purchased by RopeSwing. The restaurant will move to the Midtown Center, a three-story, two-building complex, with offices on the top two floors and restaurant and retail on the ground floor.

Founded in 2011 by Rob and Bea Apple, the Pressroom is known for cappuccino, fresh salads, and sandwiches such as the chicken pesto, or the roasted pork with soy sauce and pickled carrots. 

While the current incarnation is in a vintage brick storefront tucked between Bentonville City Hall and the Massey Building, the new location, distinguished by soaring window panes across the north, east and south faces, is all about modernity.

While the ambiance is sure to change, Rob Apple, Ropeswing’s director of operations, said a key concern is to establish a new and pleasing vibe. And as the Pressroom’s aesthetic changes, so too will its culinary direction.

Michael Robertshaw, most recently of Seattle, is the Pressroom’s executive chef. Like Cooper, Robertshaw said his creations will be seasonal, locally sourced when possible, and nutritious.

But Robertshaw, who has a coast-to-coast mentality when it comes to food, said the Pressroom will be wide open.

“We won’t have a set theme or a specific cuisine,” he said. “I have grown to be a chef that simply concentrates on product quality and seasonality, and that will be our focus.” 

Still, patrons can expect in-house meats and breads, upgraded mainstays like chicken and dumplings, and indulgencies such as fried pigtails, sumac yogurt, fire-roasted peach preserves, and black pepper and lime brittle.

One of the appealing aspects of the new restaurant, Apple said, will be space, and plenty of it. The restaurant, with seating for more than 100, is being configured to accommodate business meetings and live music. The restaurant will be open for breakfast, lunch, brunch and dinner.

“I’m excited for the future of not only the Pressroom, but all of the restaurants and cultural offerings in Bentonville,” Apple said in a prepared statement. “Development is happening all around us, and RopeSwing will play its part to ensure we keep the momentum going.”

 

Masons and Electricians

Behind Bentonville’s culinary explosion is the expertise of architects and craftsmen. Restaurants like Tusk and Trotter American Brasserie, Table Mesa, the Flying Fish, the Spark Café, and the Pressroom all moved into existing locations.

And south of the square, the Arts District and the Market District will develop around a mix of new construction and repurposed buildings, most notably the old Tyson Foods Inc. plant, the Kraft Foods plant and the Icehouse.

But, as it relates to the square and Bentonville’s core identity, the restoration of the Belfry is without equal. 

The First Christian Church held its inaugural service there on Jan. 14, 1906. Based on the Akron Plan, a plan used across the country from the 1880s to the 1920s, the church had a corner entrance, auditorium seating, and a bell tower.

According to Benton County historical documents, the original stained-glass windows were removed when the congregation sold the building in 1979. While the church apparently had excellent acoustics, its defining architectural feature, the bell tower, never housed a bell.

After it ceased to be a church, the building served as a retail accounting annex, a sculpture garden, and, in the mid-2000s, a restaurant called The Sanctuary.

The building gradually fell into disrepair, and by the time Sendero LLC, a Walton family interest, bought the property in 2010 for $425,000, it faced an uncertain future.

Things began to change in 2013, when Chip Chambers, principal of both Design Work Architecture and Pershing Redevelopment LLC, started the effort to not only restore the building, but to make it better than the original.

“It’s been an adventure, no doubt,” Chambers said.

While the list of updates and replacements is long — the renovation will total at least $750,000 — two structural repairs define the restoration.

To take the load off the original masonry walls, Chambers installed an internal steel buttress system that distributes weight to a new foundation at all four corners of the building.

In addition to the problem of weight coming down from the top, Chambers also had to confront the problem of water coming up from the bottom.

“Somewhere along the life of the building, a basement was dug out, and in so doing, they introduced water and structural issues that we couldn’t ignore,” Chambers said.

He installed a pump system, clean-air intake and a dehumidification apparatus to mitigate flooding and to make the basement usable. The basement was also lowered to create more headroom.

Along with the structural improvements came a new brick addition to the west side of the building, which not only provides additional kitchen space, but also supports the rooftop lounge.

Interior touches include drywall, wood and tile flooring, custom cabinetry, lighting, copper bar tops and tin ceilings.

The improvements not only enhanced the building, but in all likelihood saved it from demolition.

“Otherwise it probably wouldn’t be part of the landscape,” Chambers said. “It will be a nice addition to the city.”

The Belfry project comes at a fortuitous time in Benton County, as two other icons, the courthouse and the War Eagle Bridge, are also up for preservation.

Over the course of its run as a premier dining destination in a city on the rise, the Belfry will be seen and enjoyed by thousands. They’ll appreciate the work of people they’ll probably never see.

“It comes down to our masons, plumbers, electricians and our guys in the field who have poured their hearts and souls into this job,” Chambers said. “This is special. This is a once-in-a-lifetime project to work on.”