Heritage Department seeks nominations for Food Hall of Fame

The Department of Arkansas Heritage will accept nominations for the third annual Arkansas Food Hall of Fame through Oct. 31. The statewide program was established in 2016 to recognize restaurants, proprietors and food-themed events.

“Food is an integral part of who we are as Arkansans,” said Stacy Hurst, director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. “The Arkansas Food Hall of Fame honors Arkansas food culture as a significant and specific aspect of our state’s heritage. We want to hear about your local favorites when it comes to food — food events, people and places.”

Nominations are being accepted in the following five categories:

• Arkansas Food Hall of Fame, which recognizes long-standing restaurants
• Proprietor of the Year, which honors a chef, cook or restaurant owner
• Food-Themed Event, which honors a community food-themed event or festival.
• People’s Choice, which recognizes the restaurant or food truck that receives the most votes.
• Gone But Not Forgotten, which recognizes a restaurant that has closed.

A committee of historians, chefs, foodies and food authors who are from Arkansas will select the winners. Committee members include Paul Austin, Evette Brady, Chip Culpepper, Cindy Grisham, Hurst, Montine McNulty, Tim Morton, Rex Nelson, Tim Nutt, Kat Robinson, Wendy Richter, Christina Shutt and Swannee Bennett. Honorees and finalists will be announced in a ceremony Feb. 25, 2019, at the Ron Robinson Theater.

Italian restaurant The Venesian Inn in Tontitown, Franke’s Cafeteria in Little Rock and McClard’s Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Hot Springs were the restaurants named to the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame in 2018.