Arkansas Restaurants Make Wine Spectator List
by October 30, 2000 12:00 am 124 views
Six Arkansas restaurants were among the 2,332 listed worldwide in Wine Spectator magazine’s annual issue of “The World’s Best Restaurants for Wine.”
Four of the six are in the vicinity of Northwest Arkansas. They are Autumn Breeze Restaurant in Eureka Springs, Cafe Nibbles in Fayetteville, Folie A Deux in Fort Smith and James at the Mill in Johnson.
The two others on the list are Capers in Little Rock and Cassinelli 1700 in North Little Rock. Cassinelli 1700 recently closed but still made the Wine Spectator list somehow.
All six of the Arkansas restaurants were Wine Spectator Award of Excellence winners based on the strength of their wine lists. The magazine has two awards categories above that one.
The magazine listed the Arkansas restaurants with primarily California-wine lists and moderate wine prices. Menu prices for the Arkansas restaurants were listed as either moderate or expensive. Cuisine ranged from fusion at Cafe Nibbles to Ozark Plateau at James at the Mill.
Cafe Nibbles and Capers were newcomers to the list this year.
Morgan Stout, executive chef at Cafe Nibbles, has served as a chef at three of the restaurants on the list. In addition to Cafe Nibbles, he has worked at James at the Mill and Cassinelli 1700.
Spaule, the upscale Little Rock restaurant, was dropped from the list this year.
The list appeared in the September issue of Wine Spectator, the world’s leading consumer wine publication.