Cool article on our first pig roast!
Link to Full Article on SyncA few more pictures from our first event.
I had some more pictures that helped to sum up what we were up to last Sunday. Its great looking back at these shots. Having our first event at Dunbar Urban Garden Project was the rug that tied the room together. Without having a space like this I don’t think the impact would have been the same. What projects like this are doing are inspirational to me and for the future of good food in Little Rock. So with the help of Damien, Chris and Susan from Dunbar we were even more successful. Thanks guys! And here is to the up and coming events that we are working on now!
Pig Roast
Butcher & Public is an idea for bringing local farmers, ranchers, producers and their creations together for a feast and gathering. We will butcher a whole animal, gather local produce and conjure local brewers. The animal will be respected in the sense it will be used in in entirety and will bring community together. The produce and grains will be sourced from urban and local farms to reflect the seasons of AR. It will be a full meal with the obvious centerpiece of a spit roasted whole animal. The first one is a pig from Mitchell and Freckle Face Farm. It’s a reason to hang outside on a cold winter day and if nothing else an excuse to drink some brew by a fire pit. So essentially The What is just that. A gathering of like-minded, food interested people gathering to enjoy it around a fire. Seems to be The Why too.
The When? The first of these events is January — . At the moment this is a ticket free event but we are accepting gracious donations of which 100% will go back into the events to help them grow and continue to support these great people. The first one will be trial by fire and we’ll grow from there.
The Where? We are excited to say Dunbar Community Gardens have been awesome enough to let us set up for an extended day to roast a pig. So the event will kick off at 5pm. And everyone keep in mind its January in AR and the weather will do what she will. So weather permitting it will maintain this location. Because the size of the main course it wouldn’t work as well indoors and we will have to reschedule if it seems its going to storm.
So that should about do it on the details. I hope all of you can make it out for some eating and drinking with us. This is really a hope to get everyone out on a dreary winter day to enjoy a pit fire and some tasty foods and drinks.
Butcher and Public throws a pig roast at Dunbar Garden
Travis McConnell, sous chef at the Capital Hotel Bar & Grill, plans to open Butcher and Public, his own brick and mortar space in Little Rock at some point down the road. At 5 p.m. Jan. 13, he’s hosting an event at the Dunbar Community Garden Project to show off his vision — a whole roasted local pig party.
The event is donations-only and not ticketed. McConnell plans to offer a full meal that’s cooked over the fire. He’ll roast a pig from Freckle Face Farms on a spit that he and his dad recently built; use produce from Little Rock Urban Farming, Armstead Farms and others, and serve beer from Diamond Bear and Vino’s. He said the menu is a reflection of his cooking philosophy: whole butchered animals and fixin’s, locally and regionally sourced.
McConnell first worked as sous chef at the Capital Bar from 2007 until 2009, before departing for Revival Bar and Kitchen in Berkley for three years. He returned to the Capital in September after vacationing Italy, where he got to spend a few days studying under Dario Cecchini, who Anthony Bourdain has called “the most famous and respected butcher in Italy and, maybe, the world.” McConnell has posted a few shots of Cecchini’s butcher shop, Antica Macelleria Cecchini, on the Butcher and Public Facebook page as an example of what he wants Butcher and Public to be.
Written by Lindsey Millar on Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 12:18 PM
Link to Full Article on Arkansas Times
