Arkansas Food Hall of Fame winners announced

The winners have been announced for the 2019 class of the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame, a program launched in 2016 by the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

The winners include food-themed events, restaurants, and proprietors from across the state who have made careers in the food, restaurant, and events industries.

DAH said there were more than 650 applicants in this year’s class.

“People are passionate about their food. We are so pleased to see the increasing response from the public in this conversation on Arkansas food and food culture,” said Stacy Hurst, director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. “From classics to new flavors, Arkansas’s food landscape continues to develop and we are pleased to be telling that story.”

This year’s winners include:

Arkansas Food Hall of Fame
The Craig Brothers Cafe of DeValls Bluff (Prairie County)

Burge’s Hickory Smoked Turkeys and Hams of Little Rock and Lewisville (Pulaski County and Lafayette County)

Keeney’s Food Market of Malvern (Hot Spring County)

Proprietor of the Year
Loretta Tacker of Marion (Crittenden County)

Food-Themed Events
Hope Watermelon Festival (Hempstead County)

Gone But Not Forgotten
Klappenbach Bakery of Fordyce (Dallas County)

People’s Choice
Honey Pies Gourmet Bakery and Cafe of Little Rock (Pulaski County)

The Arkansas Food Hall of Fame was launched by the Department of Arkansas Heritage in 2016 to recognize Arkansas’s iconic restaurants, proprietors and food-themed events. Nominations were accepted from the public in five categories: Food Hall of Fame, Proprietor of the Year, Food-Themed Event, Gone But Not Forgotten and People’s Choice.

The 13-member selection committee includes Paul S. Austin, Swannee Bennett, Evette Brady, C.C. (Chip) Culpepper, Cindy Grisham, Stacy Hurst, Montine McNulty, Tim Morton, Rex Nelson, Tim Nutt, Dr. Wendy Richter, Kat Robinson and Christina Shutt.