Nibbles Catering Finds a Kitchen

Rich Siker has been running his catering operation on the fly for the past couple of months.

Siker, who purchased Nibbles Gourmet Catering in late June from Suzie Stephens, has been waiting for construction to be completed on his 1,500-SF kitchen in Olive Branch Plaza at 2308 S.E. 28th St. in Bentonville. He’s scheduled to move in there over the Labor Day weekend.

In the meantime, several Rogers establishments — including Basil’s Cafe, Central Methodist Church, the Rogers Youth Center and Lake Atalanta — have allowed Siker to use their kitchen facilities for his catering business.

“It’s just the normal trials and tribulations of life,” says Siker, who claims to have lost 20 pounds since getting into the catering business. “I think once we get in a centralized location, it will be nice.”

Siker was executive chef at Pinnacle Country Club from 1993 until the time he purchased Nibbles Catering, which was based in Fayetteville under Stephens’ operation. Stephens, who founded the business and ran it for about two decades, sold the Nibbles Gourmet Catering so she could concentrate on Cafe Nibbles, the upscale restaurant she opened in July at 3290 N. Lee Ave. in Fayetteville. Stephens also continues to operate Nibbles Food Emporium, a retail shop at 3184 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville.

Siker says he believes relocating the business to Benton County is a good idea because the area is growing rapidly and there’s less catering competition there.

“Catering allows you more time with your client to figure out what they really want,” he says.

Corky’s moving

to Bakery Building

Corky’s Ribs & BBQ, which opened a restaurant in 1997 in Fayetteville’s Spring Creek Centre, plans to move to the Bakery Building on Dickson Street by the end of October.

Greg House, one of the building’s owners, says Corky’s will take up most of the ground floor (about 4,000-SF) of the structure. The existing kitchen will be used by Ozark Baking & Catering, but the dining room that business once occupied will be taken over by Corky’s. Corky’s will build a new kitchen and expand into space that was leased until late August by Designer’s Gallery.

House says the sale is contingent on Ozark Baking & Catering subleasing part of its space to Corky’s. The papers hadn’t been signed as of Aug. 31, but House said the deal is expected to go through.