Fort Smith sweetie is Hooters Girl of the Year

FORT SMITH — Talking to Kaylee Farris is like talking to a friend you haven’t seen in a long time. She’s warm, attentive, excited about what’s going on in your life and hers.

The brunette with an all-American girl smile works at Hooters 6401 Rogers Ave. in Fort Smith, but she’s not just any Hooters girl (just look her facebook), she’s the Hooters Girl of the Year for 2012.

Farris is still settling into the title, but she’s already busy globetrotting to open international stores, starring in promotional pieces for Hooters and preparing for her third appearance in the annual Hooters International Swimsuit Pageant in July.

Even before now, Farris had lots of publicity under her belt — actually, there’s no belt, just the waistband of her shiny, bright orange gym shorts — and she admits she has no problem putting herself out there.

“I’m loud and proud about being a Hooters girl,” she said. She was a Hooters calendar girl this year and last, has been featured in several editions of the Hooters magazine and has been splashed across billboards in Atlanta and Tulsa.

Farris’ trek to the top started with a competition at the regional level, for which she had to submit a photo and write an essay. From there, she traveled to Hooters’ home base in Atlanta, where she and other finalists were interviewed and photographed at length.

“We left there with our fingers crossed,” she recalls, not knowing what would come it.

Last month, she was told a film crew was coming to the Fort Smith store to shoot a commercial, but it actually a visit from Hooters corporate to name her Hooters Girl of the Year.

Just two weeks later, she was in Johannesburg, South Africa, to open a new store, train a staff of 50 Hooters girls and give press interviews. She’ll do the same in Japan, Brazil and Australia later in her term.

The 25-year-old moved to Fort Smith from her hometown of Columbia, Mo., in 2007 and took classes at Carl Albert State College, just across the Oklahoma border in Poteau. She went to work at the newly opened Hooters in Fort Smith to pay for her books.

“It seemed like a fun job, and I seemed natural for it,” she said. Perhaps its the way she jokes with customers that selections on the Hooters menu are “scratch-and-sniff” … or the way she puts ketchup on plates in a tic-tac-toe design when they order fries.

“Anyway, it’s turned out to be much more than that,” she said.

Tilt your kilt
If you like the Hooters girls’ outfits, you’re going to skip with a smile to the soon-to-be opened Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery when it opens April 9 at 3619 N. Mall Ave. in Fayetteville. It’s where T.G.I. Friday’s was so long ago.

General manager James Phillips said the Fayetteville franchise of the Tempe, Ariz.-based chain is the first in Arkansas. According to the eatery’s website, The Tilted Kilt wasn’t started in Ireland, Scotland, or even England. It was born in Las Vegas with the intent of becoming a modern American, Irish, Scottish and English sports pub.

The servers, apparently, were part of the founder’s vision, as well (and what an imagination, he had). They’re so skimpy that a load of 50 of them could be washed in one cycle of the washer. Look for young ladies in knee-high socks and short, sexy plaid kilts with matching plaid bras under white camp shirts tied just below the bra line.

The menu is probably secondary to the scenery, but check the website for offerings.

Art, eats and history
Mike and Lisa Robinson, owners of Bentonville Butcher & Deli, are partnering with Russ and Kris Heithhoff to open a new coffee shop and deli on a corner of the Bentonville square.

The new place, to be called T.H. Benton’s, is at 102 E. Central Ave., at the corner of Central and Main streets — talk about a great hangout.

This new hot spot is to be named T.H. Benton’s, after the successful Missouri senator for which the city of Bentonville is named. One could also say that the shop is also named for the 20th-century painter of the same name, who was the older Benton’s great-nephew.

Either way, the artistic atmosphere created by interior designer Andre Cornwell is a feast for the eyes, said Mike Robinson. He claimed to know little about art, but likes what Cornwell has done with the space. The owners stripped the walls down to the original brick and will be displaying lots of art — as many as 10 to 16 works at a time, depending on the size.

Except for a few owner-owned pieces, the art will be supplied by Zeek Taylor and the Eureka Springs Artists Registry. Selections will change roughly every month, Robinson said.

Tentative hours will be 6 a.m. to 8 or 9 p.m. Coffee and baked goods will be served all day; the deli will be open from 10:30 a.m. to close. Sandwiches — ham, turkey, Reubens and club sandwiches along them — will range from $6-$8. Desserts will be available in the evenings.

There’s room for up to 40 inside, and weather permitting, another 12 more can sit outside. Robinson said to look for a mid to late-April opening date.

Shorter game-day wait at Farrell’s
The two Tim Farrells — junior and senior — have bought the suite next to them in the old Bakery building on Dickson Street and are expanding Farrell’s Lounge, Bar & Grill.

Anybody who has waited at the bar for four hours to get a spot to watch a Razorback game (and you know who you are) will consider this a gigantic improvement.

The expansion will add another 1,000 square feet and provide more kitchen space, as well as an area for a private party, the younger Farrell said.

But more than that, it will relieve that congested area where the hall to restrooms meets the kitchen and cash register. Solving that problem alone is worth a cheer.